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Ekman-Larsson Injured On Dirty Hit Update: MacKenzie Gets Three Games |
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Update: Columbus Forward Derek MacKenzie was suspended 3 games for his hit on Ekman-Larsson. This suspension is in line with previous rulings, however, I doubt it will do anything to deter these types of hits in the future. In an 82 game grind a three game suspension amounts to what is probably a well appreciated holiday. As for the loss of money, even a player like MacKenzie makes more money than he is likely to ever need, and is the equivalent of me losing six bucks. Suspensions, like jail sentences, should be used to teach, deter and rehabilitate- these three game holidays do none of the above, in ,my opinion. Quick ruling though, so that is a plus.
As for Ekman-Larsson, it seems he is fine and did not return to the game as a precaution. No word on if he will play tomorrow against the Flyers.
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The Coyotes suffered a 2-0 loss to the Blue Jackets tonight, ending their six game point streak. The loss is nothing, however, in comparison to the loss of franchise player Oliver Ekman-Larsson to what is a probable concussion, the severity of which is as of yet undetermined.
Early in the first period, Columbus two goal scorer Derek MacKenzie hit Ekman-Larsson from behind with the kind of hit the NHL will never eliminate if they insist on only penalizing players 1-2 games for making them. (MacKenzie inexplicably wasn’t penalized at all.) Though he didn’t stay down long – most likely hoping to earn the respect of Don Cherry – OEL had to leave the game with what I can only assume is a concussion. Others are reporting it as an “upper-body” injury, but I think that’s a pretty stupid phrase and I would rather be wrong than to say something so vague and meaningless. Maybe it’s his shoulder. I am not a doctor and as of now there is no available statement on how badly he is hurt, but we really should dispense with this ridiculous term. Doesn’t it make just as much sense to say he left the game with an apparent head injury? Unless he was hit into the boards while doing a handstand, there’s a good chance the injury occurred to the upper fifty percent of his body. Also, the puck was black and the players used sticks. It’s OK to guess and be wrong; you probably shouldn’t watch a guy hit his head into the glass and guess it’s a foot injury, but if it’s not his head and ends up being his shoulder, I don’t think anyone will be mad at you. Suffice to say, it is likely a concussion. But, who knows? The guy is lucky he is still alive, and everyone in hockey will still pretend that there are only two types of injuries a player can suffer, just as the NHL will continue with its politically correct policy of token suspensions and instigator rules.
Speaking of the hated instigator rule, in an unlikely move following the hit, none other than the apparently soft and one dimensional Keith Yandle rushed in to take on MacKenzie for his dirty hit. Not sure how Yandle wasn’t assessed an instigator penalty, but it was lucky he wasn’t, since later in the game the Coyotes were down to four defenseman as Connor Murphy was either hurt or benched in the third period. In what has to be considered a Herculean amount of ice time, Yandle – despite serving five minutes for fighting – played over thirty minutes of the game (30:37, as per TSN). A game which I should point out, was the first Coyotes game in the last seven that did not go to extra time.
The hit on OEL and the subsequent fight brings up what has to be the most frustrating thing about the NHL: they allow fighting because everyone who actually cares about hockey thinks it’s awesome, but simultaneously pass rules designed to eliminate it, such as the instigator rule, the jersey tie-down rules and the fighting helmet rule. The result has been an apparent increase in dangerous hits, and fights that are staged and lame most of the time. It sucked to see the Coyotes’ best player get hit from behind, but it was thrilling to see Yandle stick up for him. It wasn’t like it was the greatest fight, but I would rather watch that then see Bissonnette fight Colton Orr for no reason.
The NHL needs fighting. It’s fun to watch and the players and the fans all love it. It also helps to police the game. Or at least it used to. I am not sure that the enforcer role does anything, because if you do something to rile up the other team, their enforcer just fights your enforcer. That solves nothing. If you have to actually fight your own battles, you might think twice before you hit a guy from behind.
That, and real suspensions. I know this wasn’t the worst hit this year in the NHL, probably not even top five. Don’t think that just because it’s the Coyotes I am angry and calling for a harsh suspension. MacKenzie being punished means nothing to me and I certainly won’t feel any sense of justice when, in three days, Brendan Shanahan suspends him for one or two games. I just want hits from behind eliminated from the game before someone gets killed or seriously hurt. And, if the NHL and NHLPA also want to eliminate these checks, they need to start by giving anyone who hits anyone from behind twenty games. That and the fear of actually having to fight your own battles will, I think, effectively eliminate these kind of dangerous hits from the game. If it doesn’t, then do something else, but when the answer to a problem seems so glaringly obvious, it should at least be tried.
One last thought on the subject: Since the hit occurred tonight, I have already seen one person’s analysis that reasoned that since Ekman-Larsson didn’t lay on the ice for very long, that the hit is not worth a suspension. I specifically wanted to bring this up because I think it’s idiotic to consider the severity of the injury in deciding punishment. Whether or not you are severely injured has just as much to do with luck as it does with the severity of the hit. All you are saying when you consider the extent of the injury in determining the length of the suspension is that public perception is more important than reality. OEL might be fine and maybe he just missed the rest of the game as a precaution, but the fact is, he was hit from behind. No, it was not the dirtiest play ever, and maybe historically hasn’t always been a suspendable play. But, if the NHL really wants to protect its players and keep them safe, they have to get these hits out of the game.
As for the rest of the game, both goalies were great and Columbus scored both their goals on the power play. It was Nathan Horton’s first game of the season and he predictably scored. Tough to face a team when they are getting a star player injection, but the Coyotes played good, especially Keith Yandle, and you can’t be too upset about losing a game that could easily have gone either way: its not like they played bad or were outworked. To be honest, when there was two minutes left in the game, I just assumed the Coyotes would score two quick ones to tie it up, as that has been their M.O lately. Unfortunately not every game can be the end of a Disney movie and they were unable to really even muster a scoring chance at the end with the goalie pulled and a power play – it was almost as if they were missing their best player or something.
One last thing: David Runblad played for the first time in ten games tonight and I thought he looked pretty good while getting probably more ice-time than they wanted to give him, with the OEL situation and whatever happened with Murphy in the third.
As always, thanks for reading.
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