Steve Palumbo: Ducks Game Day: Anaheim's Resurgent Offense Faces the Sharks Tonight

More than fine with Hiller sitting this one out. He usually has the Sharks' number.

Nick Palmieri is now on the rangers.. You mean Kyle Palmieri. I'm still irate that the nhl didn't even review the stoll hit on fowler. The system is completely flawed and shanahan needs to go. I'm sick of this double standard.

Also interesting to note that the first three forward lines are being shaken up. First line winnik with the twins, second line beleskey with bobby and selanne, and palmieri on the third. Also vatenen in for concussed fowler paired with allen.

Nick Palmieri is now on the rangers.. You mean Kyle Palmieri. I'm still irate that the nhl didn't even review the stoll hit on fowler. The system is completely flawed and shanahan needs to go. I'm sick of this double standard.

Also interesting to note that the first three forward lines are being shaken up. First line winnik with the twins, second line beleskey with bobby and selanne, and palmieri on the third. Also vatenen in for concussed fowler paired with allen.
- selanne4pres

I still have the New Jersey Devils on the brain. Nick was sent to Minn in the Marek Zidlicky trade. My bad.

I still have the New Jersey Devils on the brain. Nick was sent to Minn in the Marek Zidlicky trade. My bad.

- Steve Palumbo

Obviously, because any true Ducks fan would have posted a blog chastising the NHL for not reviewing the hit on Fowler.

Obviously, because any true Ducks fan would have posted a blog chastising the NHL for not reviewing the hit on Fowler.
- Frank_Grimes

Not sure what I could add to that argument. I've seen both sides argued. It is what it is. Not everything is going to be called. I've watched it 100 times. Should it have been a penalty? Yes. Should it have been reviewed? Maybe.

If it is any consolation, between last year and the last game against Anaheim, I don't think the Sharks have the luxury of looking past the Ducks. The Sharks game over all has been poor the last three games. Not looking forward to this one.

Not sure what I could add to that argument. I've seen both sides argued. It is what it is. Not everything is going to be called. I've watched it 100 times. Should it have been a penalty? Yes. Should it have been reviewed? Maybe.
- Steve Palumbo

1. Where have you seen Stoll's side argued? Provide links or I am going to assume you are talking about the comments section of a puck daddy article, the LA Times, or someone in the Kings organization.

2. This vanilla response of yours...If you can't add some opinion to a dirty play which took out our best defensemen than I gotta wonder why you are blogging for us at all.

3. Would you honestly have the same opinion of 'it is what it is' if this was Adam Henrique?

4. Did you have a Brendan Shanahan poster on your wall growing up? NJD's white whale

1. Where have you seen Stoll's side argued? Provide links or I am going to assume you are talking about the comments section of a puck daddy article, the LA Times, or someone in the Kings organization.

2. This vanilla response of yours...If you can't add some opinion to a dirty play which took out our best defensemen than I gotta wonder why you are blogging for us at all.

3. Would you honestly have the same opinion of 'it is what it is' if this was Adam Henrique?

4. Did you have a Brendan Shanahan poster on your wall growing up? NJD's white whale
- Frank_Grimes

e5.. number four is actually true. That had to be a suspendable hit. The fact that it wasn't even reviewed shows the amount of bias in the league.

1. Where have you seen Stoll's side argued? Provide links or I am going to assume you are talking about the comments section of a puck daddy article, the LA Times, or someone in the Kings organization.

2. This vanilla response of yours...If you can't add some opinion to a dirty play which took out our best defensemen than I gotta wonder why you are blogging for us at all.

3. Would you honestly have the same opinion of 'it is what it is' if this was Adam Henrique?

4. Did you have a Brendan Shanahan poster on your wall growing up? NJD's white whale
- Frank_Grimes

Thanks for having such strong conviction.

1. Where have you seen Stoll's side argued? Provide links or I am going to assume you are talking about the comments section of a puck daddy article, the LA Times, or someone in the Kings organization.

2. This vanilla response of yours...If you can't add some opinion to a dirty play which took out our best defensemen than I gotta wonder why you are blogging for us at all.

3. Would you honestly have the same opinion of 'it is what it is' if this was Adam Henrique?

4. Did you have a Brendan Shanahan poster on your wall growing up? NJD's white whale
- Frank_Grimes

The fact that there was no blog after a huge win against the Kings was telling. The Kings owned the Ducks last year and not to be able yak about a convincing victory was disappointing. Plenty of other places to post though, Steve hopefully isn't being paid per blog.

The fact that there was no blog after a huge win against the Kings was telling. The Kings owned the Ducks last year and not to be able yak about a convincing victory was disappointing. Plenty of other places to post though, Steve hopefully isn't being paid per blog.
- duxcup07

I had prior engagements on Sunday. I apologize for the lack of a blog. This is the most passion I have seen from the Ducks fans in quite some time. See what winning can do? I will try and keep the blogs regular.

Steve, I won't rag on you for having a life outside of hockeybuzz, and I am sure I can speak for all Ducks fans on this site when I say we are thankful that you are willing to take the time to provide a little space on here for us to read and discuss Ducks hockey, even though we rarely reach any number of comments to make it worth your while.

Since you were so accommodating in writing up a blurb about the hit, I'd like to throw in my two cents which may help to spark some additional conversation. First, I understand why the call was not made on the ice. The officials were preoccupied due to the fight breaking out and the official closest to the play was being wiped out by the hit itself and probably had no time to react. However, it is plays like this that, in my opinion, warrant supplemental discipline due to the simple fact that it was not called on the ice. To not penalize Stoll in some way for what is a clear boarding call reinforces the thought that it is only a violation if you don't get caught.

I think most hockey fans would agree that on-ice penalties are enforced inconsistenly in this league, and the role of supplemental discipline should be to provide a consistent and unbiased method of correcting that disparity. By not reviewing this play, Shanahan inadvertently sends a message that boarding a vulnerable player is a tolerable act so long as it is not caught. Before I go further, I want to state here that this was clearly a board, as per Rule 41:

41.1 Boarding – A boarding penalty shall be imposed on any player or goalkeeper who checks or pushes a defenseless opponent in such a manner that causes the opponent to hit or impact the boards violently in the boards. The severity of the penalty, based upon the impact with the boards, shall be at the discretion of the Referee.

Whether or not you (or anyone else) thinks that Stoll was just finishing his check, the characteristics of this penalty were present in the play. Fowler was vulnerable, his numbers were facing Stoll, Stoll grabbed his jersey and used his momemtum to push him head first into the boards. It's textbook stuff here, and it should have been called in-game. Since it wasn't called, the onus should be on Shanahan to send a message that it was a play the league doesn't want to see. All he would have had to do was review the play, but he wouldn't even give Ducks fans the satisfaction of knowing that it was being looked into by the league.

Second, Stoll did this same thing in 2011 and got away with it. Look up the youtube video on his hit on Ian White. The guy is a repeat offender and he walks with impunity. You could argue that the hit on White was even worse, but the league did nothing about it. The point is, hits like this happen all too often and only about half the time is there supplemental discipline. This isn't just about Fowler or White, its about having consistent punishments for rule violations. Coming out of the ridiculous lockout we get asinine rule tweaks like 'covering the puck' but we get nothing in the way of protecting players from dangerous situations like this boarding play. It's maddening as a fan to see the league overprotect its goalies with increased interference calls and slow the game down with ticky-tack stoppages for gloving a puck, when defensemen are getting crushed in their own endboards.

Third, this hit came at a time when the Ducks have the fewest powerplay opportunities in the league, and seemingly can't buy a call. The fact that nothing came of it is just a slap in the face to our fanbase, many of which are already convinced that there is a small market bias and a west coast bias working against our visibility in major media outlets. If this hit happened to a Toronto player, you can rest assured there would be some serious blowback from that fanbase and some heavy dicussion by the major media outlets regarding whether it was a penalty and what kind of discipline should have been doled out. It's just embarrassing as a Ducks fan to see absolutely no discussion on TSN, THN, etc regarding what could easily be called a dirty hit, and at least conservatively be called a borderline or questionable hit.

Fourth, and this is admittedly a difficult thing to assess, but I havent seen anyone mention the fact that this hit may have occurred after the whistle blew to stop play during the Allen scrap. It is clear in the video that Fowler stops before he reaches the boards. Could he be stopping because the play has been blown dead? If that is the case, then it makes the situation all that much worse, does it not? Even if you could argue that Stoll was just finishing his check, he clearly boarded Fowler and it may have been after the whistle.

Finally, the most damning part of this whole issue for me is the fact that there has been no explanation for why the play was not reviewed. If these types of plays are borderline and are being left to the discretion of the on-ice officials, then the NHL needs to say that in a statement when they rule that they will not review it. The complete silence makes it seem like it wasn't even looked at, which is most likely the source of the bulk of fury from Ducks fans. If you are going to miss a call on the ice which results in an injury and can at least be considered a borderline or questionable play, then release a statement explaining why you are not going to pursue any course of action. Don't just leave an entire fanbase guessing. But of course, releasing such an explanation would make Shanahan accountable for setting that precedent, and in this era of inconsistent punishment I guess it is no suprise to see him elect to pursue silence rather than transparency in the way he conducts his business.

what happened? was Hiller pulled? injured?

what happened? was Hiller pulled? injured?
- wingz4life

No, Fasth got the start tonight. Hiller got the night off. Fasth seems to be sharper so far this season even though Hiller is still the #1 and will likely continue to get the bulk of the starts

What a game!! Fasth is amazing and deserves to get more starts.

What a game!! Fasth is amazing and deserves to get more starts.
- selanne4pres

Fasth looked good !

I had prior engagements on Sunday. I apologize for the lack of a blog. This is the most passion I have seen from the Ducks fans in quite some time. See what winning can do? I will try and keep the blogs regular.
- Steve Palumbo

That's cool dude, but we're not expecting epic tome's here. You could've banged out a paragraph during the power outage and said you'd have more later and we'd have been thrilled.
And, it turns out you were right about Viktor Fasth. Like the guy said in Airplane II, "Bro was on!"
http://www.youtube.com/wa..._detailpage&v=6_lLJjb1BBQ

There were a fair number of comments from Kings fans on hfboards.com that were of the opinion Stoll would be suspended. Some were really surprised when it was not even reviewed.

So based upon the lack of review by the nhl and this article, it is alright drive someone's head into the boards if it was not intentional? Gotta love the nhl and how inconsistent they are.

There were a fair number of comments from Kings fans on hfboards.com that were of the opinion Stoll would be suspended. Some were really surprised when it was not even reviewed.

So based upon the lack of review by the nhl and this article, it is alright drive someone's head into the boards if it was not intentional? Gotta love the nhl and how inconsistent they are.
- ssducks

Kerry Fraser agrees.http://t.co/Q5j8gOwm

I had prior engagements on Sunday. I apologize for the lack of a blog. This is the most passion I have seen from the Ducks fans in quite some time. See what winning can do? I will try and keep the blogs regular.
- Steve Palumbo

And now a dig at the passion of Ducks fans? Wow.

I agree with the other posters. This is a very vanilla response you are taking of this hit. Even die hard Kings fans were admitting that the hit was dirty. This is the only article I have come across ANYWHERE on the internet so far that did not say so. The fact that it is coming from a Ducks Blogger makes me question whether you are even a Ducks fan, or just being paid to write about them.