In this edition of the hotstove we discuss whether Alex Burmistrov should be suspended for his hit on Patrice Bergeron.
Burmistrov threw an elbow to the face of Bergeron. Terrible hit. pic.twitter.com/eUY1r5TndA
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) October 8, 2015Note: it appears there will be no supplemental discipline.
Todd Cordell I really like Alex Burmistrov but I thought it was a suspendible offense. Should he miss significant time? No, but I think the hit was worthy of sitting a game or two.
It takes a lot to really ruffle the feathers of Patrice Bergeron and Burmistrov did that here; likely because of Bergeron's concussion history.
Bergeron left himself vulnerable for a split second after reaching for that puck and Burmistrov took advantage of it. I'm not saying to avoid hitting the guy but you can't hit someone with the head being the initial point of contact.
Ed Stein I had to watch this a few times. What I think happened is that Burmistrov tried to take advantage of the fact Bergeron had his head down. At the last second, it looked like Bergeron saw him coming and started to raise up. Burmistrov was already committed to the check. He came up with Bergeron and caught him a bit high. Luckily, it wasn't a particularly hard hit. Bergeron seemed more surprised than hurt. The player safety department considers past history and Burmistrov has not been in trouble before. In soccer terms, the hit will be given a "yellow card." Anything else like this and Burmistrov will miss a few games, but not this time.
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