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In the second period of Game One of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal playoff series between the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators, the Senators were on a power play when Montreal defenseman P.K. Subban saw Ottawa forward Mark Stone skating by in front of the net. Subban slashed at Stone's wrist. Stone rolled around on the ice and then left for the locker room. He later returned to finish the game. Today, it was revealed that Stone has a micro-fracture in his wrist and is very doubtful to play in the rest of the series.
Subban received a slashing major and a game misconduct. That led to clueless TV announcers and writers who do not know the rule book griping about why a major penalty and gamer were assessed. Here are the relevant rules (bolding added for emphasis):
Rule 61.3: A major penalty, at the discretion of the Referee based on the severity of the contact, shall be imposed on a player who slashes an opponent. When injury occurs, a major penalty must be assessed under this rule (see 61.5).Rule 61.5: Whenever a major penalty is assessed for slashing, a game misconduct penalty must also be imposed.
Some folks claimed last night Stone embellished the slash, although that talk died down quickly today when the broken wrist was revealed. This was clearly not a case of embellishment. If the referee felt that Subban was trying to cause injury, he could have assessed a match penalty -- which carries an automatic review for supplementary discipline -- rather than a game misconduct.
Subban actually was given the benefit of that doubt here. I am not convinced that the injury the player inflicted was completely accidental. Watching the video of the play, he seems to gratuitously slash with Stone's hand or wrist as the intended contact point.
Folks, it does NOT take swinging the stick like a baseball bat or chopping down ala wielding an oversized hammer in the test-of-strength carnival game to do a lot of damage to someone. Part of what made notorious stickwork artists like Glenn Anderson and Ken "the Rat" Linseman so hated is that were masters at "subtly" and deliberately going for unpadded or vulnerable spots on an opponent's body.
Even if Subban's intent was not to cause injury and this was simply a stupid play gone even worse, players are responsible for their own sticks. There was zero need to slash at Stone in the first place. I am not sure why we are supposed to feel sympathy for Subban being "wrongfully" dispatched from the game when both the recklessness of his actions and the rule book remedies for them were clear-cut in this case.
This is not Subban's first rodeo. Over the course of his career to date, Subban has started to build up a history of incidents involving questionable hits and disregard for opponents' safety. The fact that it happened in the first game of a playoff series and the victim has been one of the opponent's most productive players is also a bad optic but does not in of itself prove anything.
I know there have also been allegations made that Subban threatened Stone beforehand. However, I am not close enough to this situation to comment in that regard. I don't know what went back and forth beforehand, what actually got said or if the two had previously started to build a history with each other. I also know from 40 years of experience in this game that the vast majority of on-ice trash talking and "I'll bleeping send you to the ER" type of stuff said the heat of battle is just that: trash that is not to be taken seriously with no intent to actually make good on it.
As such, I am tossing that part of it out of equation here. I'm simply not in position to comment on that part.
Under NHL rules, a slashing related major and game misconduct need not carry supplemental discipline. Subban walked away today with no suspension. I tend to think the NHL dropped the ball here and Subban should have gotten at least an additional game off on top of the one he got tossed from last night.
Everytime I see the slash replayed, my gut response is that it waddles and quacks like a play where Subban knew what he was doing. It was not truly justifiable as a minor infraction gone bad. Apart from being suspended on display in certain Chinatown storefront windows, if a hockey stick infraction waddles and quacks like clear-cut recklessness and borderline intent to injure, supplemental discipline is warranted.
Obviously, the NHL disagrees. It won't be the first or last time. Subban got a slap on the wrist and will be in the lineup come Game Two. Stone got a slash on the wrist and may be done for the series.
I am not saying to suspend based on the result. I'm saying that Subban did something needless here and his actions that caused the injury were not entirely accidental. He got off with no match penalty and no supplementary discipline.
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Paul Stewart holds the distinction of being the first U.S.-born citizen to make it to the NHL as both a player and referee. On March 15, 2003, he became the first American-born referee to officiate in 1,000 NHL games.
Today, Stewart is the chairman of the officiating and discipline committee for the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and serves as director of hockey officiating for the ECAC.
The longtime referee heads Officiating by Stewart, a consulting, training and evaluation service for officials, while also maintaining a busy schedule as a public speaker, fund raiser and master-of-ceremonies for a host of private, corporate and public events. As a non-hockey venture, he is the owner of Lest We Forget.
Stewart is currently working with a co-author on an autobiography.