The Sedin & Keith Affair

[Uncle dans leg]

I'm actually hoping we see them this playoffs. I like how we play against them and think we win the physical war quite handily. Anyone catch Bolland getting destroyed by 2 Canucks? Notice how little of an impact he has on games when he's the target?
Were bigger, meaner, tougher and very motivated to lay a major ass kicking on those clowns. Perfect way to get our hands dirty in an early round match up IMHO.

[ESQ]

Keith should have gotten a misconduct, kicked out of the game.

Welcome aboard!

I actually think the refs are extremely lucky the game didn't get far uglier. I agree the hit should have been 5 + game, but at least after the first scrum Keith should have gotten a game misconduct just to get his ass out of there. Probably Bieksa should have gone too, fortunately he didn't do anything stupid after that (plus no Hawks were willing to take him on apparently).

[Larry Goodenough]

Keith should have gotten a misconduct, kicked out of the game.

Welcome aboard!

I actually think the refs are extremely lucky the game didn't get far uglier. I agree the hit should have been 5 + game, but at least after the first scrum Keith should have gotten a game misconduct just to get his ass out of there. Probably Bieksa should have gone too, fortunately he didn't do anything stupid after that (plus no Hawks were willing to take him on apparently).

What I'm hearing is O'Halloran reffed the recent games in which Tyler Myers was suspended 3 games and Doan was supended 3 games. He gave minor penalties for both. He was also the senior ref in the Chicago game.

He was also the ref when Eager ran Daniel from behind in the San Jose series after Bieksa accepted Marleau's challenge. (2 minute minor)

He was also the ref when Marchand punched Daniel repeatedly. (2 minute minor)

Looks like the NHL likes to reward guys who are afraid to make a big call.

"Don't worry O'Halloran, we are hockey men who know the game better than anyone else. Leave that stuff to us so that we can justify our position at headquarters. Now go ref game 7 , and remember, real hockey men like us let them play" - Colon Campbell and Mike Murphy

[donlever]

In my years followng the team and travelling to take in out of town games I have had meals at hotels (running into guys in the restaurant, start up a covnersation, sit down and eat types of things) with some folks involved in the league.

Two of the referees.

Dan O'Halloran and Stephane Auger.

Oh the life of a Canuck fan.


(Oh and as I noted in a previous post he was also the guy with the late phantom goalie interrference call on Hansen in a 1 goal games versus the Wild this week.)

[coco_canuck]

Here's the link to AV calling out O'Halloran: http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/hockey/vancouver-canucks/Vancouver+Canucks+coach+Alain+Vigneault+fingers+referee+over+Daniel/6343254/story.html

But the bad news today is that Daniel is not feeling well.

From Twitter....

Jim Jamieson The Province
"#Canucks Henrik said he spoke to Daniel last night after he got back to Van. Still not feeling well."

Darren Dreger
"While the NHL maps out its discipline hearing plan for Duncan Keith...Daniel Sedin is not well and will be further evaluated later today."

Brad Ziemer
"Henrik talked to Daniel last night after he arrived back in Vancouver. Still not feeling great, dealing with headaches. #Canucks"

If there was something that changed in the eyes of the league to make them consider a longer suspension for Keith, it seems to be Daniel's health.

[Larry Goodenough]

And this hasn't been mentioned yet. Shanahan says a one game suspension in the finals would equal 12 regular season games. The last line says it all. But it would actually be over 50 games because Rome was out of game 3 for 55 minutes as well. So, if the league suspends Rome for 50 plus games for a hit they admit was not a head blow, but a late blow. Keith is out for some of the playoffs, right?

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2012 ... son-games/

A little something to stick in your back pocket – NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan is on the record that a one-game suspension in the playoffs is more significant than a one-game suspension in the regular season.

In fact, according to Shanahan, it’s a LOT more significant.

“I can attest to this as a player, if you ask me if I’d rather have a four-game suspension in November than a one-game suspension in the playoffs, I’d take the four-game suspension in November,” Shanahan told ESPN’s Craig Custance. “If you think about it, that one game in the finals is the equivalent of a 12-game suspension. … I don’t feel we’re in the punishment business, we’re in the changing player behavior business. You do that by getting a player’s attention.”

So by Shanahan’s math, Vancouver defenseman Aaron Rome was suspended 48 regular-season games for his late hit on Boston’s Nathan Horton in last year’s finals.

[SonofaBure]

Here's the link to AV calling out O'Halloran: http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/hockey/vancouver-canucks/Vancouver+Canucks+coach+Alain+Vigneault+fingers+referee+over+Daniel/6343254/story.html

But the bad news today is that Daniel is not feeling well.

From Twitter....

Jim Jamieson The Province
"#Canucks Henrik said he spoke to Daniel last night after he got back to Van. Still not feeling well."

Darren Dreger
"While the NHL maps out its discipline hearing plan for Duncan Keith...Daniel Sedin is not well and will be further evaluated later today."

Brad Ziemer
"Henrik talked to Daniel last night after he arrived back in Vancouver. Still not feeling great, dealing with headaches. #Canucks"

If there was something that changed in the eyes of the league to make them consider a longer suspension for Keith, it seems to be Daniel's health.

crap...that doesn't sound good. I wonder if Danny is regretting that hit on Keith. It almost didn't seem worth it, in hind sight.

I hope he miraclulously gets a lot better after the ruling comes down on Keith....if you know what I mean.

[donlever]

..yeah it looks to me like Dank was just trying to body check him. He makes every effort to keep his arm in tight and not lift his elbow while delivering the blow.

Did he hit him in the head...yes.

Should it have been a penalty...yes.

A suspension...by the letter of the law (whatever law that is the NHL is following these days)...yes.

But I do not believe there was any intent other than to finish his check with his shoulder to Keiths body as hits are meant to be.

Thus I do not think he can wish anything other than that he should have been more aware of where Keiths head was. It was still within the realm of being a hockey play.

The premeditated, predatory retaliation is an entirely different animal and has nothing to do with hockey and far more to do with mean street retribution as I think we all realize.

[coco_canuck]

The premeditated, predatory retaliation is an entirely different animal and has nothing to do with hockey and far more to do with mean street retribution as I think we all realize.

Daniel will most likely not get suspended, nor will he receive a fine.

Shanny has let a lot of guys go who have made similar hits to the one Daniel made, and the justification is that it wasn't a predatory hit, the shoulder was down, and the head wasn't the sole principle point of contact, and there was quite a bit of body contact as well.

The most recent example is Nystrom on Letang that went without supplementary discipline. If you go back and look at that hit, it's difficult to surmise that Daniel's was as bad, let alone worse, than the Nystrom hit.

Then again, the consistency hasn't exactly been consistent.

[SonofaBure]

..yeah it looks to me like Dank was just trying to body check him. He makes every effort to keep his arm in tight and not lift his elbow while delivering the blow.

Did he hit him in the head...yes.

Should it have been a penalty...yes.

A suspension...by the letter of the law (whatever law that is the NHL is following these days)...yes.

But I do not believe there was any intent other than to finish his check with his shoulder to Keiths body as hits are meant to be.

Thus I do not think he can wish anything other than that he should have been more aware of where Keiths head was. It was still within the realm of being a hockey play.

The premeditated, predatory retaliation is an entirely different animal and has nothing to do with hockey and far more to do with mean street retribution as I think we all realize.

Yea, I agree. Being more aware of where Keith's head was AND where the puck was. The puck seems to be out of the zone already and Keith wasn't even facing Danny.

I just heard Keith's hearing will be at 11:00 today. He refused to come in person, so it'll done over a call. I doubt that'll equate to a lesser suspension though. I won't be surprised if he's out till the playoffs start.

[Potatoe1]

This may be a situation where the media attention focused on the incident will force them to live up to the "tranparency" that was promised.

Yup, typical reactionary NHL...

Suspension are just as much about the media buzz created by the incident as they are about the actual incident.

NHL probably only wants to give Keith 3 or 4 games but with the current climate and the fact that Dank could be out a while, they will have to give him a much stiffer penalty.

[Topper]

I can't believe we are discussing weather a Daniel Sedin hit was clean or not?

Clean it was, solid body shot along the boards, shoulder caught a bit of chin along the way......suck it up Duncan.

[Hockey Widow]

I can't believe we are discussing weather a Daniel Sedin hit was clean or not?

Clean it was, solid body shot along the boards, shoulder caught a bit of chin along the way......suck it up Duncan.

Its like I said before Topper, Keith was more embarrassed that the hit came from Dank than he was upset about the hit. Keith was apparently yapping about the hit and the ref just said it was clean. Someone on the Canucks then made reference to it being nothing since it was from a Swede which caused a few Canucks to giggle like silly girls, which seemed to upset Keith more. So I think he was getting the gears from a few of the Canuck yappers and it just made his ego hurt a bit so he told Dank to keep his head up as he was going to eat an elbow.

All of this of course is second hand after the fact so I have no idea how accurate it all is or how much is just more trash talk. There is NO indication that any on ice official heard any of this trash talk. But Hank has already alluded to the fact that words were exchanged and that Keith promised to do exactly what he did.

[okcanuck]

Heres hoping that Kieth's suspension runs into the 1st round of the play-offs,but I doubt it. That would certainly act as a deterence and maybe finally get rid of this star-player head-shot targeting that seems to be happening.

The powers to be in the NHL also have to get a grip on the incompetent refereeing . I've been watching hockey for over fifty years and I cant recall seeing such inconsistent refereeing. Back in the old days they let a lot more go but at least you knew for the whole season ,including playoffs, that a penalty was a penalty, period.

Come on Bettman get your head out of the owners asses and fix this f---ing problem before your league becomes a complete laughing-stock of professional sports....maybe getting rid of the instigator-rule would be a good start. It can`t be that difficult. Just do something about it.

[donlever]

...Hanks reaction on the ice and post game speak to something untoward having occurred.

It was to out of character for him to be simply knee jerk.