Jarkko Ruutu vs Steve McCarthy

Make no mistake about it, Ruutu knew exactly what he was doing with the knee shot.. Once dirty, always dirty. He is a punka$$ bytch!!! Always has been, always will be. Great job by McCarthy. And I say this as a fan of the Penguins...

not a dirty hit, but still an appropriate response by McCarthy.

What a ****ing dirty knee hit...

How could anyone call it anything but a draw. There was NO fight.

Correct response by McCarthy whether or not Ruutu did it on purpose, which I suspect he did.

this is bull. theres no way this should be considered a fight. ruutu went for a clean hit and kovulchuk tried to flee and left his knee out there. i understand mccarthy protecting his star but dont start throwing punches at someone that doesnt know theyre fighting. i have a feeling these 2 will go at it again and ruutu will have the upper hand.

i call this a draw because i cant possibly give mccarthy a win for cheapshots.

ouch of atl!

Crap fight and an even worse call by the refs.

This was one of the worst calls I have seen in NHL history. Foremost, Ruutu never extends his leg and is actually attempting to hit Kovey high. Kovalchuk's slipping to the left to avoid the hit causes the injury. Kneeing, unlike tripping, cannot be called if it is done accidentally. There has to be intent, and there was not.

However, I can still understand the referee's screwing up that call. A player with a bad reputation hurts one of the NHL's best, and the Thrashers react. Regardless, Ruutu gets five for fighting without even dropping his stick let alone his gloves or throwing a punch. Simply abhorrent. The officials should be embarassed and Toronto should come down hard on this simply awful call. I cannot believe the TSN feed I was watching. The color guy talked for a minute about how it was after the whistle, then realized it wasn't, and covered up by saying Ruutu should have let up because he knew it was a delayed offside.

pwned

Ruutu, you're a punk. Stand up if you're going to cheap shot a guy like that.

It was not even a fight. I'd say McCarthy assaulted Ruutu who was not willing to fight.

Non-fight.

How can anyone say this wasn't a draw? It wasn't even a fight. It shouldn't have been a kneeing or fighting major on ruutu. Good job punching ruutu in the back of the head mcarthy.

What a joke. Not at all a dirty hit or even a penalty. Ruutu also got 5 minutes for fighting without throwing a punch or dropping his gloves.