Quote:
Originally Posted by JBar595
The problem is not with the players, most of these high sticking penatlies are not on purpose. The problem is the rules committe and the on ice officals. These moron are making rules that defy the laws of physics. A player falls or is hit and his stick flys up in the air and hits another player, he gets a high sticking penalty for not controlling his stick, which is out of the players control. Same thing with the delay of game penalty for hitting the puck out of the defensive zone, a REF should be able to determine if it was done on purpose or not. The big failure here is leadership in the NHL and rules committe, just a bunch of people trying to justify their jobs at the fans expense.
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Well, no. High-sticking is called that way because it IS the player's responsibility to control his stick at all times. Carelessness causes a lot of injuries, see
Bryan Berard for example.
I'll agree that the delay of game for clearing the puck out of the defensive zone glass is stupid, but if it is in, it has to be the way it is now. If it's not black and white, and left up to the ref's discretion, there's even more room for error. Imagine if your team was down 3-2 in an important playoff game, and the opponents cleared it over the glass, and the ref ruled it accidental. Pandemonium.
None of that really applies to this incident, though. O'Brien pretty clearly thrust his stick into a guy's face. Not the worst stick incident I've seen by any stretch, but its an act made with pretty bad intentions. Nice to see a suspension not based on an injury for once.