Boulerice: “The Wrong Way”

Oct 11, 2007 3:30 AM David M Singer

Jesse Boulerice’s crosscheck to the face of Ryan Kesler in last night’s Flyers at Canucks game will most likely earn him a suspension, and a lengthy one at that.

Both Boulerice and Flyers coach John Stevens expect one.

“It’s unacceptable, it’s something that we can’t have, Flyers coach John Stevens said. “We didn’t need to get involved in anything really, we had the hockey game in hand and that was the message on the bench, so that kind of stuff can’t happen.”

Kesler spoke with the media after the game. His jaw is not broken, and he will undergo an MRI today to see if there’s a fracture. The AP thoughts from Boulerice were succinct:

Boulerice said he was sorry for the hit.

“I reacted in a bad way the wrong way,” he said.

Here’s a clip of the incident from the Comcast broadcast, then the NHL Network, then back to Comcast for a scrum at the end of the game involving Ben Eager:

The number of games Boulerice’s suspension hits will probably be in the double digits, with 15-20 games being likely based upon other 2007 suspensions.

Intent is always a hard thing to determine. After one view it looks obvious, Boulerice hit him high and hard. The two battled back and forth, and perhaps Boulerice just popped. However, it’s also unlikely he’d purposely hit Kesler in the head and then drop his gloves expecting a fight.

Boulerice signed a one-year, $475,000 (US) deal with the Flyers last week.

The Flyers won last night’s game 8-2.

Boxscore/summary
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Flyers clobber Canucks, 8-2
AP Story
CP Story
Canucks and Beyond

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There were twelve games last night. While five were one-goal games, none went into overtime.

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SportsBonehead.com on Oct 15, 2007 at 12:52 PM

Boulerice suspended 25 games for cross-check to face

Philadelphia Flyers forward Jesse Boulerice has been suspended 25 games for his vicious cross-check hit to the face of Vancouver’s Ryan Kesler on Friday. The suspension on Boulerice is the longest in league history, making a statement that boneh...

Comments

#1 - Mike on Oct 11, 2007 at 05:44 AM

Damn that was a nasty hit. Boulerice will definitely get suspended for a while for that one. I wonder if the Flyers will even let him play again. What do you think?

Excellent coverage as always.

#2 - jayc948 from Philadelphia, PA on Oct 11, 2007 at 05:01 PM

What Jesse did was pretty bad but the spotlight on cheap shots these days is going to make everything worse for him. Kesler took a run at Randy Jones from the side boards and missed. So Boulerice went down the other end of the ice to get at Kesler.

Instead of cross-checking him in the face he should have just grabbed him first. If Kesler wasn’t going to answer the bell then he should have just beat him down, that way it would have been Kesler being the one that broke the code. The worst Boulerice would have gotten would have been an instigator and maybe a game misconduct, that’s about it.

He’s going to get at least 15-25 games, which sucks, but that’s probably how it’s going to be from now on.

#3 - Marc from canada on Oct 12, 2007 at 06:29 PM

What a garbage player...if you gotta a problem with a guy FIGHT HIM!! No room in hockey for that stuff...glad he got a big suspension.

#4 - Rick from Orlando Fl on Oct 13, 2007 at 10:05 AM

We all enjoy a decent, CLEAN fight - that’s what hockey is - but this was just cheap, dirty hit.

#5 - Chris from New York on Oct 13, 2007 at 12:22 PM

Damn, that was a heavy hit. Boulerice and no reason to lay just a dirty, cheap hit on Kesler, they were up 7-2 at the time. If he’s pissing you off, suck it up and be happy you’re up by 5 goals.

#6 - BattleAxe13 on Oct 14, 2007 at 08:44 PM

Yep same old story from the low class Flyers organization. Two players now with suspensions 20 games or more in the same season. They fire Clarke but bring him back in another role and then replace his GM position with another cement head from the infamous Broadstreet Bullies. Hey Philadelphia Flyers, wake up its 2007!!!

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