Five game suspension for Georges Laraque in my opinion is a bit harsh.  We won’t know for sure but if it was Alex Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby making the knee to knee contact instead of Laraque I have a funny feeling they wouldn’t have been suspended at all.  Injuries are gonna happen in a contact sport.  Whether it’s fighting, hitting or just general contact guys are gonna get hurt in a tough sport.  Suspending a fighter and dubbing him a “dirty player” is only going to generate more negativity over the rough and tumble world of hockey as a whole.  It’s sad how two faced the NHL is.  On one hand they want fighting to continue to keep the game “honest” and for sheer fan appreciation.  On the other hand any chance they get to hang their gamers out to dry they seem to do it in a heartbeat.  Laraque to me has always been one of the ambassadors of the NHL who just happens to score with punches instead of goals.  Let’s play European hockey and not touch each other.  Then the NHL can be as soft as the Soviet Red Army when the Broad Street Bullies beat them off the ice.

I agree with you Christian, it sucks that the league never suspends stars for similar acts, but a enforcer or dubbed “dirty player”  gets an automatic.  You mentioned that if Crosby or Ovechkin would go knee to knee, well remember in the second round of the playoffs Wash vs. Pitt 09 Ovechkin had an obvious knee on knee with Sergei Gonchar and Ovechump received nothinng for it.  Laraque is usually a very disciplined player and the majority of his PIM’s are from fighting.  I think he deserved a suspension but definetly not 5 games.

Well put by the both of you. Enforcers are not dirty players. But the league wants the stars in there all the time. I still don’t think it’s fair though, when a star could do the same thing as Laraque and get nothing for it.

Georges Laraque is one of the most classy players in the NHL. He fights well but he’s always clean and usually wrestles the opponent to the ice. Off the ice Georges does charity work and he’s an animal loving vegetarian. The suspension is an abomination.

The broadcasters always praise Kronwall for his monster checks,half of them are dirty anyway.Hegot what was coming to him.Also,you will probably never see Crosby run people like Ovechkin does.But you will most likey never see Ovechkin drop the gloves like Crosby.Kronwall and Ovechkin are 2 of the biggest cowards in the game.

As much as it pains me as a Bruins fan to agree, I do. Laraque is far from a dirty player. The league needs to remove head from arse before handing out suspensions.

You guys are idiots.  I don’t care what he does off the ice or how many children’s hospitals he visits a week, the hit was dirty, dangerous and cheep.  And to compare Kronwall’s beautiful open ice hits to a knee on knee cheep shot is ridiculous.  No doubt Kronwall’s hits push the envelope but most of them are clean and most come during the playoffs.  A good open ice hit is what playoff hockey is all about, what place is there in the game for knee on knee hits?  PS Watch the tape, it was intentional.

Update the freaking site. How hard is it?

Hey Ovechkin.Karma buddy,I bet Sergei Gonchar isn’t gonna shed a tear for your cheap ass!I hope your knee fells good.

I’m with Nick who gives a flying **** what he does on his own time, a dirty hit, is a dirty hit.