Ruutu better not get suspended...
Posted 4:02 PM ET | Comments 10
Here goes my first blog, but I finally have something that needs to be said.
I watched the Pens/Thrashers game last night on TSN and saw "the hit".
[sarcasm]Oh my god, Ruutu ruined Kovalchuk with a blatant knee-on-knee dirty hit that will obviously end Kovalchuks career and cement Ruutu's legacy as a Samuelsson clone! [/sarcasm]
Are you kidding me? Ruutu finished his check, did NOT stick out his knee at all, and Kovalchuk trying to get out of the way got his leg tangled with Ruutu. There was NO intent to injure on that play as far as I can see, unless you count McCarthy coming in gloves off and feeding Ruutu his lunch.
So lets see:
-Ruutu tries to hit Kovalchuk, misses most of him but unfortunately clips his knee.
-Kovalchuk drops in pain (obviously, it probably did hurt, but this IS a contact sport)
-Ruutu gets blindsided by McCarthy (who already had his gloves off) and starts beating on Ruutu (who by the way didn't appear to drop his gloves but instead tried to defend himself)
-Ruutu gets 5 for Kneeing, 5 for Fighting and a Game Misconduct?
-McCarthy gets 2 for Instigating, 5 for Fighting and a 10 Minute Misconduct?
How did Ruutu get penalized the most here? I'm sorry, but that is a joke. The hit was unfortunate, but it wasn't dirty. But for Ruutu to get tossed from the game AND penalized for defending himself from getting the beat down is just stupid. Although I disagree with the Instigator rule, it is there to penalize the guy that STARTS the fight (McCarthy), yet his team ended up with the power play? Yikes...
I assume this is because the hit was on Kovalchuk, one of the games brightest stars, and the "hit" was applied by Ruutu, who has been pegged as a pest and dirty player. Well this is where that double standard that the NHL has could apply, and if it does than this league will prove what a joke it truly is.
Kovalchuk was suspended one game last week for levelling Michal Rozsival of the Rangers last night when he JUMPED at him from behind. One game? If Downie or Ruutu or Simon or anyone else made that hit it is an absolute 10 game minimum, yet the league wants to keep their stars in play (something I can understand to some extent), but his hit was at least as bad as Downie on McAmmond (which drew 20 games might I add).
Ruutu didn't even deserve a major penalty for this hit, let alone a game misconduct and leaving his team shorthanded after the incident occured. Whatever, it's over now and the games go on. But if he is suspended at all than it will show that there is a double standard in the league when it comes to its stars and the rest of the players.
There is NOW WAY that Ruutu's hit on Kovalchuk is even in the same league as Kovy's back-side attack on Rozsival. And if Ruutu gets the same penalty or worse (which means any suspension), than I will officially give up hope for this league while Bettman is in charge.
[/rant]
I watched the Pens/Thrashers game last night on TSN and saw "the hit".
[sarcasm]Oh my god, Ruutu ruined Kovalchuk with a blatant knee-on-knee dirty hit that will obviously end Kovalchuks career and cement Ruutu's legacy as a Samuelsson clone! [/sarcasm]
Are you kidding me? Ruutu finished his check, did NOT stick out his knee at all, and Kovalchuk trying to get out of the way got his leg tangled with Ruutu. There was NO intent to injure on that play as far as I can see, unless you count McCarthy coming in gloves off and feeding Ruutu his lunch.
So lets see:
-Ruutu tries to hit Kovalchuk, misses most of him but unfortunately clips his knee.
-Kovalchuk drops in pain (obviously, it probably did hurt, but this IS a contact sport)
-Ruutu gets blindsided by McCarthy (who already had his gloves off) and starts beating on Ruutu (who by the way didn't appear to drop his gloves but instead tried to defend himself)
-Ruutu gets 5 for Kneeing, 5 for Fighting and a Game Misconduct?
-McCarthy gets 2 for Instigating, 5 for Fighting and a 10 Minute Misconduct?
How did Ruutu get penalized the most here? I'm sorry, but that is a joke. The hit was unfortunate, but it wasn't dirty. But for Ruutu to get tossed from the game AND penalized for defending himself from getting the beat down is just stupid. Although I disagree with the Instigator rule, it is there to penalize the guy that STARTS the fight (McCarthy), yet his team ended up with the power play? Yikes...
I assume this is because the hit was on Kovalchuk, one of the games brightest stars, and the "hit" was applied by Ruutu, who has been pegged as a pest and dirty player. Well this is where that double standard that the NHL has could apply, and if it does than this league will prove what a joke it truly is.
Kovalchuk was suspended one game last week for levelling Michal Rozsival of the Rangers last night when he JUMPED at him from behind. One game? If Downie or Ruutu or Simon or anyone else made that hit it is an absolute 10 game minimum, yet the league wants to keep their stars in play (something I can understand to some extent), but his hit was at least as bad as Downie on McAmmond (which drew 20 games might I add).
Ruutu didn't even deserve a major penalty for this hit, let alone a game misconduct and leaving his team shorthanded after the incident occured. Whatever, it's over now and the games go on. But if he is suspended at all than it will show that there is a double standard in the league when it comes to its stars and the rest of the players.
There is NOW WAY that Ruutu's hit on Kovalchuk is even in the same league as Kovy's back-side attack on Rozsival. And if Ruutu gets the same penalty or worse (which means any suspension), than I will officially give up hope for this league while Bettman is in charge.
[/rant]
Just another sad incident of penalizing an injury (and really I don't think he was THAT injured) and not the infraction itself. Someone really needs to step in and address this problem ASAP.
Ruutu got 5 minutes twice solely on reputation alone. He did try to run Kovalchuk(well deserved, and something Kovalchuk better get used to if he's going to continue pointing at opposing players and benches like a 6 year old), and should have gotten 2 for charging. The 5 for kneeing was pathetic and the 5 for fighting(he never took his gloves off or threw a punch) was even worse. All I can say is those refs had better be excused from working any playoff games this season based on last night's nonsense.
I must agree with Pags. Well said. Who ever was officiating that game is the one that deserves the suspension, not Ruutu.
Agreed. The call was insane. I thought because of the scuffle Ruutu would get a 2-minute roughing AT THE LEAST. Even that would've been a stretch because i genuinely didn't see him do anything wrong. But, as Pags said, it was simply a matter of reputation. And yes, I didn't see his gloves come off either. And frankly, up until last night, I'd never seen a kneeing penalty in hockey before. I knew it existed, but I always had the mental image of a MMA knee to the face. Guess I was wrong.
err...make that "AT THE MOST"
All that was needed was a two minute penalty for charging and that's it.
A charging call of 2 minutes would've been fine - I agree.
Jerky Ruutu deserves every penalty minute he can get and a huge ass whoopin on a regular basis. He deserved the 2 minute charge. If they change the 5 minute major to "for being an ass hole" and the other 5 minute major to "for being a wuss, being a turtle, and NOT fighting", then those two 5 minute majors are well deserved. I say suspend Jerky for not fighting and setting a bad example.
DucksFan07...or should I say Don Cherry? Nice to see intelligent comments from an obviously educated hockey fan...ha-ha.Here's Ruutu not fighting Darcy Tucker...not bloodying him, and not kicking the crap out of him as well:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRiLdkOI-KAAnd 6 pages of Ruutu's non-fights:http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=RUUTU VS
I am honored by your Don Cherry compliment. You made my day. Thank you. If Jerky wasn't wearing an arctic rodent on his jersey, you would call him a coward too.