Yet another scary incident in the NHL on Wednesday night as Liam Reddox of the Edmonton Oilers went head first into the side boards after fighting for a loose puck with Clarke MacArthur of the Buffalo Sabres.MacArthur was issued a five-minute major and a game-misconduct for boarding, and when you combine that with the fact the player on the receiving end of the hit was injured, you can guarantee that this will end up on the desk of NHL discipline czar Colin Campbell for review.
Video after the jump.
MacArthur appeared to be genuinely concerned following the play, and it's hard to imagine that he was intentionally trying to send Reddox into the boards. It appeared to be a battle for a loose puck that had an unfortunate, scary result.
That seems to be the stance David Oleksy at Sabres blog Die By The Blade is taking, as he didn't even see the need for a penalty:
At some point we have to start putting some blame on the victim and not always on the player that delivered the hit. I remember watching hockey when players prepared themselves for getting hit into the boards, nowadays they put themselves in a vulnerable position and complain that a penalty should be called on the hitter. It was definitely the wrong call but luckily it didn't affect the outcome of the game. It would have been a shame to see the game decided on a bad call, that was only made because the player did not get up.Potential punishment for MacArthur, as always, is anybody's guess in the NHL's seemingly random world of discipline.
Buffalo ended up winning the game, 3-1, thanks to goals from Drew Stafford, Steve Montador and Jochen Hecht, as well as 28 saves from Ryan Miller.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-12-2009 @ 4:28AM
Michael Sweig said...
Olesky must be a total mental midget. What a jerk
MSWEIG...NV
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11-12-2009 @ 4:31AM
Josh said...
I cannot remember the last time I saw a player that concerned over a hit he laid. I think it's obviously that it wasn't on purpose, just horrible positioning for the both of them.
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11-12-2009 @ 5:22AM
Scott is God said...
That was completly the injured players fault. The Sabres player barely moved from his original path. The Oilers player put himself in that position when he leaned into where he thought the Sabres player would be and fell down. No punishment necessary.
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11-12-2009 @ 7:34AM
bobnmargw said...
Looks to me like Reddox lost an edge going into the boards
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11-12-2009 @ 3:04PM
rich said...
OK watching the game last night it looked like to me that both players lost a edge at least ot me and watching it again slower they both did even thou i am a Die Hard Sabres fan i have to agree with Adam Here and not David on this one because it was not just his fault it was both's fault and it was bad ice the Whole Game so i think McAuthr should at the most get a 1-3 Game Punishment you You want to comment me email me at richard_isaacs2003@yahoo.com
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