Quote:
Originally Posted by Molon Labe
Because he's pushing Patches' shoulder with his forearm. But yeah, if you're going to argue intent, this is where to do it.
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Man, I can't speak for everyone in the game, but I know that when I first started playing hockey many moons ago, I was taught - especially as a defenseman - that if you wanted to avoid being called for penalties, keep both hands on the stick and the blade close to the ice when you hit a guy. Chara's been in the league long enough to know that; his left hand ain't anywhere near his right, and is instead up in the guy's face. Now even if he hit the guy in the shoulder and momentum carried his hand up there, if he'd had both hands on the stick and executed a clean hit, it just wouldn't have done that the same way.
I've seen clean hits, I've seen dirty hits, and I've seen questionable hits. Almost uniformly, the dirty & questionable hits that gain attention bring up a story of grudge & reprisal. As if the NHL weren't having problems enough, letting this kid of stuff go to try and regain the "tough guy" image that Bettman utterly killed in the 90's is only going to accelerate the league's demise.
Bettman needs to go, and get someone in there who actually likes the game, as opposed to Bettman, who only appears to like himself.