Alumni in the Pros - February 2011

[amerks127]

Just saw the video-
Paille angles in from behind, leads with an elbow to the head, and leaves his feet on a blindside hit on Sawada.
This should (and very likely will) be a suspension. I hope Sawada's not concussed.

I sometimes complain about players not protecting themselves (esp. along the boards), but this hit was just plain dirty. Even if Sawada's head is up he doesn't see Paille coming. Really dangerous and disrespectful.

Here's a link to game highlights.  It was definitely a wild one in Boston tonight.

http://watch.tsn.ca/nhl/clip412608#clip412608

[jts15]

Here is a link to video of just the hit on Sawada.  Paul Kukla says in the comments that there is a report of a broken nose and separated shoulder.

http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/hockey/comments/video_paille_hit_tonight/

[ftyuv]

That hit was disturbingly similar to the Matt Cooke hit on Savard last year. Bruins should know better.

[cquinn]

Paille received a 4 game suspension and a $23,118.28 fine for the hit on Sawada.

[jtwcornell91]

Here is a link to video of just the hit on Sawada.  Paul Kukla says in the comments that there is a report of a broken nose and separated shoulder.

http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/hockey/comments/video_paille_hit_tonight/

Ow.  After watching that, I had to flash back to a happier memory for Sawada:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nUMTukYJK8

Moulson and Iggulden get deserved praise from the announcers, but watch what Ray does: out of the penalty box, he makes the original breakout pass to Iggy for the first chance, then forces the turnover in the OSU zone to allow Moulson to pass to Iggulden for the goal.

[jkahn]

On the Miami-Michigan game tonight, the camera focused on Topher Scott and the announcer discussed how smaller players don't really get a fair shot at the next level, and mentioned Ryan Vesce also.  His related this to Miami players Camper and Miele, who are also somewhat small in stature - not a small as Topher and Ryan though.

[David Harding]

Paille received a 4 game suspension and a $23,118.28 fine for the hit on Sawada.

And here's Paille and his coach saying that it was Sawada's fault.  http://watch.tsn.ca/nhl/clip413137#clip413137  The announcers don't comment, but the multiple replays of the hit make it clear that that the producers think it was dirty.

[Jim Hyla]

Paille received a 4 game suspension and a $23,118.28 fine for the hit on Sawada.

And here's Paille and his coach saying that it was Sawada's fault.  http://watch.tsn.ca/nhl/clip413137#clip413137  The announcers don't comment, but the multiple replays of the hit make it clear that that the producers think it was dirty.

Interestingly, although he says he was trying for the shoulder, if anything it looks like Sawada was actually starting to stand straighter as he was being hit. Sort of negates that it was Sawada's fault.

[jkahn]

Paille received a 4 game suspension and a $23,118.28 fine for the hit on Sawada.

And here's Paille and his coach saying that it was Sawada's fault.  http://watch.tsn.ca/nhl/clip413137#clip413137  The announcers don't comment, but the multiple replays of the hit make it clear that that the producers think it was dirty.

Paille's teammates, Andrew Ference and Patrice Bergeron, both have made comments that they thought it was a dirty play.  "We can't be hypocrites" said Ference.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=310203001
Even without the crackdown on hits to the head, Paille was charging and elbowing.
In between periods of the DU-CC game tonight, they showed a replay of a hit that broke a DU player's neck early this season, and it was a very similar hit.  Fortunately the player is up and walking with a heavy neck brace.

[Al DeFlorio]

Paille received a 4 game suspension and a $23,118.28 fine for the hit on Sawada.

The AP article in yesterday's Cape Cod Times gave the hit one sentence:

"Daniel Paille received a match penalty for a head shot on Sutherby.":-|

[ftyuv]

Interestingly enough, the "was Paille's suspension justified?" poll on Boston.com's Bruins blog is pretty evenly divided. Personally I think 4 games is good. Paille isn't a dirty player, but the hit was dirty. Hopefully the NHL is sending the message that dirty without intent is 4 games, so if you throw in intent (ahem, Matt Cooke) you better be prepared to sit for a good, long while.

[cbuckser]

Ben Scrivens is back in the ECHL.  He was peppered with 52 shots last night, and he stopped 50 of them to lead the Reading Royals to beat the Trenton Devils 4-2.

[billhoward]

Interestingly enough, the "was Paille's suspension justified?" poll on Boston.com's Bruins blog is pretty evenly divided. Personally I think 4 games is good. Paille isn't a dirty player, but the hit was dirty. Hopefully the NHL is sending the message that dirty without intent is 4 games, so if you throw in intent (ahem, Matt Cooke) you better be prepared to sit for a good, long while.

Bruins fans and fans of Gordie Howe hockey can see enough in the replay to see a hard hit on a player who wasn't looking around so, sure, the poll could be evenly divided. Could Paille have delivered a check that was more check and less corporal punishment? Certainly.

Paille teammate Andrew Ference criticizes the hit ("I mean, it's a bad hit, right?" [you'd think he'd say "eh" unless the Times cleaned it up]) and dings Sidney Crosby for not doing same when a Pengins teammate delivered a cheap shot on the Bruins' Marc Savard. http://slapshot.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/05/bruins-ference-criticizes-teammates-hit/

[Jacob '06]

Could Paille have delivered a check that was more check and less corporal punishment? Certainly.

This is the problem. As Bob McKenzie pointed out after that game, Paille could have easily taken the puck without making the hit. As he said, the point of hitting has stopped being about separating the player from the puck when you start making hits like that (It essentially prevented Paille from even getting the puck because he left the hit). I think the NHL needs to more drastically punish hits like that, the ones that are just about devastating the player you are hitting, and I am not one of the people that "want to take hitting out of the game" just because I say that.

[scoop85]

Moulson got his 18th on a nice second-effort in front of the net in the Isles 5-3 win over Ottawa last night.