Quote:
Originally Posted by braindead
I think he is right.
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It was clearly a penalty. Their coach is lying to play to the officials, just like he did with his diving whine. Erat took over two full strides after releasing the puck while Ruutu also took strides and veered intending to hit Erat even with knowledge the puck was gone in plenty of time, he was hunting that hit, illegally. Refs were blind not to call it right away.
It wasn't vicious though. The shoulder just happened to catch Erat right on the side of the head or jaw because he was sort of hunched over. Ruutu didn't seem to finish with his full force, I think because he knew he was going to catch him there.
But I am getting tired of those saying "I've looked at every angle and it looks shoulder to shoulder" and others who say "I can't tell"... When every single angle shows Ruutu's shoulder catching Erat between the shoulder and the helmet, in other words - the head. But it's not like Ruutu raised way up to get him there, he just intended to finish up there a litle bit I think.
Not really vicious though, just a standard penalty isn't a terrible call. Just a shame for Erat, and the Preds.