The NHL has come down on one of their superstars for the lateral/blindside hit to the head that they are now so desperate to be rid of, thanks to the new rule created for this season. Joe Thornton was given two games for his hit on David Perron, which was a solid combination of Perron not seeing Thornton come out of the box and initial contact to the head, so I think the call was fair in this case.
Two games isn't a big deal, but maybe in Thornton's case it kind of is, especially with the scoring rate he's been on lately. Thornton was Player of the Week last week and helped lift Dale C. out of the dregs of the standings, so a couple of games may keep him out of one or two more spots for the time being. Dale currently stands in 8th spot, 6 points out of the money, which is a couple good nights for Thornton... or maybe just four periods.Link to the Injury/News Page
2 comments:
It makes no sense to suspend Thornton for this. It's not his fault that he is way bigger and much stronger. It's too bad Perron got hurt, but he was skating around with his head down.
I've had trouble with the general size debate as well, knowing full well that there are some guys that are going to just make contact with a guy's head due to sheer size.
Nevertheless, by letter of the law, Perron was blind to the hit from the lateral side and the principal point of contact was the head, therefore the suspension is a good one.
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