Aaron Rome suspension and Game 4 Lines

We all know that Alain Vigneault has a man-boner for Aaron Rome. Afterall, he has continued to play the $750,000 defenseman while making the $4.2 million dollar Keith Ballard sit. I just hope that Vigneault had somebody with him to comfort him when he found out Tuesday morning that Rome would be suspended for the remainder of the playoffs.

On paper the trade is awesome. Canucks lose their 8th seed defenseman and Boston loses a top line forward. Rome shouldnt have even been playing in game 3. I called for him to sit for Keith Ballard, but i have been calling that all season long yet inexplicably Rome has become a staple of the Vancouver defense. His untimely penalties have late have cost him, and his penalties usually come from being beat and then overcompensating. This penalty in game three on the other hand was just a late hit. It definitely was a 5 minute major and Rome was lucky the Bruins didn't score on that powerplay otherwise there might be a lot of canucks fans blaming him for the loss.

I like that Rome got suspended for the hit and I hope going forward that the league suspends all similar hits. But we know this is the NHL and they are very inconsistent and wish-washy on suspending head hits. IF this is a change of culture for the NHL I am happy, although it is a little curious that it is taking place in the SCF. The only reason i am not outraged is because I am very happy that Vigneault will not be able to throw Rome into the mix anymore when there are perfectly healthy other (better) options for him to put in.

Looking at the defense pairings for tomorow night, one wonders how the canucks will lineup. This is how i think it will lineup:

bieksa-ballard
salo-edler
ehrhoff-alberts

You keep salo and edler together because they are a solid pair. Bieksa and Ballard are a tough gritty combo, hopefully one of them remembers to stay home. And ehrhoff Alberts is a good combo with Ehrhoff providing the shot and Alberts providing the toughness

Lets see how it pays off in game 4.

-Hark

Head Hitting Controversy

Headshots have been talked about to death, but the question is whether a head shot is suspension worthy.

A lot of media outlets are out raged that Bertuzzi was not suspended for his hit yesterday. Being a big Tuzzi fan, I still agreed, until I thought of it some more. THe new blind side rule basically says that “a lateral, back-pressure or blind-side hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principal point of contact." aka. don't fuckin' clock the guy in the head. However, it doesn't say if you should be suspended or not for it.

To my recollection there is another rule which prohibits a player to hit another player in the face with his stick, but that's a 2 minute minor.

Until the NHL straightens things out - this topic is gonna be beat around the bush more times then Ke$ha.

In my opinion, you should just make a baseline game suspension for hits to the head and tack on more games depending on the severity of the injury, Even if the hit to the head was accidental. You still get a penalty for high sticking, so you should still get a suspension for head hitting

Doughty on IR

Bad news for the los angeles kings. their norris trophy finalist from last year and easily their most valuable player has been place on IR. that means he will miss a minimum of ten games. last year willie mitchell was given a concussion and he was out over 50 games. When it comes to a superstar defenseman such as doughty, the kings may want to play it safe with him. doughty is a tough guy, but hes no pronger obviously. i just dont understand how erik cole could make a hit hard enough to injure doughty.... it just doesnt make sense.

heres the hit from erik cole:



the fucking hurricanes were a wrecking crew on their trip out east. they also injured dan hamhuis in their game against the canucks.

-hark