Post-Game Talk: A walk in the park interrupted by Wild zombies. Jets hold on, 5-4.

[Snot Rocket]

You're kidding right? I mean seriously, tell me you're joking.

Pominville was sliding on his knees in a completely defenseless position and Buff nailed him from behind and drove him face first into the boards. Yeah sure, Buff didn't crush his head, the boards did.

I like Buff, that hit was inexcusable on a number of levels.

Watch it again, Pom went down then made a secondary effort to reach for the puck with his stick, turning his body. The his was not to the head, nor did Buff take any extra strides...he just ride him out when he attempted to play the puck.

Anyway, I don't think people are going to agree on this one. It was borderline but I bet dollars to donuts if Pom does not reach for that puck from his compromised position , he does not get rubbed out.

 

[Ducky10]

Watch it again, Pom went down then made a secondary effort to reach for the puck with his stick, turning his body. The his was not to the head, nor did Buff take any extra strides...he just ride him out when he attempted to play the puck.

Anyway, I don't think people are going to agree on this one. It was borderline but I bet dollars to donuts if Pom does not reach for that puck from his compromised position , he does not get rubbed out.

Ok, I watched it for he 427th time, yeah he swats at a puck that Buff could have (and should have) easily taken, but instead he throws his hip square into the back of Pominville and drives his head face first into the boards, a result that shouldn't have been hard to predict.

 

[Whileee]

It's a psychological phenomenon.
It's comes from players' natural tendencies, then reinforced by coaches.

It's not that players and coaches want to give chances away.

What happens is players end up preventing "risky moves", but what we all are starting to know now is that the trade-offs of the "safe play" is often not worth it.
Safe is death. "Safe" players are often the least safe in the long-run.

What we see looking at microstats is leading teams are more prone to chip-out, dump-in, not drive for the play, collapse in the defensive zone, not forecheck as aggressively, etc.
The trailing team meanwhile actually tends to do the opposite more. There is less worry about the risk, and so they go full steam ahead.

It's a very interesting phenomenon.

I also think that a string of penalties started to switch the momentum yesterday. The Wild were all but dead and buried and the Jets gave them life with a couple of stupid penalties (they scored on the second). Until then the Jets had been rolling 4 lines and 3 D pairs, and then their rotations got messed up, etc. The Jets need to seriously address the imbalance in special teams play. I don't think they'll make the playoffs unless they do.

 

[Gm0ney]

Here's the other angle of the Buff hit:

 

[kyle o connor]

Watch it again, Pom went down then made a secondary effort to reach for the puck with his stick, turning his body. The his was not to the head, nor did Buff take any extra strides...he just ride him out when he attempted to play the puck.

Anyway, I don't think people are going to agree on this one. It was borderline but I bet dollars to donuts if Pom does not reach for that puck from his compromised position , he does not get rubbed out.

Exactly. Buff doesn't eliminate him the way he did if Pominville isn't looking to play the puck.

 

[Snot Rocket]

Ok, I watched it for he 427th time, yeah he swats at a puck that Buff could have (and should have) easily taken, but instead he throws his hip square into the back of Pominville and drives his head face first into the boards, a result that shouldn't have been hard to predict.

See the second angle? As I stated earlier, no check thrown, no hip movement...contact made between Buffs leg and Pom's armpit / Lat.

 

[Ducky10]

See the second angle? As I stated earlier, no check thrown, no hip movement...contact made between Buffs leg and Pom's armpit / Lat.

Yeah, Buff didn't move his leg at all and that isn't Pominville's face squarely hitting the boards.

 

[HannuJ]

Ok, I watched it for he 427th time, yeah he swats at a puck that Buff could have (and should have) easily taken, but instead he throws his hip square into the back of Pominville and drives his head face first into the boards, a result that shouldn't have been hard to predict.

i play hockey. scrub league.
nhl playes can EASILY pop up to their feet in less than a second. Pomm was on his way up. Buff kept him down.
you're making it sound like Buff Bertuzzi'd Pomm.
the hit looks dirtier than it was. he didn't pulverize or maime. it looks like a hockey play.

 

[Jetfaninflorida]

See the second angle? As I stated earlier, no check thrown, no hip movement...contact made between Buffs leg and Pom's armpit / Lat.

Uh, no.

Unless Pom was very interested in ordering just the right kind of pizza after the game, I would say that the hip being thrust into '9' on back of his jersey is what caused his head and body to fly straight forward and his face to meet the boards in what might be considered a rather aggressive and violent kiss, especially for a first date.

 

[Ducky10]

i play hockey. scrub league.
nhl playes can EASILY pop up to their feet in less than a second. Pomm was on his way up. Buff kept him down.
you're making it sound like Buff Bertuzzi'd Pomm.
the hit looks dirtier than it was. he didn't pulverize or maime. it looks like a hockey play.

Yeah a dirty hockey play, it's irrelevant how quickly an NHL player can pop to their feet, the fact is he didn't and he was not on his way up, Byfuglien could have easily retrieved that puck and the Jets would have been better for it, no penalty and very likely had the zone cleared.

I play rec hockey as well, who cares.

I never mentioned Bertuzzi, not sure where that comes from. I was just as pissed about Buff taking the penalty at that point as I was about what he actually did.

 

[Snot Rocket]

Uh, no.

Unless Pom was very interested in ordering just the right kind of pizza after the game, I would say that the hip being thrust into '9' on back of his jersey is what caused his head and body to fly straight forward and his face to meet the boards in what might be considered a rather aggressive and violent kiss, especially for a first date.

Pom never got as high as the hip just mid thigh, which in turn makes contact with the arm/lat. Watch it not from the perspective of a dirty hit, but break down the series of events objectively. Also note that Buff's right skate sprays as he commits to cutting of any chance of Pom recovering the puck BEFORE Pom lunges for the puck.

I am not defending Buff with bias, I am looking at this as objectively as possible, and what I see is someone (Pom) put himself into a dangerous and comprising spot with little ability to absorb a hit, turning his body to the boards while trying to play the puck.

If this was viewed any differently, the league would have already called.
As it stands it was the right call in the ice as it all happened so quickly, but once slowed down it became evident that the call was poor and Pom put himself into a dangerous situation.

 

[Tom ServoMST3K]

Exactly. Buff doesn't eliminate him the way he did if Pominville isn't looking to play the puck.

I'm sorry I guess you can illegally check players if they're "trying to play the puck."

 

[Gm0ney]

I'm sorry I guess you can illegally check players if they're "trying to play the puck."

I don't think it was any more than a boarding penalty.

 

[Jetfaninflorida]

Pom never got as high as the hip just mid thigh, which in turn makes contact with the arm/lat. Watch it not from the perspective of a dirty hit, but break down the series of events objectively. Also note that Buff's right skate sprays as he commits to cutting of any chance of Pom recovering the puck BEFORE Pom lunges for the puck.

I am not defending Buff with bias, I am looking at this as objectively as possible, and what I see is someone (Pom) put himself into a dangerous and comprising spot with little ability to absorb a hit, turning his body to the boards while trying to play the puck.

If this was viewed any differently, the league would have already called.
As it stands it was the right call in the ice as it all happened so quickly, but once slowed down it became evident that the call was poor and Pom put himself into a dangerous situation.

Whether it is his hip or his upper leg, it still makes contact with the 9 on the back of his jersey. If, when facing the boards, the contact was on his arm/lat as you suggest, his body would not have flung straight forward into the boards. That's just physics.

Look, it doesn't matter if we see eye to eye on this - you believe that it was just normal contact in the course of hockey and a bad call by the refs, and I believe it wasn't. He took a dumb, unnecessary penalty at a very crucial point in the game. Thankfully Pom wasn't hurt badly or he might have gotten a call today. Thankfully, they didn't score. It doesn't change the fact that Buf has a penalty discipline issue that needs to be addressed.

Perhaps if that was Ehlers that got faceplanted in such a manner by the Wild, we might actually see eye to eye on the nature of the check. But I can't be sure of that. I still think it was the correct call on the ice, and a boneheaded penalty for Buff to take.

 

[Evil Little]

I'm sorry I guess you can illegally check players if they're "trying to play the puck."

No, Pominville is eligible to be hit if he's trying to play the puck.

The other issue is whether or not the hit was a bad one.

One angle certainly suggested it to be violent and in Pominville's back.

Another angle showed it to be better described as a heavy 'rub out', and in the arm/shoulder.

In any case, the referee didn't like the hit.

And, obviously, if I want to read some vitriolic accusations of dirty play on the part of Jets players I should probably come here.

Personally, I thought it was fairly-assessed as a minor. Given what wasn't called in that game, however, rather annoyingly so.

 

[Aavco Cup]

Interesting he thought the penalty was BS at first. Next time suspended

 

[KCjetsfan]

interesting he gets the fine, and buff so far gets nothing, considering the reactions to the two hits.
hopefully the small hit to the pocketbook will be enough to make him less careless with the elbow.

 

[Inflict]

Interesting he thought the penalty was BS at first. Next time suspended

Seems fair to me. I don't think the elbow was intentional as there aren't many 5'9 defenders in the league. He was probably expecting a bigger guy and to elbow him in the chest. Still, it was a dangerous play deserving of a look from the league and something he needs to change in his game moving forward.

 

[surixon]

Interesting he thought the penalty was BS at first. Next time suspended

Burmie was probably warned for his elbow on Bergeron so the fine seems reasonable for a similar infraction both long after.

 

[Gm0ney]

interesting he gets the fine, and buff so far gets nothing, considering the reactions to the two hits.
hopefully the small hit to the pocketbook will be enough to make him less careless with the elbow.

Buff wasn't targeting the head and didn't make any contact with the head, as far as I can tell. Burmi elbowed a guy right in the face...even though it was probably unintentional.

 

[Potrzebie]

Very happy with the result. Not happy with Buff's penalty but still happy to see any Wild player eat the boards. I can't stand that team... ever since their ownership signed Parise and Suter to those ridiculous contracts and then a couple of months later stood with the other teams crying poor and locked the players out.

 

[Say What]

Yup, dumb play by Buff. Can't take that penalty at that time. However, I LOVED IT!! (minus the penalty).

You're either with us or against us. I have no sympathy for Pominville or any other opponent. I know...sportsmanship yadda yadda. Don't care (it's not how I play, but to each his own). It's a big boys game. Put on your big boy pants.

I remember seeing Hawerchuck, Steen etc. etc. getting crushed by blatant fouls. Someone is the nail, someone is the hammer. Pick your position. It's not my problem...keep crushing them Buff. If he gets suspended, serves him right. But make all opponents leery of playing against the big bad Buffman. /

Now, when his hits start costing us games or when the recipients require the Injury Reserve list, then I might change my stance. Until then.....Game On!!

 

[KingBogo]

Burmie was probably warned for his elbow on Bergeron so the fine seems reasonable for a similar infraction both long after.

Burmi's got to be careful or he is going to start getting games for these.

 

[Duke749]

All defense men played like dirt except Myers tonight, Trouba's sleepwalking and Buff has to many brain cramps, while Stu is Stu, but 2pts. in the bank.

Don't with that at all.

We need a top LHD sorry Toby's not him

Saying this after he had a great game seems silly.

The only reason Spurgeon got hit in the head is because he's like 5'2" Burmi does that back up hit a lot.

Now I get it...

Pretty clear elbow really.

Enstrom was amazing tonight.

So many 1 on 1 battles won.

Alright that makes 2 of us!!

Boy the Jets made that unnecessarily a tight finish didn't they. Sheesh! Staff had a strong game, and his linemates were solid too.
Myers and Chariot were our best Dmen. Enstrom was utterly horrible. His game has degraded so much and is getting beaten man-to-man routinely along the boards. I hope he snaps out of it but he has been brutal.
I am never one to hound of the refs, being a former official myself, but it is extremely frustrating to watch multiple non-calls favour the Wild. I can't stand that.

Also, WTF Buff? I thought he played decent and have several really good reads but what a stupid penalty to take. Just not necessary.

I'm sorry but you really need to go back and rewatch that whole game because this is not what happened AT ALL.

On another note, I wonder why they've never put Trouba and Enstrom together? Would probably be a better pairing than Buff-Toby.

 

[VictoriaJetsFan]

[mod]

the fact is he does stupid s*** like the Pominville hit all the time...

[What about] his cross check to the back of Perry's head in the playoffs too....that essentially never comes up...

Not a bad guy, will always thank him for throwing Kane's track suit out, but his time here should come to an end soon.....