Confirmed Signing with Link: [CBJ] Blue Jackets sign Zac Rinaldo (1 year, $750k, two-way)

[Quid Pro Clowe]

Most people who have played a sport in their life, can understand the difference between right and wrong, and Rinaldo is the one in the wrong in this situation.

Just because someone skates up to you, doesn't give you the option of dropping your gloves and just beating on someone who isnt engaging you.

And apparently you can’t read since I have said multiple times that Rinaldo overreacted.

Rinaldo just hit their star player and hurt him. He was expecting a player to go at him. When Girard skated right up to him with 2 hands on his stick to cross check him he figured he probably better hit him first. Girard wasn’t just minding his business skating up ice like that other guy keeps saying.

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

What does legality have to do with it? When players see contact that hurts their star teammate, they respond. It's stupid, but it's been like this for at least ten years now. What typically happens in this situation is that someone jumps Rinaldo. You know this.



Yeah I don't know if Girard was trying to make some mild gesture of rebuke at Rinaldo or whether he was just trying to skate around him. I think he was trying to push him mildly. Unfortunately for Girard, Rinaldo's brain doesn't work quickly enough to discern whether Girard is attacking him, it's just "punch the first guy that comes after me".

Yes, when the hit is borderline and obvious, there's usually a response. But, this was a clean hit at center ice. He didn't run him into the boards, or clip him up high, or even jump into it, just put a heavy body into him. And, yes, MacKinnon was shaken up a little, but he didn't even go down. How much response does that even deserve in the first place? To any rational observer, the answer should be zero.

And typically, the guy getting jumped after a hit isn't the first one to actually engage and throw a punch. You know there's a huge difference between the typical retaliatory response to a questionable hit and Girard lightly pushing him in the back to try to get around him. Even if it's a mild gesture of rebuke, there's no acceptable reason for Rinaldo to turn and throw the punch as a response to the light push. And that's why he was suspended for doing it. He's the only one who did something wrong here, which makes blaming Girard, even in the slightest, a really bad take. It's like blaming someone for being in the wrong place to get hit by a drunk driver.

And, the fact that Rinaldo isn't smart enough to discern who is there before throwing punches supports my point that he's not the kind of guy who deserves another shot. He has been suspended for 25 games in his career, and only has 18 career goals in 370+ career games, never scoring more than 9 points in a season. Is there literally no one else who can fill that roster spot? Seriously?

 

[majormajor]

Yes, when the hit is borderline and obvious, there's usually a response. But, this was a clean hit at center ice. He didn't run him into the boards, or clip him up high, or even jump into it, just put a heavy body into him. And, yes, MacKinnon was shaken up a little, but he didn't even go down. How much response does that even deserve in the first place? To any rational observer, the answer should be zero.

And typically, the guy getting jumped after a hit isn't the first one to actually engage and throw a punch. You know there's a huge difference between the typical retaliatory response to a questionable hit and Girard lightly pushing him in the back to try to get around him. Even if it's a mild gesture of rebuke, there's no acceptable reason for Rinaldo to turn and throw the punch as a response to the light push. And that's why he was suspended for doing it. He's the only one who did something wrong here, which makes blaming Girard, even in the slightest, a really bad take. It's like blaming someone for being in the wrong place to get hit by a drunk driver.

And, the fact that Rinaldo isn't smart enough to discern who is there before throwing punches supports my point that he's not the kind of guy who deserves another shot. He has been suspended for 25 games in his career, and only has 18 career goals in 370+ career games, never scoring more than 9 points in a season. Is there literally no one else who can fill that roster spot? Seriously?

I don't defend Rinaldo and I don't blame Girard for getting punched. I just think what happened in this case was that Rinaldo was expecting to get attacked and he punched the first guy that seemed to target him. He's not a smart player, don't expect anything more subtle than that. There is a difference between excusing and explaining. What he did isn't okay.

You talk about rational observers and what they think players deserve, it's clear there has been a miscommunication here. I'm talking about what happens, descriptively not prescriptively. When your star player is visibly shaken up, clean hit or not, there is usually a response. I can't imagine that you are unaware of how this works, it doesn't depend on whether the hit is clean or not, not in the slightest.

 

[thebus88]

There’s a big difference between throwing the 1st punch and throwing a “sucker punch”. Rinaldo is clearly protecting himself. While the “need” for protection is up for debate, and it’s easy to say negative things about Rinaldo after the fact, it happened very quick and wasn’t a “predatory” action against a “defenseless rookie”, like some are attempting to pass it off as.

The idea that Girard DIDN’T skate over to Rinaldo and put his stick on him is ignorant. And no, he changed his angle and went directly towards Rinaldo.

While the culture/era has changed, there’s hundreds of NHL players of the past, over multiple decades, that would have done the same thing Rinaldo did in this situation. I wonder if certain people have the same personal feelings for all these guys as they do for Rinaldo….

 

[thebus88]

Don't disagree save to add that any player "running around looking to catch someone with their head down", regardless of "hockey ability", should be "out of this league".

Just not when they are Scott Stevens or Niklas Kronwall, etc….??

It’s still a FULL contact sport.

Go ahead and defend this play and justify him suckering a rookie that didn't drop his stick and gloves. Rinaldo was, and always will be a dirtbag.



There's another highlight (or lowlight) reel of Rinaldo's antics for you to defend.

Never really had much of an opinion on Rinaldo, but, for a “worst of” compilation that’s not that bad IMO.

Gladly take some HEART on the current CBJ team.

 

[Dr Quincy]

Just not when they are Scott Stevens or Niklas Kronwall, etc….??

It’s still a FULL contact sport.




Never really had much of an opinion on Rinaldo, but, for a “worst of” compilation that’s not that bad IMO.

Gladly take some HEART on the current CBJ team.

It's not heart.

Heart is caring. He doesn't care if his team does well on the ice when he plays. He only cares if he does something selfish that gets himself noticed. His on ice play hurts the team. I've never seen a player play so many years and each year, no matter the team, his relative stats are abysmal. He makes your team worse, but if you don't care about actually having a better chance to win, and only care about seeing him do something stupid...

then I guess you'll like the signing.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Just not when they are Scott Stevens or Niklas Kronwall, etc….??

It’s still a FULL contact sport.

None of what I posted indicates the first part. And none of what I posted negates the second part. But you inferred meaning where there was none and now here we are.

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

I don't defend Rinaldo and I don't blame Girard for getting punched. I just think what happened in this case was that Rinaldo was expecting to get attacked and he punched the first guy that seemed to target him. He's not a smart player, don't expect anything more subtle than that. There is a difference between excusing and explaining. What he did isn't okay.

You talk about rational observers and what they think players deserve, it's clear there has been a miscommunication here. I'm talking about what happens, descriptively not prescriptively. When your star player is visibly shaken up, clean hit or not, there is usually a response. I can't imagine that you are unaware of how this works, it doesn't depend on whether the hit is clean or not, not in the slightest.

Having watched hockey for close to 40 years at this point, I'm very aware of what usually happens. But, that doesn't change the fact that players in today's game need to react to what is actually happening, and not what usually happens. And because of that simple fact, I don't really care what Rinaldo may have expected to happen, because none of it actually happened. He crossed the line, yet again, and shouldn't be given another chance to do it to someone else.

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

There’s a big difference between throwing the 1st punch and throwing a “sucker punch”. Rinaldo is clearly protecting himself. While the “need” for protection is up for debate, and it’s easy to say negative things about Rinaldo after the fact, it happened very quick and wasn’t a “predatory” action against a “defenseless rookie”, like some are attempting to pass it off as.

The idea that Girard DIDN’T skate over to Rinaldo and put his stick on him is ignorant. And no, he changed his angle and went directly towards Rinaldo.

While the culture/era has changed, there’s hundreds of NHL players of the past, over multiple decades, that would have done the same thing Rinaldo did in this situation. I wonder if certain people have the same personal feelings for all these guys as they do for Rinaldo….

When the other guy isn't expecting to fight, throwing the first punch and throwing a sucker punch are essentially the same thing. There was zero threat to Rinaldo, so pretending he's "protecting himself" from big bad Sam Girard is laughable.

There's also hundreds of NHL players of the past, over multiple decades, that would purposefully target people's heads, leading to numerous careers being cut short or dramatically altered due to concussions and other injuries. The league is making a concerted effort to get these morons out of the league, so I struggle to see why a guy like Rinaldo is getting another chance. Is there literally no one else available that wants to sign in Columbus?

 

[ICanMotteBelieveIt]

Seriously, f*** this guy.



Cheap shotting douche.

Damn Johnson can really fight. f*** Rinaldo!

 

[ICanMotteBelieveIt]

Go ahead and defend this play and justify him suckering a rookie that didn't drop his stick and gloves. Rinaldo was, and always will be a dirtbag.



There's another highlight (or lowlight) reel of Rinaldo's antics for you to defend.

It's too bad the NHL don't care about player safety.

He should be banned for at least 15 games in every dirty hit he produces. Doing so, he won't make a lot of $ and he won't be on the ice trying to injure players that can actually play hockey.

There's a bunch of gritty, hardhitting players that don't play like idiots.

If the NHL meant business Matt Cooke would've been out of the league before he injured Erik Karlsson.

 

[VanIsle]

Besides Matt Cooke this guy is 2nd biggest loser in the league.
What a waste.

 

[Sasso09]

AHL move. He'll be in Cleveland the whole year barring apocalypse or waiver claim at season start.

On that team? He cracks the roster and plays 50 games

 

[Viqsi]

On that team? He cracks the roster and plays 50 games

You've piped up with about six or seven hot takes about the state of the CBJ over multiple threads all offseason and in every single one so far you've been egregiously wrong. Perhaps it's time to consider a new hobby. Or stalk someone else.

 

[Sasso09]

Seriously, f*** this guy.



Cheap shotting douche.

How is that a cheap shot? guy skates directly at him to Challenge him, realizes who it is and changes his mind then gets pumped. Calling that a sucker punch is being salty

 

[Sasso09]

It's too bad the NHL don't care about player safety.

He should be banned for at least 15 games in every dirty hit he produces. Doing so, he won't make a lot of $ and he won't be on the ice trying to injure players that can actually play hockey.

There's a bunch of gritty, hardhitting players that don't play like idiots.

If the NHL meant business Matt Cooke would've been out of the league before he injured Erik Karlsson.

So you didn't watch the video is what you're saying? Otherwise you're clueless as to what you're watching

 

[Sasso09]

You've piped up with about six or seven hot takes about the state of the CBJ over multiple threads all offseason and in every single one so far you've been egregiously wrong. Perhaps it's time to consider a new hobby. Or stalk someone else.

I've been 100% correct on each and every one. Your opinion is invalid

Have a good day sir

 

[Sasso09]

Girard was skating up the ice to follow the play into the offensive zone and cover the point (aka playing the actual game of hockey), and shouldn't need to do anything special to avoid being sucker punched in this situation. The onus is on Rinaldo to be much more aware and see that it's a 19 year old kid with zero interest in fighting before dropping his gloves and throwing punches. Or maybe he shouldn't be throwing big hits like that if he's so afraid of retaliation that he needs to lash out at anyone who comes close to him.

Lol that's not at all what he was doing. Knock it off. He went directly to Rinaldo, cross checked him then changed his mind

 

[Viqsi]

I've been 100% correct on each and every one. Your opinion is invalid

Have a good day sir

Except for the Jones trade return, the PLD trade return, multiple assessments of Werenski's ability and availability, assessments of the roster as a whole, calling me "sir" just now...

You get credit for not having played the "Jones is washed up and ruined" card so many others tried, but that's about it.



EDIT: Here's a suggestion - back your assertion by coming up with a CBJ depth chart. Let's see who you think Rinaldo is likely to beat out and why.

 

[ICanMotteBelieveIt]

So you didn't watch the video is what you're saying? Otherwise you're clueless as to what you're watching

I watched it, dirty POS player.

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

Lol that's not at all what he was doing. Knock it off. He went directly to Rinaldo, cross checked him then changed his mind

Changed his mind about what, exactly? The fact is that Girard doesn't play anything resembling a physical game and was only 5'10" and 160 lbs (if we're being generous), meaning the light shove was the full extent of what Girard ever intended to do. He's very clearly looking up the ice and trying to skate away when Rinaldo turns, grabs him and punches him in the side of the face. There's nothing in Girard's actions that are to blame for Rinaldo being a moron who can't control himself, yet again. Do you think every other player would have responded in exactly the same way Rinaldo did? Because I certainly don't. The punch was completely unwarranted, which is why there was a suspension handed out (along with the beat down from EJ).

 

[Lindberg Cheese]

Changed his mind about what, exactly? The fact is that Girard doesn't play anything resembling a physical game and was only 5'10" and 160 lbs (if we're being generous), meaning the light shove was the full extent of what Girard ever intended to do. He's very clearly looking up the ice and trying to skate away when Rinaldo turns, grabs him and punches him in the side of the face. There's nothing in Girard's actions that are to blame for Rinaldo being a moron who can't control himself, yet again. Do you think every other player would have responded in exactly the same way Rinaldo did? Because I certainly don't. The punch was completely unwarranted, which is why there was a suspension handed out (along with the beat down from EJ).

Wish Rinaldo punched Girard harder having read your posts

 

[CartographerNo611]

Watching him play in Calgary the past couple seasons... I don't understand how he still gets NHL contracts. Worst NHL player I've seen on the ice for a team since the 90s.

As someone who actually watched 90s hockey and Rinaldo. Rinaldo can actually skate and be semi responsible defensively when not taking dumb penalties.

Every 90s roster had a guy(s):

Who couldn’t skate, like literally falling over.

Couldnt play d.

Took stupid penalties.

Get this hyperbole nonsense out of here about being he worst player ever. Not modern NHL caliber, sure. Worst NHL player. Long list of players I’d put before him.

 

[3074326]

On that team? He cracks the roster and plays 50 games

Why did he sign a two-way deal?

FYI this is rhetorical

 

[Kaen]

How is that a cheap shot? guy skates directly at him to Challenge him, realizes who it is and changes his mind then gets pumped. Calling that a sucker punch is being salty

Challenges him? Dude had both hands on his stick still, worst you could say is that he gave him a crosscheck of the variety that guys in front of the net take half a dozen times in a shift. Rinaldo was out there doing his job, which is not to be a hockey player, but to take actual hockey players out of the game. He was realized he was out there against actually talented players and decided to take his opportunity to justify his spot by hurting one of them.