Post-Game Talk: Kassian suspended 7 games for kick

[Bones2079]

It was actually only a 5 grand fine. Hard to believe as it is.

f*** that is even more brutal

 

[Drivesaitl]

**** that is even more brutal

At the risk of getting into the Chara sidebar the NHL has quite a longterm double standard in terms of rule application towards players whether that be Gordie Howe, Mark Messier, Drew Doughty, or Chara. Marquee players get away with a ton and are infracted marginally even when they are. This is the NHL practicing selective policing out of blind deference to not suspending players that sell tickets in those markets. The NHL would quite clearly rather have the franchise players play, than not playing, regardless of what they do.

Chara as a player is incomparable, in NH eyes, to a Kassian. I'm not defending the double standard, just of course pointing out that it is there. Oilers fans should know this just watching the Tkachuk/Kassian drama. Tkachuk gets free passes. They won't go after the star player in most occurrence.

 

[booyakasha]

let's see Gallaghers reaction to Charas hockey play, compared to Cernaks reaction of being stabbed.

 

[Sweetpotato]

I'm done with this guy. Figured he had changed since he came here, tough to play against but doesn't step over the line. He crossed it for me and has shown little effort after signing that contract.

 

[Delicious Pancakes]

Okay so let's unpack this shall we...

Imagine someone has a really sharp knife in their hands, like, an 8-inch blade. And they push you hard in the chest with it. No, they push your son or daughter hard in the chest with it, sideways.

Except that's not what happened in this instance. Your example correlates a sharp knife pushed into the chest of a child with Kassian's pushing/kicking the bottom/hollow of his skate blade into a padded portion of his opponent's chest. This is not comparing apples to apples and is a direct example of the hyperbolic response some people are having to this incident.

No big deal right? No danger there. They were wearing pads lol.

Clearly there is danger involved in kicking with a skate hence why I thought Kassian should be suspended. However given that the kick directed the hollow of the blade linearly towards the chest protector of Cernak's shoulder pads the chance of cutting anything was limited. Was Cernak's jersey or shoulder pads cut? No. Was there still danger in what Kassian did? Yes. Hence why I think he should be suspended 2 or 3 games because there needs to be a deterrent for actions that have the potential for danger. 7 games however is overkill IMO especially when compared with the NHL's lackluster standard for doling out suspensions for other actions that injure players or have a much higher likelihood of injuring players. Not to mention there was no injury on the play which is something the NHL often uses to decide whether a play is suspension worthy (rightly or wrongly).

What past punishments were for past misdeeds from past players means nothing. They're only justifications for your fanatacism.

Actually the length of past suspensions for similar incidents are one of the main considerations the NHL uses to determine the length of a suspension. Similar to how the criminal justice system works. They have no bearing on my fanaticism.

Hockey players wear very sharp blades on the bottom of their feet. Just fyi.

Noted.

And yes, you are the minority, even on your own board. That doesn't make you wrong though, it's your opinion that does.

You're right in the first part of your statement, being in the minority does not make somebody wrong. In this instance there is no right or wrong though, no absolutes. There are only subjective opinions/assertions that attempt to quantify the appropriate length of suspension to be handed down for violating the NHL's rules for which there is no defined standard length of suspension for various "degrees" of kicking.

 

[booyakasha]

The outrage over Kassian's suspension has come mostly from the toothless Calgarians. I mean, they banned fluoride from their drinking water out of fear of government mind control. I strongly feel that this can't be mentioned enough.

I missed this post originally....I legit laughed out loud.

 

[rboomercat90]

stupid play but it wasn't light lol he pushed him with his feet on his padded chest area l0l some people are going crazy over nothing lol

In what world is it ever okay to kick somebody in hockey? Watching that play live, I knew he was going to be in trouble but I thought it was probably accidental. It wasn’t until I watched the replay that I saw the look in his face when he kicked him that it convinced me it was intentional. That wasn’t a normal play and he’s lucky he didn’t seriously injure the guy. What happened is indefensible and shouldn’t be overlooked just because nobody got hurt. Kassian hasn’t been right since he came back from his suspension. Maybe he got a concussion in that game or maybe it’s something else. Either way, he clearly shouldn’t be playing until he gets himself straightened out.

Posts like yours are embarrassing to Oiler fans. It’s hard to call out fans of other teams for supporting dirty hockey players when you won’t do it for your own when it’s deserved. Can’t say I’m surprised to see where you stand on this.

 

[Shaquille Oatmeal]

@Rodd from Leduc

I remember you asking if there was a record for who had the shortest time between suspensions.

Mark Boroweicki with the Sens went five days between visits to the principal's office in 2018. He was suspended for one game on October 23rd then suspended again October 29th for three games.

Thanks for digging that up. I was hoping it wouldn't be Kassian!!!

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

In what world is it ever okay to kick somebody in hockey? Watching that play live, I knew he was going to be in trouble but I thought it was probably accidental. It wasn’t until I watched the replay that I saw the look in his face when he kicked him that it convinced me it was intentional. That wasn’t a normal play and he’s lucky he didn’t seriously injure the guy. What happened is indefensible and shouldn’t be overlooked just because nobody got hurt. Kassian hasn’t been right since he came back from his suspension. Maybe he got a concussion in that game or maybe it’s something else. Either way, he clearly shouldn’t be playing until he gets himself straightened out.

Posts like yours are embarrassing to Oiler fans. It’s hard to call out fans of other teams for supporting dirty hockey players when you won’t do it for your own when it’s deserved. Can’t say I’m surprised to see where you stand on this.

Lol not really....

 

[Ritchie Valens]

Thanks for digging that up. I was hoping it wouldn't be Kassian!!!

No problem and truth be told, I stumbled on it by accident-lol. As there were some people talking how Chara escaped suspension, I thought I'd look into suspensions and fines for the Bruins to see if there's a pattern of preferential treatment. I saw the Boroweicki suspensions and I remembered your question.

 

[rboomercat90]

Yep. Plus that the illogic of whatabout inevitably results in no visible standards as one can always find worse examples or worse punishments. That just demonstrates a continuum of variability. The bottom line being the moment Kass *decided* to kick a player with a skate he was speed dialing the NHL hotline to spin the suspension roulette wheel. The moment this happned it was going to be a multiple game suspension. Why do it?

The what about Chara stuff is just disconnected noise. The two actions have zero similarity. Further, cross checking a player, even in the face, with your stick has never been eliminated from the game and is still part of a lot of hockey play. Kicking somebody with a skate hasn't been an acceptable thing for the last Century of hockey if it ever was..

Few things in hockey are more reviled than kicking somebody with a skate. Kass rang that bell. The reaction in hockey, always, is that kicking an opponent with your skate is completely unacceptable and indefensible.

What makes it even worse for him was that he was already under the microscope following the Tkachuk incident. The league dropped the ball with that and were further embarrassed when he was supported by many ex players. They were looking and waiting for him to do something stupid again to feel vindicated. That he gave them their opportunity by kicking another player and that it happened so soon after the last incident likely exceeded their wildest dreams. I think Kassian got off very lightly with 7 games.

 

[rboomercat90]

Lol not really....

Yeah he is, his skate wasn’t very far from his neck.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

Yeah he is, his skate wasn’t very far from his neck.

I got nothing for you man. You are hilarious though.

 

[CharasLazyWrister]

You are talking about a League that penalizes a player 2 minutes for high sticking an opponent and breaking his jaw and 4 minutes when he clips an opponents lip with his stick and draws blood.

So I wouldnt be so quick to throw around insults and claim that the League uses obvious rational thinking in their decision making.

Besides the actual point of my initial response was to illustrate that intent has very little to do with their decision making.

Any time any call is made, one side of the argument identifies other instances that demonstrate “inconsistency” which indirectly justifies an egregious action as “not that bad”. Every single time a good call is made in a game, fans of the victimized team claim it’s actually not a good call because ____ wasn’t called earlier.

Are there inconsistencies? Yes. Is the game called perfectly? No. But the f***ing guy put his skate in another guy’s chest. Cut the horse shit, do the obvious thing and throw the book at him. f*** whatever other shit occurred before or after. A guy kicked another guy with his skate.

 

[sepHF]

Kassian made a very stupid / selfish decision now the rest of the team has to pay for it.

Way to go Zack

 

[BlackDogg]

Oh good grief.

Some people should just start a go fund me for kick victims.

 

[nabob]

Imagine someone has a really sharp knife in their hands, like, an 8-inch blade. And they push you hard in the chest with it. No, they push your son or daughter hard in the chest with it, sideways.

No big deal right? No danger there. They were wearing pads lol.

What past punishments were for past misdeeds from past players means nothing. They're only justifications for your fanatacism.

Hockey players wear very sharp blades on the bottom of their feet. Just fyi.

And yes, you are the minority, even on your own board. That doesn't make you wrong though, it's your opinion that does.

Won’t someone think of the children!!!!!

seriously one of the bests posts I have read about the kick on HF, Bravo

 

[oobga]

I got nothing for you man. You are hilarious though.

Bleh, 15lbs of force into a chest protector. That guy was never in any serious danger, but the NHL can't have any tolerance for guys kicking anyone (except Skinner who only gets 2 for wildly trying to cut a guys leg in half at the knee hehe). The only guy that actually was in danger was Archibald who got Kassian's blade right into the bottom of his helmet as Kassian pulled his foot in to kick. If Kassian's skate missed the helmet, it could have gone across the back of Archibald's neck.

In the end, idiotic play and Kassian damn well better learn a lesson, because the next stupid play could be 15+ games for him.

 

[McDraekke]

I’m finding it difficult to believe that in this instance the DoPS actually got it right versus the crazy outraged group of fans who believe so black and white that skate = dangerous weapon no matter the circumstances. It’s the outraged fans that are jumping the shark (the phrase, not the poster lol) here. “Vicious assault,” “could have killed him,” “Ban him for life,” “deadly weapon” are all phrases being thrown around right now and they are all ludicrous for one reason or another. In the right circumstances, yes a skate blade can kill and and come close to doing so on several FREAK OCCASIONS - accidents that clipped necks and arteries that no one could have ever seen coming. But the same could be said about hockey sticks, yet we allow and promote sticks to be used as ways to throw off the opponent by hitting them, tapping them, etc. And when the stick hits a player in the face, the NHL has recognized this as dangerous and rightfully has made it a penalty. Kassian kicked a dude in the pads with his skate. Very dumb, but only dangerous if Cernak were to have abruptly lunged his face towards the skate. And the NHL has rightfully issued a suspension due to the potential danger and precedent of someone using a skate towards a player. The game of hockey is inherently dangerous, so many times I cringe while watching scrums when someone is on the ice because their fingers are in such dangerous locations. Certain players (hello McDavid) skate at such high speeds that collisions with the boards alone could be dangerous. Or a player targeting an unexpected player high with an extremely fast moving hip check (Tkachuk...*cough*). Or a slash to the finger (Crosby), or the slewfoots and crotch shots from the rat himself (Marchand, if that’s not clear).

What I’m trying to say here is that yeah what Kassian did was dumb, but was on the same level as two handed slashing someone in the leg. Not a smart idea, but not very dangerous. Hell, a two handed slash probably hurts a helluva lot more than Kass’ kick did.

And comparisons to previous suspensions or non-suspension occurrences are precisely relevant to current and new suspensions or non-suspension occurrences. This is a strange argument to say that they are not relevant. It’s actually how they determine suspensions, especially for repeat offenders. So it’s only fair and reasonable to bring up Chara and his neck cross check, Tkachuk and his dangerous hits, etc., when discussing this scenario. All of the scenarios I’ve mentioned in this post are LEAGUES different in terms of actual danger to the victim than what Kass did.

I’m honesty quite certain that were this anyone other than Kassian who has his muddled history (which for the record, I’m a big fan of his recovery and maintenance to get back into the league and succeed), this would have blown over super quick, the nhl would have handed a few game suspension, no outcries and outrage for lifetime bans, and the day would have fallen into obscurity.

But apparently I’m an embarrassment of the fan base, should be completely ashamed of myself for not thinking this was an act of attempted murder, and should delete my account and NHL fan status forever. Lol this is crazy.

 

[T-Funk]

I’m honesty quite certain that were this anyone other than Kassian who has his muddled history (which for the record, I’m a big fan of his recovery and maintenance to get back into the league and succeed), this would have blown over super quick, the nhl would have handed a few game suspension, no outcries and outrage for lifetime bans, and the day would have fallen into obscurity.

This is probably true, but Kassian JUST got suspended and kind of mocked the whole process, so a disproportionate suspension was coming. The psycho Toronto and Calgary fans on Twitter are a little much though and its unfortunate how much pull they seem to have.

 

[McDraekke]

This is probably true, but Kassian JUST got suspended and kind of mocked the whole process, so a disproportionate suspension was coming. The psycho Toronto and Calgary fans on Twitter are a little much though and its unfortunate how much pull they seem to have.

I don’t really see this as disproportionate, to be honest, they want to make a statement, don’t hit people with your skate. It can be dangerous, let’s nip it in the bud.

 

[cheesymc]

This is Parros targeting Kassian for making him look bad in protecting star players dishing out dangerous hits. Oilers responded that they have Kassians back with the contract extension and Parros responds saying we are in control and we determine who they want to protect.

I’m a ducks fan but Parros is the biggest sellout and I have no respect for him. He’s supposed to protect all players, not just important players in big markets.

 

[guymez]

Any time any call is made, one side of the argument identifies other instances that demonstrate “inconsistency” which indirectly justifies an egregious action as “not that bad”. Every single time a good call is made in a game, fans of the victimized team claim it’s actually not a good call because ____ wasn’t called earlier.

Are there inconsistencies? Yes. Is the game called perfectly? No. But the ****ing guy put his skate in another guy’s chest. Cut the horse ****, do the obvious thing and throw the book at him. **** whatever other **** occurred before or after. A guy kicked another guy with his skate.

What I outlined wasnt an example of inconsistency in terms of called penalties.
It was an example of incongruency of the standard.

That IS the issue here.

 

[Captain Fantastic]

Evander Kane blasted DOPS on Twitter after his three game suspension.

 

[Delicious Pancakes]

Evander Kane blasted DOPS on Twitter after his three game suspension.

I'm glad somebody did. What he said is bang on.