News Article: Letang Suspended 1 Game

[Winger for Hire]

No. As outlined in my first post, it's the sum of factors that makes it suspendable to me.

Take away the late(ish)ness of the hit and MoJo is probably going to be more braced for the hit and it won't be as bad.

Take away the upward drive through the hit, and there isn't head contact and this isn't even a discussion.

As I said in response to IC. It's no single factor that leads me to my position, but rather a summation of them.

But all the factors were absolved by the DoPS... no head targeting, no charge.

It was an interference penalty. That's it. The DoPS set a president for every interference hit to be a suspendable offense.

 

[IcedCapp]

Maybe I'm stuck on this point, but IIRC they brought up the part that Letang, adjusted his path after the puck was released. As a player (granted not at any significant level) that is the part that sticks out to me regarding it being late. If a player did that to me, I would feel it is a late hit. Not based on elapsed time, but based on the fact that the player in question is then not hitting to affect the play, but it has moved, but is simply hitting to hit.

I understand this happens a lot during games. I will completely concede that if he doesn't make head contact, this hit doesn't get a second look. Like I stated in my explanation, its the sum of all the factors that leads to my position of him deserving to sit for a game.

The department of player safety said that the principle point of contact was not the head.

Here is my final reply to you, but I'll be detailed:

You come into an emotional thread with an against-the-grain take (which is fine, of course) and proceed to deliver it in an obnoxious manner.

Then, you talk about why something should have happened while espousing things that were determined factually incorrect by the people who made the decision.

If the DoPS had said it was a late shot to the head blah blah blah, at least then you'd have a reason. You could disagree with it, but they would have given you a reason.

Instead, in the video, they sound like people who don't want to say what they're saying as they tick off all the reasons it SHOULDN'T have been a suspension.

YOU personally think it should be a suspension, but nothing about the DoPS suggest that it meets THEIR criteria for being a suspension.


Me thinks it's possible that that, and not the fact that "some of you guys let that main board thread get to you. When you "defend" a player's action too long against ridiculous claims you tend to make equally ridiculous claims to combat that. In a rare moment, I actually think DoPS nailed this one" is our issue

 

[SidDidNothingWrong]

Hey listen, that pr job was great! But the Pens don't need to watch other team's practicies and do PR to win. The Caps are king when it comes to completely arbitrary nonsense that does not matter.
The Caps are now 2-0 in Winter classics against the Penguins and drawn suspensions. Woooooo. Let's al jump on that bandwagon.

 

[ss53mech]

The department of player safety said that the principle point of contact was not the head.

Here is my final reply to you, but I'll be detailed:

You come into an emotional thread with an against-the-grain take (which is fine, of course) and proceed to deliver it in an obnoxious manner.

Then, you talk about why something should have happened while espousing things that were determined factually incorrect by the people who made the decision.

If the DoPS had said it was a late shot to the head blah blah blah, at least then you'd have a reason. You could disagree with it, but they would have given you a reason.

Instead, in the video, they sound like people who don't want to say what they're saying as they tick off all the reasons it SHOULDN'T have been a suspension.

YOU personally think it should be a suspension, but nothing about the DoPS suggest that it meets THEIR criteria for being a suspension.


Me thinks it's possible that that, and not the fact that "some of you guys let that main board thread get to you. When you "defend" a player's action too long against ridiculous claims you tend to make equally ridiculous claims to combat that. In a rare moment, I actually think DoPS nailed this one" is our issue

Not trying to have the last word here, just want try to clarify a couple things about my view.

Never intended to be obnoxious, if it was taken that way, I sincerely apologize.

The way I'm looking at it (and you bring a good point up in DoPS undermining their own cause) is that A) DoPS wants to mitigate dangerous head contact in the league B) they have suspension critieria to help do that C) that criteria isn't all encompassing enough to make A and B work together.

I completely concede that many will view this as not meeting DoPS criteria for a suspendable hit. And that DoPS really, really needs to work on their consistency.

Regarding them ticking things off that make it not suspension worthy, I am of the opinion that those things make it suspension worthy if we want to remove dangerous head contact from the game.

IC, I generally respect most of the stuff you post, and it's clear that we aren't going to see eye to eye on this. I was simply trying to have an open discussion about the hit itself without the context of DoPS failures in other areas. If all hits of this nature were treated like this one, I would be all for it as I think this one falls in a grey area and while the grey area plays aren't as dangerous as the egregious ones, they are far more common and therefore a much greater threat IMHO.

 

[Rocket of Russia]

You mean other than it being late and hitting the head?

Face it, Letang gotta own this. His temper, and the lack of ability to control it has cost us big time. Blame the media, blame the Caps fans, blame Trotz for working the process all you want but at the end of the day Letang put himself in this position by throwing a hit that wasn't necessary.

The team has come a long way under Sullivan and learned to not come unglued when they think they are getting the short end of things. Letang undid all that work in one stupid hit that wasn't needed.

His temper had nothing to do with that play. The hit wasn't retaliatory or made in a flash of rage/emotion. Hits are not only made to separate your opponent from the puck, but to send a message as to what parts of the ice you're willing to concede. Washington's finesse forwards routinely carry the puck across the center of the blue line, moving east/west. Letang stepping up and cracking Johanssen delivers the message effectively that those Washington forwards shouldn't expect to carry the puck comfortably there.

The difference between the Hickey and Letang hits:

Hickey's hit contacts much more head, in fact, 100% more, but Drouin has the puck.
Letang's hit was .03 seconds late.

You cannot laud one and vilify the other.

That .03 seconds standard better be concrete going forward.

It's perplexing to hear just about everyone vilify Letang, and not just the former Flyers and Bruins on NBC, like....everyone. Listening to hockey analysts stumble and fumble their way through telling us all how great the Hickey hit was, when hours earlier they had lambasted Letang for his hit was infuriating. Especially when you could see their wheels spinning as they KNEW they had to come up with ways of differentiating the hits...and they just couldn't do it without resorting to buzzwords and outright lies like "blindside" and "predatory."

And everyone seemed to take these buzzwords and run with them. Before you knew it, Tuesday morning you had people talking about the "predatory, blindside headshot Kris Letang leaped into late on a defenseless Marcus Johanssen in a vulnerable position, just mere days after slashing an opponent's face." At the end of the day the DOPS basically said, "uuuh so this was a little late" and in so many words said, "this is the 3rd incident in 3 games and the Caps org has pitched a PR campaign that's making us look bad."

And off topic but not really, but I'm just gonna say it - Drew Doughty makes that hit and Pierre orgasms about how "not only can this guy play both sides of the puck - brings you skating, passing, deking, shooting, stick-work, body position - but if you want to play a physical game, he can do that to. This guy does it all!"

.03 won't be the standard. You already knew that, but it won't be.

Where did DOPS say it was a legal hit? I thought they said it was late and while the head was not the principal point of contact "significant" head contact was made?

Drouin's head didn't get cracked "significantly?"

"Not an illegal check to the head but the combination of the lateness of the hit and significant head contact that causes this hit to rise to the level of supplemental discipline."

In other words...it was late. .03 seconds late.

I don't necessarily mind the suspension (though I think a fine would have been just as appropriate) but I just hate the whining. The working the media to get calls. 8 coaches left and Trotz is the only one acting like a whiny pissbaby trying to work the league brass and the refs through the media. I know some think that's the sign of a smart coach, I think it's the sign of a man who doesn't think his team can win without trying to gain some kind of advantage. Put on your big boy pants and have some dignity, Barry.

Damn, do I hate the whining. It's why Tortorella is my all-time least favorite person associated with the NHL.

I disagree on minding the suspension obviously, but the whining to the media act is pathetic, and it does seem to be an avenue coaches are using more and more. Julien and Tortorella were notorious for it. It seems standard procedure now. Trotz definitely loses a lot of respect in my book for that bull ****; especially the league favors the Pens crap. I mean, have some pride, ya clown.