Malkin High Sticking Match Penalty (Suspended for One Game)

it was a bad play from Geno, but it also wasn't like a baseball bat.

 

He’s done many things like this. This is nothing new.

However Kesler, who has yet to be suspended, is the one we all wish harm on for his dirty play.

 

Only because he had one hand on the stick and not two

 

If Malkin hits the back of the head with that spin around, then all bets are off. He hits him in the back of the head, everything comes into play right along with a punch to the back of the head. And a much greater chance of it because I’m sure that stick is causing much more trauma.

It’s easier to deal with a couple busted teeth/jaw than potentially a spinal cord injury. As you would assume.

 

that's kind of significant. Also he didn't really swing his hips into it. It was an awkward backhand swat.

like I said, still a bad move from Malkin. I wouldn't argue with him getting some games.

 

Well, it was a bad cut for sure, but honestly not too far off. Keep both hands on the thing instead of that long showboaty follow through and kid could have a future.

 

I stated that I wasn’t disagreeing with you. I was merely arguing your attempt at blowing up what Raffl did bringing in the specifics of cerebral damage. If so, every scrum should be looked at in the same regard. Tons of players in scrums are defenseless and taking punches. Same with throwing them. Again, not defending the action of Raffl, I’d be upset if someone did that to a player I like, but at the same time I wouldn’t be saying it’s acceptabke for that to allow him to swing a stick at someone’s face. Not saying you said that or you agree with it, but I’m finishing that sentiment of my own comment.

 

I’m just going to back away from the argument. You aren’t following me.

 

needs to get his hips into it.

 

He just got distracted, I think Raffl's head might have been falling off the tee.

 

Yeah, I agree that any sane individual would say that both moves are bush league and neither should be tolerated. Malkins move should definitely be more punishable than Raffl’s.

 

Did Rafl get called for any penalty on the play?

Not to excuse Malkin's retaliation but Rafl could have been called for 4 minor penalties in that 2 second clip.

First he crosschecks Malkin in the back.

Then he hooks into his midsection.

Then he holds him.

And finishes off with a punch to the head.

If the refs just called the rulebook I think the game would be better off, and we would see less retaliation.

 

Fixed it for you, should sit but he won’t.

 

agreed. My issue is that Raffl's is pretty much a typical hockey play at this point. No matter what the rules are, players will always occasionally cross the line. When punching guys in the back of the head is common practice, this is what crossing the line looks like. Luckily Malkin didn't really get him or it could have been ugly.

 

At which level of baseball is that move considered a baseball swing?

 

Yeah. I brought up the Caps when saying if Giroux took a punch to the back of the head a Flyers fan would be upset.

Good point.

 

Justifying one wrong with another is never a good look. Malkin took the swing and got a major penalty leading to a goal against as well as a game misconduct. Those were appropriate punishments. A suspension would be a bit much, unless you are considering Raffl for a suspension as well as he actually DID act on his intent which was to cheap shot Malkin in the back of the head.

He was grabbing his ear pretending it hit is head when it clearly did not. He also did not get penalized for his obvious infraction of punching another player in the back of the head, which you do not address at all.

 

Pretty much. If we were re-writing the rulebook right now I'm sure we'd all be having a different discussion on punching the back of the head and its place in the game, but for the time being that's still a roughly "okay" thing to do as long as you don't get carried away.

This is an aside because Raffl's is pretty much just a left hook, but a few times what caught my eye as a "punch to the head" turned out to be more like one player trying to knock the other's helmet down into his eyes to irritate him. Looks like a punch, but rides up the head instead of driving through it and probably doesn't hurt a ton. As long as stuff like that is "gamesmanship" it will be a while before hitting each other in the head for fun between the whistles is phased out anyway.

 

Malkin should not get a penalty because of reasons of “an idiot” or “anger issues” that are not in line with sanctions as such, he should however be suspended for intent to kill. Rafl should get nominated for an academy award for swan lake.

Hockey players generally speaking are thugs.

 

That should be an in person hearing. Dirtiest play of the year.

Should also not be his first suspension.

That could have been so so bad.

 

Here is the problem with your logic.

You're going bananas over Malkin swinging his stick in retaliation to a dirty rabbit punch. A stick that did not connect, thus causing zero damage.

Your argument for Raffl's dangerous rabbit punch being just fine is that
A) it happens all the time (as if that would make it ok, or as if every punch to the back of the head connects with the base of the skull, which it does not)
B) it wasn't hard enough to inflict damage

So one guy's indiscretion is ok because it didn't inflict damage in this occurance, while the other guy should be suspended although his indiscretion didn't inflict damage in this occurrence either.

Huh.


Bottom line is that if Raffl doesn't rabbit punch, Malkin doesn't stick swing. Both did bad things and everyone is lucky nothing really happened. But it all starts due to a dangerous rabbit punch that has no place in the game to begin with.

 

No, if you'd recognized the "good point" your post would have said "Oh, I see, you used Capitals players instead of Flyers players because you're not a Flyers fan, and it makes more sense to think about it that way".

Or maybe you'd have said "that's true, I guess you were just talking about Malkin and didn't actually rub anything in anybody's face until I tried to rub the playoffs in yours".

Personally I think you'd go for "got me, I think I've been subconsciously trying to tank this thread for the last few pages", seeing as you're really self-aware and pretty good at accurately analyzing the past.

 

But Malkin swinging his stick at face-level doesn't check off A or B either, and Raffl's does. On that alone, the two instances are not equal. The league's rules (and enforcement) regarding hitting another player in the face with your hands are nowhere near as black and white as doing it with your stick, and they pretty much assume that the punching will be done on purpose and the sticks will be done on accident.

So I guess the short answer is, yes. It may seem hypocritical or confusing but you could watch every hockey game from now until next Sunday and I don't think you're going to be seeing what Malkin did again any time soon. I can practically guarantee, however, that two guys will battle along the boards, one will be bent over, and the other will start delivering muffin shots at his head and shoulders. It's the difference between breaking the speed limit by 8-10 mph and breaking it by 30, they're both technically not allowed but the grey area-to-danger ratios are way different.

 

Keith got 6 games for similar swing. Malkin gets probably 3-4.