What do you think about the Ohlund suspension now?

Question

He got 4 games for his baseball swing to the back of Koivu's knee.
What originally was thought to be a minor bone crack has turned into Koivu missing a month and a half of what looked to be a promising season for him
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In a season of the largest suspensions handed out in league history, do you feel that 4 games was appropriate in this situation and why was the league was so light in comparison to some of the other suspensions this season?
Was it Koivu's attempted elbow that lightened to suspension? What do you think?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWA9OclF_mE

Flyer's fans, how many games do you think a player on your team would have gotten had he handed out a similar chop?

There is a slight difference between a baseball swing and a hard hack. My guess is that you haven't felt either in your life if you think that is part of the game

Congrats, baseball guy, that makes you a pu*sy. Two hand somebody when they are facing the other direction??? You got a problem, you drop gloves and face them like a man. Being a snake and using a weapon is not something to be proud of.

And no, I never played that way. I would have gotten a worse beating by my old man when I got home if I pulled a bush league move like that. Those lessons were learned young and have stuck with me. Baseball swings at another player are not part of the code. Ever.

Laying low- I didn't see Ohlund look around for the refs arm to be raised and then decided to slash him after he saw it wasn't. So your argument of the only reason he did it was because the refs didn't make the call is unreasonable. It had nothing to do with his actions. His stick was over his shoulder and wound up right after he took the elbow.

My only point is, in a league where guys are getting 20+ games for leaving their feet or elbowing, where do baseball swing slashes come in? Other than your skates, your stick is the most dangerous weapon you have on the ice, if you are going to punish high hits with such severity. You should expect the same or worse for using your stick as a weapon. Rant over.

Nobody is overlooking the elbow. In fact if you reread the question, I listed it as a reason that the suspension may have been light. I DO agree with you about the elbow, in fact it helps prove my point, if Koivu knocks him out with the elbow, he gets 10-20 games by the new league standard. Don't you think a stick foul like that should carry at least the same weight? I would just like to see some consistancy. I have absolutely no favoritism towards either team or player.

What junior B team do you skate for Bravesfan?

Answer 1

Four games was far too light, regardless of how long Koivu has been out. 10-15 would have been more appropriate. It's a bush league, cowardly move on Ohlund's part. Who the heck wouldn't drop the gloves with one of Koivu's anyway?

As a Flyers fan, is that just 2 games worse than either the Jones hit? Absolutely not, it's far, far worse. Heck, at least Boulerice went face to face with the guy he took the cheap shot at. For those about to rip me for that statement, after watching it a few times and giving it further thought, I agreed with the length of that suspension. If that were a Flyer, depending where in the order of the current suspensions it happened, the suspension would have been in the 10-20 game range.

Zam: I was taught the game the same way you were and would have also had to answer to my father for such a chicken-s**t stunt. He left my coaches to do the teaching of skills but when I stepped out of line I had to answer to my coaches first and my father second. For something like that, he would have greeted me at the door where the referee escorted me off. You would have never seen him pull any of the nonsense you see parents pulling these days.

Braves: I have felt them, but how or why would you take a baseball bat swing at one of the few unprotected parts of a players body. It's plain and simply a cowardly move. If you have a problem with a guy, settle it like a man. If you aren't capable of doing so yourself (that is not meant as a knock on someone who is not capable of it), someone else on the team should step up and take care of business. Pull that crap in a higher level game and you are likely to land yourself in a hospital.

Hales and Copas and Laying Low: I am surprised by your opinions on this. The man wound up and swung like a roid inflated Barry Bonds. It was stupid, unnecessary and dangerous. He aimed and connected with an unprotected area of Koivu's legs. If he felt he was elbowed, he had other options besides a baseball bat swing.

lil Angel: Downie did much more than just check McAmmond.

Zam: Serious stick fouls should be treated with the same degree of severity as the head shots. This is a good example of the amount of damage a stick can do.

Answer 2

You can't judge the seriousness of the incident by the resulting injury. I'm not saying that Ohlund's whack was acceptable (it wasn't) but there's more to it than just Koivu's injury time.

You can get seriously injured in hockey without any penalties at all. There's the luck factor.

There's also the fact that Koivu's elbow is being forgotten. If the elbow had knocked Ohlund out, what would you be saying then? Is Koivu off the hook for the elbow just because Ohlund has a hard head?

Furthermore you have to look at the history of the player. Ohlund does not have a history of these kinds of plays. Repeat offenders must be dealt with more seriously.

Answer 3

I think the NHL is inconsistent at best with discipline.

I guess the main difference is that Simon is a repeat offender. That being said, Ohlund's slash a la Barry Bonds to Koivu's now-broken left fibula is bullsh*t. He used his stick to deliberately injure a player, without doubt. His "suspension" is a joke and he should have at least gotten the league "maximum". (Yes, I know you have to have standards to meet them. It's a nice thought.)

Can anyone tell me why guys like this are not criminally negligent? What's the difference between this and Mike Tyson biting off someone's ears?

Edit:
Sorry Lubers - didn't mean to steal your Barry Bonds analogy. Thank God I didn't reference the steroids!

And Megalomanic - If Koivu had knocked Ohlund out, we wouldn't be talking about Ohlund's suspension for breaking his leg, would we? It would be about the suspension to Koiovu for the TKO on Ohlund. It didn't happen, so it isn't a fair comparison.

I totally agree with Laying Low on the refs not making the good calls.

Answer 4

I think that the 4-game suspension is too short because Ohlund whacked the back of Koivu's knee and the bone broke and a player just HIT Dean McAmmond and got a 25-game suspension.

Answer 5

Yeah, I would've given him 20 games at LEAST. That way, when the Avs play the Canucks, they won't face their best Dman. And when we play the Wild, Koivu (who ALWAYS lights it up against us) is still injured. It's a win win.

Seriously though, I think that wasn't enough. Slashing is a part of the game (it does happen all the time), but winding up like that isn't. I'd give 10 games for that.

Answer 6

Fock Zam, I'm still waiting for Afinogenov's and it isn't coming. There is a double standard. If it were Upshall on him, he would be sitting.
Those saying that the injury shouldn't help determine the punishment are probably the same ones saying that Randy Jones should be out as long as Bergeron. I mean, if you want to look at it like that, Bertuzzi should not have gotten near that much.
I don't actually have a problem with the length of the Ohlund suspension, I have trouble with the consistency of the suspensions handed down. Can't wait to see what happens when someone like Ovechkin does something totally stupid.

Answer 7

This is becoming a pattern. The initial penalty (Koivu's elbow to Ohlund's face) is being missed, and players are retaliating with more frustration (and purpose). Maybe refs need to stop focusing on calling these stupid "touch" calls, and call the more serious ones. If Koivu had gotten called for his face elbow, Ohlund doesn't whack at him. I saw a harder slash at the Wranglers-Steelheads ECHL game last night and the ref missed that one too. Happened right in front of my seats. Even my 5-year old said that it should have been a penalty, then called the ref stupid. 5 would have been enough, you can't base it on how many games someone is out for.

Answer 8

I'm with Hales on this one...

Penalty-- For sure..
Unfortunate-- Yes, for Koivu..

But it was just a perfectly misplaced slash when Ohlund was just trying to rattle his cage a bit.. Ohlund was overboard in the reasoning for giving it.. But a suspension was the proper thing-- I woulda said 2 games..
Just hate it for Koivu-- I like that guy..

Answer 9

I said it a while back a standard needs to be set. skate and stick fouls need to be taken serious and players need to remember to stay in control at all time. to call it retaliation is complete bs. there is a code of conduct in hockey. If you been wronged you face the person like a man, face to face. NHLers need to be held to higher standard then minor leaguers

Answer 10

Absolute cheap shot.If he was wearing an orange and black sweater he would have gotten a minimum of 10 games and more people talking about the bullies on Broad St.Also this is the reason people why you need FIGHTING in hockey.So Ohlund gets whats coming to him in the near future.

Plus he slashed him where theres little or no protection.

Anyone-Has Laraque gotten any suspension for him taking out Biron's knees with his baseball slide?