Understandably, the Predators aren’t all that happy with the NHL’s decision not to suspend Marian Hossa. After all, it was eerily similar to the hit that landed Alex Ovechkin a two-game suspension earlier in the season. Predators GM Davis Poile was a bit upset himself:
“I thought, from our standpoint, it merited a suspension and a game misconduct, but the league didn’t, so we move on,’' Poile said. "(The hit) is not why we lost the game, the only thing that matters now is how we play (in Game 6).’'
I could have told you he wouldn’t be suspended as soon as the game was over. The referees actually made the wrong call on the ice, defaulting to the ever-present “boarding” penalty that we’re seeing way too often. Instead, it should have been a checking from behind call, which would have constituted an automatic misconduct. A boarding call requires an upper body injury to warrant a misconduct, such as the Alex Ovechkin hit on Brian Campbell.
Once again, the resulting injury is more important than the hit itself.