Traditionally, a Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Florida Panthers game might not get a lot of attention on a busy Saturday night in the NHL. But when the leading goal scorer in the NHL leaves the ice shaken up after a marginal play against the boards, it has a way of getting everyone’s attention pretty quickly.
Within minutes, we saw three different people from three different places with three different perspectives. Here are the knee-jerk reactions from three members of the hockey media:
From Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune
From George Richards of the Miami Herald
From Jeff Marek of CBC sports
Stamkos was visibly shaken up on the play, but stayed on the bench and was back on the ice for the last bit of the ensuing power play. But it’s certainly interesting to see how different people can see the same play in such different ways. Was it a board? Was it clean? Was it from the side? Was it between the numbers? Was it an elbow?
For the record, it certainly looked like the officials got it right when they gave Mike Weaver two minutes for boarding. It wasn’t a suspension worthy board and nothing that would warrant a fine, but certainly a check from behind. If anything, I agree with Jeff Marek’s point of view when he says the line is getting blurred between a good check and people flipping out over any check where a player staggers to the bench. No one wants to see a player injured and thankfully Stamkos looks like he just needed a few minutes on the bench, but it’s almost Pavlovian when a player is hit into the boards and struggles to get off the ice. It’s a fast, tough game played by fast, tough players--and no one is looking to change that.
Sometimes it’s difficult to make the distinction between a simple two minute penalty and a huge penalty that deserves supplemental discipline. This is going to come with the territory.