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Video: Porter knees Booth, Shanahan hearing next?

Colorado Avalanche v Vancouver Canucks

VANCOUVER, CANADA - DECEMBER 6: David Booth #7 of the Vancouver Canucks is helped off the ice by Henrik Sedin #33 and Kevin Bieksa #3 after getting hit by Kevin Porter #12 of the Colorado Avalanche during the first period in NHL action on December 06, 2011 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)

Rich Lam

Midway through the first period of Vancouver’s 6-0 win over Colorado last night, Avalanche center Kevin Porter caught Canucks LW David Booth with a knee-on-knee hit:

Porter was tagged with a five-minute kneeing major and game misconduct; Booth left the contest immediately and didn’t return (he’s scheduled for an MRI today.)

With the factual stuff out of the way, you know what comes next:

Shanabanter!

Colorado head coach Joe Sacco felt the call on Porter was marginal, a view he expressed in a less-than-cordial postgame interview with the Vancouver Sun’s Elliott Pap (courtesy the Denver Post):

Pap: “You thought the Porter hit on Booth was a marginal call?”

Sacco: “Yeah.”

Pap: “Oh, really.”

Sacco: “Yeah.”

Pap: “Did you see a replay of it?”

(Two, three seconds of looking at Pap … )

Sacco: “Did I what?”

Pap: “Did you see a replay of it?”

Sacco: “Yes, I did.”

Aaaaand scene.

Meanwhile, Canucks coach Alain Vigneault told reporters he didn’t see the hit and therefore couldn’t pass judgement (to which the Vancouver Sun’s Iain MacIntyre wrote “makes you wonder if he’s watching M*A*S*H* reruns between periods or game film.”)

Finally, here’s the latest update from ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun.

“I certainly didn’t like the look of that hit,” LeBrun writes. “The league will definitely take a look at it -- the league reviews all controversial plays -- although whether or not Sheriff Shanny believes it’s worth a hearing was still undetermined as of this morning when I checked with the league.”

For what it’s worth, Shanahan hasn’t issued a suspension for kneeing yet. He’s punished boarding, elbowing, headbutting, checks to the head, checks from behind, high-sticking and leaving the bench to fight -- but not kneeing. This could end up being like a medical drama, where the surgeons clamor for different types of surgeries so they can say they’ve done them. I guess this would make a kneeing suspension the equivalent of endovascular aortic repair. You just don’t see that every day.