To little surprise, the Los Angeles Kings and Phoenix Coyotes are divided regarding the legality of Jordan Nolan’s check on Rostislav Klesla. (‘Yotes head coach Dave Tippett confirmed to AZ Central’s Sarah McLellan that Klesla’s been admitted to the hospital.)
Nolan, 24, pleaded his case to LA Kings Insider’s Jon Rosen.
“I felt like it was clean,” Nolan said. “He was skating through the middle of his ice, and I was just focusing on his chest and I feel like I hit him square in the chest.”
Kings head coach Darryl Sutter backed Nolan up, describing it as a “good hit.”
Tippett was diplomatic while arguing that it wasn’t such a clean, good hit.
“It seemed to me like a guy got hit in the head, and a player left his feet,” Tippett said. “But that’s not for me to diagnose.”
Coyotes captain Shane Doan was a little more emphatic to Fox Sports Arizona’s Craig Morgan.
“Obviously, we think there’s a finish high; a finish off the ice,” Doan said. “As we’ve been witness to, that’s usually not very good.”
(Is that a Raffi Torres reference? It sounds like a Torres reference ... )
Anyway, the two teams can’t seem to see eye-to-eye on many things other than their mutual distaste. We’ll see how the league feels about this situation soon enough.
As far as updates on Klesla, 31, Tippett noted that more probably won’t be known until Monday morning.
Related:
Paul Bissonnette might receive a 10-game suspension for possibly leaving the bench