In Game 3 of the second round series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals, Kris Letang dished out a high hit on Capitals forward Marcus Johansson. The hit has earned Letang a one-game suspension.
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The easy comparison is to the hit that Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik threw on Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta in Game 2:
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Looking at these two hits, they are not the same. The Orpik hit is away from the play, and he does not even try to get his shoulder out of the way of Maatta’s head and looks very much like he was going for the head. With the Letang hit, yes, it was high, but he looked to be going for the shoulder and not the head of Johansson. However, it also bears mentioning that Maatta was injured while Johansson returned to the ice. That is judging more on the outcome than the action itself, which should not be done.
These are the type of hits that need to be removed from the NHL and handing out suspensions are a good way to accomplish that. However, it does raise some questions as to why it was shorter than the suspension that Duncan Keith received for hitting Charlie Coyle in the head with his stick, which was six games (one of them a playoff game). Or going back to last season when Dmitry Kulikov went low on Tyler Seguin and was suspended eight games.
Some might say, “Well, it is the playoffs, and those games matter more.” That should not make a difference. Cheap shots are cheap shots regardless of when they are dished out. If these suspensions continue to be mitigated because they happen in the playoffs, then we will see more hits like this because teams will be more willing to push the envelope.
But more than that, Orpik has a history of what some would call dirty play.
Here is a hit in which he left his feet to lay out Jonathan Toews (inside of a Mike Milbury rant):
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This is another instance from 2007 in which he sent Erik Cole into the boards head first:
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Clearly, Orpik is a repeat offender. The NHL needs to crack down even further on him. Ten games would have been appropriate for the Maatta hit. That would be a real statement that shows thuggery will not be tolerated. The league should also increase the suspensions for each hit similar to this that a player does. While there are those who would say that the league would be becoming soft if they suspend players for this, there is a line between being physical and being dirty. Physical play is one of the trademarks of hockey, but when it devolves into dirty play, the league must come down hard on it.
But, Letang himself does not have a spotless history. In the first-round series against the New York Rangers, Letang hit Viktor Stalberg in the throat with his stick. There was also this hit on Jason Spezza from a few years ago.
He escaped punishment in both those incidents, but he was suspended for two games in 2011 for a hit from behind against Alexander Burmistrov of the Winnipeg Jets. In that occurrence, Letang clearly hit him in the numbers, a huge sign of an illegal
Before long, the NHL will need to take a page out of the NFL’s playbook and have penalties, fines, suspensions, and all of the above for hits to the head. Maybe it will help mitigate the concussion issues that largely fly under the radar in the NHL while they are out front and center for the NFL.
While Letang does not have the same reputation for being dirty that Orpik does, neither have spotless pasts. Both of them should have longer suspensions for their respective hits. I would have suspended Letang three games for the Game 3 hit and believe he should have been suspended for one game for the hit on Stalberg in the last round.