Life presents us with surprises. Almost daily, in fact. Be it a good surprise such as the one I had this past weekend when I found five dollars in the pocket of my jeans, or the bad ones such as coming outside the apartment to find your passenger side window smashed and your car ransacked (yes, that happened to me this weekend, too). Something that shouldn't surprise anybody? Fans of the Boston Bruins scoffed at the thought of a suspension for the Bruins'
Milan Lucic for his hit on
Ryan Miller, while those hailing from Buffalo Creek felt that Lucic should face the gallows. Shockingly, Northeast Division rivals disagreed.
(See also: Water's wet, snow's white, and looking at the sun hurts your eyes.)
That's where and why NHL disciplinarian
Brendan Shanahan steps into play. With word of a meeting between Lucic and Shanahan breaking shortly after the announcement that the 31-year-old Buffalo goaltender suffered a concussion in the 6-2 loss against Boston, it appeared that Lucic would be the next one to face a 'Shanaban.'
Almost inevitably, in fact.
Especially after Miller, who departed after the second period on Saturday, sought out reporters following the game to unleash a excrement-loaded tirade against the 6-foot-4 Boston winger. "I just wanna say what a piece of [expletive] I think Lucic is," an agitated Miller said. "50 pounds on me and he runs me like that? Unbelievable. Gutless, gutless piece of [expletive]."
But as Shanahan's phone call with the Bruins' top-liner ended, it was confirmed: There would be no fine or suspension for the Boston bruiser. "While it was unfortunate that Miller was hurt, I saw nothing egregious about the hit that would elevate it to supplemental discipline," Shanahan remarked after his ruling.
Cue rage in the following cities: Buffalo, Montreal, and Vancouver.
Many considered this Shanahan's chance to show that the '
Colin Campbell Factor' was real (That's why the Boston Bruins won the Cup last year, y'know! It had nothing to do with the Sedin's no-showing or Luongo pooping the bed) and send a message to a Boston forward whose rapsheet isn't exactly as clean as a Will Smith CD.
Yet, the right call was made. For many, it's impossible to judge the hit without looking at the injury. As is the case more-times-than-it-should-be, the fact that Miller was healthy enough to baseball swing his stick at Lucic mere seconds after the hit, play the next period and a half, and then seek out reporters to unload a meltdown of sorts regarding the hit might have damaged his bid for a victim role in the eyes of Shanahan, who noted that it 'irresponsible' for the Sabres to declare 'open season' on goaltenders.
And while nobody's suggesting Miller is faking a concussion (please don't assume that's my suggestion), I'm simply inclined to believe that his actions following the incident didn't help his cause.
(But back to analyzing the hit.)
For starters, let's get a few things out of the way.
One: Lucic
was penalized on the hit, putting the Bruins shorthanded for two minutes when already down by a goal and giving Buffalo a chance to make Lucic look pretty damn stupid for the collision.
Two: Miller, who's somehow been turned into a victim of sorts, took a risk (an undeniable one, in fact) by leaving his crease and racing Lucic to a puck beyond the face-off dot. That's simply indisputable.
Three: This isn't the first time a goaltender has been run or will be. Examples? YouTube Janssen on Price, Orr on Leighton, or Gionta on Reimer.
Now did the 23-year-old Lucic have to hit Miller? Probably not. But while some will tell you that Lucic had plenty of time to move out of the way, a replay shows Lucic's head is down for the majority of his voyage for the loose puck, something noted by the other side of the spectrum. Looking up with about five feet (rough estimate, yeah) to spare before contact with Miller, it shouldn't really have come as a shock when the concrete-footed Lucic couldn't (or maybe) wouldn't avoid contact with Buffalo's starter. Adamant that he didn't see Miller until it was too late, Lucic's avoidance of a suspension or a fine has left some with a bitter taste in their mouths regarding the alleged 'favoritism' the Bruins have received from the NHL front office in regards to discipline time and time again.
But when it boils down to it, if Miller's healthy and finishes the game, is this a suspendable offense? Not a chance.
At some point, a bit of the blame has to be put on the Michigan-native that came a substantial ways out of his crease to play the puck. While goaltenders aren't considered 100% fair-game when exiting their crease, they simply can't be invincible. If they were, well -- that'd just open up a whole new can of worms, now wouldn't it?
The Lucic-intact Bruins return to the ice on Tuesday night when they meet the New Jersey Devils, and will have a rematch against the Sabres on Nov. 23. Fun times, indeed.
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