Stanley Cup Takes Violent Turn, Bruins Lose Horton

Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals took a violent turn last night at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.  The game started off as expected with a raucous hometown crowd ramping up the energy – and decibel levels – in an attempt to fire up a Boston Bruins team down two games in the series.  The Vancouver Canucks looked uncomfortable in the realization that the Cup had now shifted to hostile territory.  Yet despite that, both teams looked sharp to begin the game.  Not surprisingly, the Bruins held momentum during the opening minutes, but the Canucks were able to respond quickly with a few chances against Tim Thomas.

After roughly five minutes of play, the game appeared to be unfolding at the tight level that the first two were played at.  Then it took a violent and frightening turn.  Bruins forward Nathan Horton skated through the neutral zone, advancing the puck to linemate Milan Lucic.  Almost two full seconds after passing the puck, Vancouver defenseman Aaron Rome delivered a brutal late hit, leaving the surface of the ice to drive his shoulder directly into Horton’s head, spinning him partly in mid-air and causing him to hit his head again on the ice.  Horton went limp instantly.

If you’re an avid fan or former player, you didn’t need but one look at the replay to know what kind of hit it was.  There was malicious intent all over it and it’s the kind of hit the NHL has been struggling to get rid of in the game.  Rome was immediately assessed a major penalty and game misconduct.  He put his team in a terrible situation, leaving Vancouver with just five defensemen for the second time in this series.  There was a long delay.  Then the stretcher came out, a sight no one wants to see.  Moments like this put everything in perspective, as even the Stanley Cup does not hold more value than that of a human life.

It was going to be a physical game, regardless of Rome’s hit, but it took on extra meaning for the Bruins.  The Canucks must have sensed this and to their credit they killed off the major.  There was no score at the end of the first period.   During the intermission, the Bruins players learned that Horton was moving his arms and legs.  That fired them up.  Andrew Ference scored 11 seconds into the 2^nd period and it was all downhill for Vancouver after that.  Seven more goals ensued, including two shorthanded goals.  Rookie Brad Marchand had the goal of the night, and maybe of the playoffs, chipping the puck off the boards during a penalty kill, burning Ryan Kesler to the outside, regaining the puck and holding it, drawing Roberto Luongo down to his knees before roofing it into the net.

Tim Thomas made a bevy of highlight reel saves, again.  Even with his team up by several goals, Thomas did not waver one bit, allowing just the one score when the Bruins had already netted five.  Thomas’ highlight of the night, though, was when he stood up to Henrik Sedin and put him on his ass as Sedin gained the puck at the top of the crease.  Thomas was credited with a hit and in all my life I’ve never seen a goaltender play the body directly in such a fashion.   Needless to say, the Boston crowd went bonkers.

The Canucks absolutely lost themselves in Game 3.  Coach Alain Vigneault has had several opportunities thus far to show that he is a decent human being, but for one reason or another, has failed to do so.  After the game, he went so far as to suggest that Rome’s hit wasn’t even a late one.  On the other hand, Bruins coach Claude Julien has repeatedly taken the high road.  He called out Maxim Lapierre to the press before Game 3, but chewed out Milan Lucic and veteran Mark Recchi for taunting Lapierre and Alex Burrows during the game.  After one whistle, Recchi stuck his fingers in Lapierre’s face, a response to Lapierre’s mockery of the biting incident in Game 2.  Lucic took it farther, sticking his two of his bare fingers into Alex Burrows’ mouth after a different play.  Burrows didn’t bite this time.

The Bruins no doubt gained significant and much needed momentum last night, though Nathan Horton will be unable to return.  He has been diagnosed with a severe concussion.  The NHL did not agree with Vigneault’s view of the Rome hit as he has been suspended for four games, or in other words, the rest of the series.  I won’t go so far as to suggest that the Rome hit is directly tied to the biting incident and the lack of a response by the league.  However, it is clear that the physical play was ramped up in Game 2 because many of the Bruins were upset that there was no disciplinary action on Burrows.  That carried over into Game 3 and as someone who used to play – and got thrown out of a handful of games myself – I know exactly the mindset that Aaron Rome was in.

The biting thing is moot here.  After watching the replay again, its pretty clear that Burrows bit Patrice Bergeron.  But if anything, the leagues lack of a response just made the referees’ job harder last night.  Both the Recchi and Lucic taunts would have generated unsportsmanlike penalties in any other situation, but perhaps since the referees did not agree with the league's decision, they let it go.  Claude Julien did not, however.  They stooped to the Canucks level last night, but at least they had somewhere to stoop from. 

But the hit on Nathan Horton is far more pressing of an issue.  There have been numerous incidents like this over the past few seasons, even with Rule 48.  That was supposed to deter players from malicious head hits.  It hasn’t don’t that whatsoever.  It still allows players like Aaron Rome to carry them out.  Guys that don’t get a lot of ice time and just aren’t very good don’t hurt their teams that much by getting suspended for a few games, especially in the regular season.  The only reason it affects the Canucks badly right now is because they already lost Dan Hamhuis in Game 1 and will have to dress Keith Ballard now.

If the NHL really wants to get rid of these hits, it needs to start actually coming down on players hard with stiff fines and longer suspensions.  They need to sit down and come up with a separate disciplinary protocol for these types of situations.  And like the repeat offender rule, there should also be a scaling increase on the fines and suspensions.  When guys have to start sitting out 10, 15, 20 games and pay out tens of thousands in fines, they might actually realize that it’s not worth it in any situation to go after another player’s head.

***UPDATE***
My father's been watching hockey for a few more decades than I have.  He offered some interesting insight on the hit.

There is something about the hit that is not so cut-and-dried to me, perhaps because back in the day any hit with just the shoulder was clean and legal no matter what.  A major complicating factor now is the speed with which the game is played.  As I saw it, Rome committed too late to the check and Horton did not look up after he passed. I'm not condoning the hit or questioning the call, but I doubt Rome was thinking "I'm going for the head."  Compare, for example, to the Matt Cooke elbow to Savard's head.

I still think the league should require Olympic-size rinks to give the skill players more room.  But even so, as you know, if you play with your head down or you don't "see the ice," your liable to receive an unpleasant surprise.


I would certainly agree that it wasn't like the Matt Cooke elbow on Savard.  The thing for me is this - the point about the speed of the game, if anything, shows why Horton still had his head down, or at least turned.  It is fast, but it's fast for everyone, and if anyone's accustomed to it, it's the skaters playing the game.  I agree that no one but Aaron Rome knows if he was actually going for the head.  Watching the play unfold, it appears that Horton had his head turned towards Lucic because he knew instinctively that when he made the pass, no Canuck player was close enough to play the body on him at the time.  It looks like he was looking for Lucic to gain the zone and send a pass back to him in the slot.  It's an almost impossible argument to prove, but I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt because they are accustomed to today's game speed.