One of the highlights (or lowlights, depending on how you look at it) of the Stanley Cup Finals was Aaron Rome’s absolutely monster hit that took out Nathan Horton. What actually happened is one of those things that make Internet communities type “your a f**ken idiot” to each other, but here’s what you need to know: Horton didn’t have his head up, and Rome blindsided him (a lot later than he should’ve) and Horton spent the rest of his evening having ice shoveled out of his head. The Canucks lost the game, based on some combination of penance and good hockey.
Today, the league reacted. From Blue Seat Blogs:
First of all the Canucks got a beat down losing the game 8-1 (in part thanks to the penalty issued on Rome) and today Rome was suspended by the league for 4 games for his actions on the Bruins forward, actions that have cost Horton the remainder of the Cup Finals as the Bruins announced earlier today. It has also been announced that Horton has been released from hospital.
I want to know what you think. We get a lot of commenters who seem to know what they’re talking about (even when they don’t), so fill me in. Is this a fair decision? Was Rome’s hit as cheap as it looked? And is the loss of an important piece of their offense going to hurt the Bruins, or are they just going to roll? Can the Canucks recover, and is it their moral imperative to do so? Should the Bruins get together and beat the orca sh** out of Fin?
Don’t wait until something pisses you off to comment, let’s talk f**king ice hockey.
![[avatar]](http://p.uproxxcdn.com/photo/1245/thumb)
![[image]](http://cdn.wl.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/05/Broken-Leafs-TV-180x180.jpg)
![[image]](http://cdn.wl.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/05/ottawa-senators-pesky-back-180x180.png)
![[image]](http://cdn.wl.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/05/jimmy-fallon-nhl-awards-180x180.png)
![[image]](http://cdn.wl.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/05/russian-youth-hockey-fight-180x180.png)
Didn’t look that cheap to me, looks like just a solid hit, a combination for a well placed hit and the speed of the game. But then again, what do I know, I’m a Sabres fan.
As someone who didn’t see the hit until Bubbaprog linked it on his twitter feed, I’ll take a position in the cheapshot camp. Is there any chance that this cheapshot leads to Rome getting punched in the face in the opening minute of his first game back from suspension?
Definitely a cheap shot. That late after the pass it doesn’t matter if Horton is watching the play or not, you can’t hit him. A good defenceman turns around and keeps up with the play. Rome didn’t even have him lined up until after the pass so he can’t say it was too late to stop.
Late hit + Blind side + leaving your feet = cheap shot
Definitely a cheap shot, but this hurts Boston far more than Vancouver. Horton is one of Boston’s leading scorers and will likely be replaced by Seguin (who has played well, but is still a rookie). Vancouver’s defence is deep and Rome will be replaced by Ballard. Negligible loss for Vancouver, huge loss for Beantown.
Put it this way, no GM in their right mind would trade Horton for Rome, and that is essentially what has happened.
Definitely a cheap shot. Yeah, I’m a Bruins fan, but once the pass is made, there’s only so much time where you can claim an accidental hit and Rome passed that timeframe completely. There was no reason for that hit other that to cause injury.
Really cheap shot. Horton took two strides after passing the puck. Rome never turned to follow the play after the pass. Saw an opportunity to cheap shot a guy and took it. It didn’t happen in the flow of the game, it happened away from he play. 4 games is not enough.
Saw it live… wasn’t a case of Bertuzzi-style premeditation, and definitely not an outrageously blatant motion from Rome (a la slashing his face/kneecap/whatever) but it’s not like it was an innocuous play where Horton just happened to get concussed. Rome aimed for the head, hit the head, and severely injured the head. If Horton has to miss the rest of the series, I’m fine with Rome missing out too.
late hit + to the head + while leaving the ice = cheap as fuck
Anyone else surprised Rome only got 4 games? I was thinking 10, minimum, even taking into account they ‘value’ playoff games more than regular season games.
It was a step late but the cheap shot comes from that romes shoulder contacts mostly hortons head first which not only probably gave him a instant concussion but also caused him to whip head first to the ice making it worse still. if he would have drove his shoulder through his chest it would have been a devastating hit and fine in my book. You deserve to get rocked if you skate with your head down but you dont deserve brain damage for it either.
losing horton is a huge lose for the bruins. he has been pretty clutch for them this postseason including the lone goal in game 7 verse tampa.
Late on the play, Rome’s feet left the ice and he aimed for the head. Seemed to me he could’ve positioned the hit into Horton’s body easily but he chose to leap off the ice in order to make contact with the head. Turnabout is fair play, Horton misses his opportunity to compete and so should Rome.
I think the Bs will do allright, not saying they’ll win but should extend the series beyond 5 games.
Boston fans have been saying throughout the playoffs we need to change up the lines especially on the powerplay. This injury forced Julien’s hand in that dept. Perhaps this’ll be a defining moment for the team’s chemistry. Although
Deebo, you got knocked the fuck out, man (by a cheap-shot).
At least the Canucks aren’t biting people….fuck, never mind.
Cheapshot. Did Horton hears a hoo hit him yet?
I really don’t understand an argument being made for it not being a cheap shot and an illegal hit.
@Ragingape: It’s Simple. Canucks fans have their heads up their own asses. And Montreal fans seem to think this play is the same as the Chara hit on Max P. (no suspension there) even though they are in know way even remotely comparable.
It was late… that was it. It wasn’t a blindside or a lateral hit, that’s why it was called interference. He didn’t leave his feet (they came off the ice after the impact) and Rome caught Horton admiring his pass as he came across the blueline, an area deemed by the NHL to be a ‘hitting zone’. The main contact wasn’t the head, there was no elbow and Rome didn’t stride into the player. 4 games is way too much, but Boston loses out on this deal anyway and Rome is easily replaced by either Tanev or Ballard.
15 comments on hockey? Am I on the right website?
I’m surprised he got suspended since the NHL has turned a blind eye to a bunch of similar or worse incidents in these playoffs. I’m surprised he got suspended for 4 games, since as far as I can tell the NHL seems to use a rule of thumb where 1 playoff game = 4 or 5 regular season games, which is why blind eyes and slaps on the wrists are playoff norms.
I wouldn’t go so far as to call it dirty, but it was illegal and reckless. If Rome had led with his elbow instead of his shoulder; definitely what I’d call dirty. The NHL has been content to leave this as a grey area even as the bodies pile up – shame on them.
Go Bruins.
Canadiens fan here, and I can say without a doubt that this hit was far worse than the Chara hit on Max Pax. You just can’t hit a guy in the head like that when he clearly doesn’t have the puck.
That said, it’s funny that 5 or 10 years ago we’d all be fawning over Scott Stevens for doing the exact same thing. Probably means the league is moving in the right direction with regards to player safety.
Cheap shot, but left his feet on the follow-through. Four games was because Horton left to get the doughnuts, and also delayed gratification for not getting Burrows the first time.
It’s interesting that Rome got four games when all three of the other illegal-hit suspensions in the Finals have only lasted one game. I do think that at least part of the explanation for the length of Rome’s suspension has to do with the league feeling a bit guilty that they didn’t suspend Burrows for the bite on Bergeron, allowing the former to be a one-man Bruin wrecking crew in Game 2.
Rome had committed to hitting him before he passed the puck. Looks like the headshot Horton wasn’t intentional, but I feel the suspension is warranted, as he made zero effort to NOT hit Horton. It’s a fine line, if Rome had lowered his shoulder, then I think it’s a clean check.
Pretty much the same hit that ended Eric Lindros’ career.
I’m not buying that Rome ‘went for the head’, seems incidental as Horton was crouching a bit. Unfortunately, his head hit the ice before his body, my bet is that’s where most of the damage came from.
In any case, the hit was way late and I think the suspension is appropriate. Remember that the league disciplinarian has changed within the last couple weeks so you can’t hope for any consistency.
The bigger story is that the Bruins have something to rally around, and now they’ll have Seguin AND Thornton in the lineup. I’m not a fan of either team but it’s going to be fun to watch the Bruins roll Vancouver.
cheap shot no. late hit by .5 seconds yes. 2 minutes for interference, yes. 4 game suspension? come on now. the discipline committee said if the hit were slightly earlier, it would have been completely clean and not even worthy of a penalty. So I have a hard time understanding how the difference between .5 seconds to point of contact somehow = 4 game suspension
If a hit is ruled to be worth a major and the guy getting hit goes out, then the suspension should be for at least as many games as the injured guy misses. Totally arbitrary and subjective? Yes. Can the injured team milk it to their own advantage? Sure.
Will the point be delivered that late, blind-sided head-shots are way over the line? Yep.
NHL Disciplinarian Mike Murphy said it was late, but otherwise it would have been a legal hit. It was definitely late, but Rome isn’t known for being dirty and I don’t think it was a cheap shot per say. I think it’s a case of Rome seeing a forward coming through the middle with the puck and deciding to hit him, but in that 1 second, Horton passes the puck, and takes longer to get to Rome than Rome probably anticipated. Had it been a half-second earlier, perfectly clean hit. Rome leaving his feet happens after the hit. If you watch enough hockey, people leave their feet all the time, it’s WHEN they leave their feet. As for it being a head shot, it looks more high-chest (the head shot rule was not invoked) and rule 1 when going through the neutral zone is keep your head up. If Horton is watching where he’s going, he doesn’t get clobbered. Bottom line is it’s an really unfortunate outcome of a mis-timed hit. Given the precedent the NHL has set (which is hasn’t really) 4 games seems like a lot. After all, Chara broke a guy’s neck and got zero games.
On that same hit: if Horton gets knocked down but pops up and gets back into the play, do they even call a penalty?
horton crosschecked burrows on the shift before and on the way by the canucks bench he talked shit to Rome who is known as a pretty good guy and not at all as a cheap shot artist. Why Horton mouthed off to Rome, I have no idea but it still doesn’t mean Horton deserved a free ride in an ambulance…oops, it happened in the USA so I guess it wasn’t a free ride.
Mike Murphy was right in his assessment of the hit in it being a legal hit but a being .5 seconds late. The penalty call was interference. That was also correct. The result itself was extremely unfortunate and having suffered a number of concussions personally, I never want to see someone go through that. The question is wether a suspension is based on the action or if the resulting injury has any merit in the decision. The league has made a point in the past of handing out suspensions based on the action on the ice and not the subsequent injury. Also the NHL considers 1 playoff game = 4 regular season games, this equates to a 16 game suspension. My biggest problem is in the consistency of the suspensions. Based on past history of suspensions, Rome should not be suspended. I have no problem if this is the way they want to go but i guarantee something worse will happen sooner than later and will not be dealt with the same way.
The hit was about a second after the puck was given up. Not a whole lot of time to change your mind about hitting someone.
Would it still have been considered a poor hit if it would have been a hip check instead? It looks like the head contact is really what has people upset.
You Americans have NO idea about what a hockey hit is, or should be. I played in the WHL for 3 years before I got a career ending “cheap shot” very similar to the hit by Rome. The hit was neither cheap or late. If anyone has played hockey, and not beer league like MOST American hockey is, you will know what a clean hit it. You have 2 strides or a reasonable amount of time to finish your check. If Horton had his head up like they teach you when you start playing hockey in midget, then he would be fine. I ended my career on a play similar, skating with my head down right past the blue line. Was I mad or angry… Yeah, that I didn’t listen to my coach and always keep your head up! Americans should not be allowed to comment on hockey posts!
For you people who dissagree. Please watch ANY youtube video on Scott Stevens. The man is in the Hall of Fame, won the Conn Symthe Trophy (MVP of the Playoffs for you Yanks) and has more than 1 Stanley Cup ring. So you say Rome’s hit was Cheap. Please Watch the hit Stevens lays on Kariya… then make your posts!