Los Angeles Kings' captain escapes NHL discipline
Lately, the leagues have come under pressure to better protect their players. The National Football League recently beefed up its disciplinary action in response to illegal hits which have caused quite a stir among players and also seen some extraordinary
fines being placed on the violators. The Hockey League won’t be left behind. Illegal hits are being taken quite seriously and Los Angeles Kings' Dustin Brown almost got a taste of NHL’s commitment to penalize such hits.
Brown was given a game misconduct penalty during Monday’s contest between Los Angeles Kings and Minnesota Wilds for an illegal check to the head. The ejection came in the second period. Kings won the game even though their first line winger and captain was
ejected from the game in a shootout. It was their fifth win in six games.
Brown was ejected by referee Wes McCauley under NHL’s recent rule 48. This rule deals with lateral or blind side hits to an opponent’s head. Under NHL’s current rules, there is no minor penalty for this offense and an automatic game misconduct penalty is
incurred for such a hit. The rule states that blindside hits, where the head is the target or the principle point of contact, are not permitted. However, it now appears that the official might have judged hastily. The league has reviewed the hit and cleared
Brown of any wrongdoing.
So far, NHL has penalized three players under rule 48. Phoenix Coyotes' captain, Shane Doan has received a 3 game suspension while Ottawa Senators' Nick Foligno and Edmonton Oilers' Tom Gilbert have been handed $2,500 fines. NHL took back a fourth game misconduct
penalty against Kris Letang after reviewing the play.
On Monday, Antti Miettinen was preparing to take a shot at the Kings' net when Brown charged in on him from his left. Brown was coming in fast and led with his shoulder as he rammed into Miettinen. At the same time that Brown was about to make contact, Miettinen
had ducked his head to take the shot. Brown hit Miettinen's shoulder but because Miettinen had lowered his head and bent his waist in his follow through, the hit made contact with his head too.
“If I’d hit him in the head, he’d probably be on the ice for a lot longer than he was”, said Brown. Miettinen got up almost instantly and didn’t appear to have been injured. His shoulder had absorbed the impact first. “He’s shooting the puck — he’s in a
vulnerable position”, stated Brown adding that he often hits defensemen in that matter but the difference is that in those cases, he approached the defensemen head on while Miettinen didn’t see Brown come at him. Brown maintained that he wasn’t sure about
the rules in this case. “Is it a blindside hit to the head or a blindside hit, period?”
Brown understood why league was putting the hit to such intense scrutiny but added that he wasn’t worried after having watched the reply. “It was shoulder to shoulder.”
Two games misconduct penalties automatically eject a player from the next game and each subsequent penalty adds another game’s suspension. Brown, however, would be allowed to play the Kings' next game in Chicago.
Kings are already a man short with Drew Doughty having been placed on the injured reserve during the game against Carolina Hurricanes. Doughty is said to have suffered a concussion. The defenseman can’t go back on the ice until a week after being put on
the injured reserve and that too after he has been declared fit by a physician. What that means is that he would have to sit out Wednesday’s game against Blackhawks.
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