The New NHL: Comeau Sells a Headshot
J. OzVath | Oct 15, 2010 | Comments 12
What happened in the second period of the Penguins & Islanders game Friday night is nothing short of NHL officials jumping the shark on the hits to the head. The Penguins came into the incident up 2-0 on goals earlier in the period from Mike Rupp and Eric Tangradi (his 1st NHL goal).
As Blake Comeau entered the Penguins zone with a little over 12 to go in the frame he was cleanly checked by Kris Letang, shoulder to shoulder. Comeau’s helmet flew off and he went to the ice and Letang, of balance from the hit extended his forearm. Josh Bailey took exception to the clean hit and dropped the gloves, going after Letang.
The officials deemed it an “lIllegal Hit to the Head” despite no part of Letang ever making contact with Comeau’s dome. They gave him 5 and the game misconduct. It was an atrocious call. Bailey’s actions put the teams at 4 on 4 for two minutes and then the Islanders went to work on a 3 minute major penalty on which Comeau was an active participant. He fired a shot from he point on the Isles PP and none other than Bailey settled the shot and put it behind Brent Johnson to make it 2-1 on a Powerplay the Islanders should have never had.
The Powerplay wasn’t over. The Pens would technically kill the rest of it and as they were exiting the zone Maxime Talbot was tripped and there was no call. The Islanders charged the Pens zone off of the turnover and Radek Martinek would score from Comeau. One single bad call put the Penguins into situations they should never have been in and equalized the game.
I take a large amount of exception to Comeau’s actions. He sold the hit to the head. He lay fairly motionless on the ice and then on his knees for a least :45 seconds before getting up, going to the bench with a smile on his face, and taking his next shift while Letang was gone for the night for doing absolutely nothing. Comeau took advantage of a culture change in the league to the new headshot rules implemented over the summer and the Jason Pominville/Niklas Hjalmarsson incident earlier in the week. I don’t know why you’d fake an being hurt like that but it was a dive. Worst of all it was an embellishment that forced the Officials to take a reactionary course of action just in case Letang had hit him in the head
That course of action by the officials changed the course of a game for nothing but a completely legal play.
The Pens would need Overtime and a Powerplay goal from Alex Golisgoski to notch their first ever win at Consol Energy Center.
If Colin Campbell and the league actually enforce some sort of sanction on Letang I’ll buy the torches and the pitchforks.
Filed Under: New York Islanders • Pittsburgh Penguins
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WHAT?!
It was a nasty hit!
Yes, it was clean, but if you watch the slow-motion replay you can see Comeau’s head get jarred quite a bit.
Ya ever think he lay there motionless because his bell was rung? Why do you have to resort to foil-hat theories right off the bat?
Occam’s razor…look it up.
I also agree it was a clean hit on Letang’s part…and clearly not against the blindside rules. Refs are going to make mistake on its interpretation. Clearly one was made there.
However, Comeau is really not the type of player to sell something….especially to the extent seen there. He looked genuinely rattled and more likely was smiling when the cobwebs were cleared.
Typical Pens fan…If that had happened to Crosby, clean hit or not you would be trying to find Campbells cell number to leave messages about how the person who hit Crosby should be thrown out of the league. This blog is written by the same ilk of fans that have a player like Matt Cooke who used a cheapshot to basically end Marc Savards career. He then barrels into a defenseless goaltender on consectutive shifts and the brainless fans start to boo Dipi. SAy what you want, the hit was clean but only after looking at it 2 or 3 times, the refs made a judgement call and it was incorrect, but what do you want to do about it? Elminate referees and let it be reffed by the replay crew, or by the jumbotron. Grow up Penguins fan. To think that Comeau sold a hit is rediculous, you want to talk about taking dives and selling hits, maybe you guys should review some of your own players. 87, 71 and others for example diving and flopping all over the place as soon as their touched.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob7kXHhj8eM&feature=youtube_gdata_player
It was a clean hit by Letang and Comeau did not dive. Clearly his head was not targeted but it was a violent collision that knocked him temporarily silly.
No suspension is warranted on that play. On the other hand, I think Bailey should be suspended for attacking Letang from behind. Just ask Steve Moore what it’s like to be attacked from behind.
Be a man, Bailey, and at least get his attention first. I have no problem with guys sticking up for their teammates, but not like that.
Pens fans…..I wish we could only hear from the old guard who watched Mario skate with Tocchet. They were tolerable. The new fannies have a complex…..really sad. I was a big Pens fan back in the day.
I can’t see any way that Comeau exaggerated the hit in order to draw the call. I agree with everyone else – he was pretty clearly shaken up.
The only thing Comeau was guilty of was skating with his head down through the middle of the ice.
Thanks for the relies all although I still contend to differ. As for the “old guard” comment. I’m not one of these new to the block Pens fans who think that the Caps are our biggest rival. I was a fan before Mario turned the team around on the ice as a player. I watched Ulf Samuelsson end Neely’s career. I’ve been here a while.
In my opinion and after watching it repeatedly Comeau just got up, smiled, and played very well considering how he was so out of it 2 minutes earlier. It bugged me and I have an opinion.
I wouldn’t insult your entire fan base over it. I am simply taking exception to the action of one player.
That kind of reaction is typical of this generation of fans who hate the Penguins simply because they don’t have Crosby, and this wasn’t even about him.
The funnier part is that Bailey said i nthe post game he didn’t think it was a head shot, yet he went after Letang for what he saw as a legal hit. How is that not a game misconduct?
He smiled.
How about this…
Person on bench, “Wow that sucked!”
Blake, “Yeah..tell me about it!” with a wry, nervous smile.
I believe Bailey stated it wasn’t a head shot AFTER he had seen the replay. I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure that was how the interview went.
Not according to Seth of the PPG.