The NHL Department of Player Safety has announced that New York Rangers defenceman John Moore has been suspended two games for his hit on Dale Weise of the Montreal Canadiens in game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.
The hit occurred in the third period of the game with the Canadiens leading 6-4. Moore was given a five minute major, a game misconduct, and a match penalty on the play. The hit was the culmination of a number of hard hits and battles between the two players throughout the game.
The NHL department of player safety said that Moore had driven up on the play and made the head the primary point of contact. Since Weise had not made any sudden movements, the onus was on Moore to avoid targeting the head.
Prior to the NHL’s ruling, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault argued that any extra discipline against Moore for the hit was unnecessary.
“It doesn’t meet the league standard as far as a late hit,” Vigneault told reporters on Wednesday morning. “It was a hit that Johnny caught him a little high in the chest, (the) player didn’t see it coming.
“It probably warrants the penalty that was given on the ice. Other than that, I don’t see what else it could warrant, but I’ve been surprised before. We’ll see what happens.”
Earlier in the series Brandon Prust of the Canadiens was given a two-game suspension for his hit on Rangers centre Derek Stepan. Prust will return to the Habs lineup for game 6 Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. The game is at 8:00pm EDT and the Rangers lead the best of seven series 3-2.
Interestingly, Vigneault’s comments at the time were quite different.
“That incident, the four referees missed the call and Stepan is injured,” Vigneault said at the time. “[It Was a] Late hit, everything that you want to get out of the game — that was [Prust’s] hit on Stepan.”
From where I sit, these two hits look awfully similar, and to say that one is “everything you want to get out of the game” and the other doesn’t warrant a suspension is the epitome of hypocrisy. I wonder if Vigneault even hears himself speak.
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