Cole out for the remainder of the regular season

[Eleven]

Article is here. Not happy to see an injury to the guy, but the Sabres have done it without their best players all year. Let's see what Carolina is capable of now.

[Larry Playfair]

hugggggggggggge loss for them.

[LabattBlue]

Really unfortunate. It's the same type of check(hitting from behind) that you see somebody get penalized for at least once a week except in this case, Cole ended up with a serious neck injury.

 

Cole is the kind of young player every team would love to have.

[Corp000085]

its sad that he's gone for the season. I always enjoy a young guy putting his game together and helping the team. With that said, this injury only benefits the sabres. We're in 2nd place in the division, and we did it without briere, dumont, kalinin, pyatt, connolly, et al. Now, lets see what kind of 'nads carolina has to overcome

[PTS]

I blame this injury on the NHL. Two months into this season, I wrote an e-mail into NHL Today on Sirius that they read on air. I basically said that there is a lot of hitting from behind I've noticed watching NHL Center Ice. I pointed out a game the Sabres played where Hecht got creamed from behind with no call and a period later, Roy had the same thing happen. I said that something needs to be done because it's going to get to the point where someone gets seriously injured or worse.

 

I didn't see the hit but if the NHL wants to get serious and this was a dirty hit from behind, Orpik should be suspended without pay for as long as Cole is out at the very least.

[BuffalOhio]

I remember that Sabres game. I was screaming at the TV for a call, also.

 

I refereed a Bantam B playoff game this weekend, and a player drilled his opponent from behind, head first into the boards. The offending player's coach was furious that I called a major penalty/game misconduct. These people never see the WRONG that their own players do. The offending player's mom was furious that her son didn't get to play in the championship game the next day. It's my opinion that she should be happy that her son didn't go to jail, and that the checked player didn't get paralyzed. It was really brutal. This stuff has to be removed from hockey.

[Twisted Wrister]

It is unfortunate what happened to Cole, but I have a theory. Watch the games today and whenever someone picks up the puck along the boards they immediately turn their back to the checkers. It just seems that players are putting themselves in vulnerable spots by putting their heads down and facing the boards a lot more now than they used to

[Saber61]

hitting from behind is the worst kind of hitting... those boards have NO give... the only give is in your neck... and BOY does it give.... its a shame about cole... people who hit from behind should have much heavier penalties given to them that should extend beyond the current game being played.

[Goodfella25]

Once again, the league drops the ball when it comes to suspensions. Orpik only got 3 games, and that is complete b.s. The league needs to set up an organized system of handing out suspensions, such as mandatory amount of games. This has been out of control for years and needs to be addressed. Look at that new 3rd period instigator rule. Some people have gotten suspended for fighting after 5:00 minutes in the 3rd, some havent (Gregory Campbell, Colin Campbell's son, for example, did not...hmmm). Kasparaitis should have been suspended for the elbow on Grant Marshall's head, and the knee on Connolly at least deserved a penalty, but no.

 

Also, thanks to the instigator rule, no one could do anything to Orpik for the hit, because challenging him to a fight would be an instigator penalty and result in a game misconduct. So that proves that the league has no rhyme or reason to its rules out there, basically it allows for dirty hits because the only possible punishment is a suspension, which the league finds a way to screw up every time. Until the NHL either gets rid of the instigator rule or starts being more strict with suspensions, this kind of thing will go on forever.

[Taro T]

Once again, the league drops the ball when it comes to suspensions. Orpik only got 3 games, and that is complete b.s. The league needs to set up an organized system of handing out suspensions, such as mandatory amount of games. This has been out of control for years and needs to be addressed. Look at that new 3rd period instigator rule. Some people have gotten suspended for fighting after 5:00 minutes in the 3rd, some havent (Gregory Campbell, Colin Campbell's son, for example, did not...hmmm). Kasparaitis should have been suspended for the elbow on Grant Marshall's head, and the knee on Connolly at least deserved a penalty, but no.

 

Also, thanks to the instigator rule, no one could do anything to Orpik for the hit, because challenging him to a fight would be an instigator penalty and result in a game misconduct. So that proves that the league has no rhyme or reason to its rules out there, basically it allows for dirty hits because the only possible punishment is a suspension, which the league finds a way to screw up every time. Until the NHL either gets rid of the instigator rule or starts being more strict with suspensions, this kind of thing will go on forever.

Close. Instigator carries with it a 2 minute minor, 5 minute major, and 10 minute misconduct. Instigating in the last 5 minutes of the 3rd is also supposed to carry a 1 game suspension and the fines for player and coach.

 

I didn't hear about Greg Campbell's situation. The only one that I know the instigator fines / suspension weren't assessed although the rulebook said they should have been was for Doan's fight.

[hopeleslyobvious]

I didn't hear about Greg Campbell's situation. The only one that I know the instigator fines / suspension weren't assessed although the rulebook said they should have been was for Doan's fight.

 

Yeah, I don't remember anyone else getting of the hook. I remember Chara got one when they thought he should have been exempt. Don't ask who I mean by they, because I really don't remember.