Sabres call up Bret Murray and Isak Rosen

[Brawndo]

Per Sabres PR

[Pimlach]

Kulich might be hurt.  

Could be more of that crazy flu spreading?  

[inkman]

Hey where’s our Brett Murray Stan?  

[PromoTheRobot]

11 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Kulich might be hurt.  

Could be more of that crazy flu spreading?  

Head shot flu. There should be a suspension for that guy but the league won't.

I'm happy Murray is getting another shot. Ruff needs to use him the right way: park him at the net and use him as a backboard.

[Pimlach]

19 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Head shot flu. There should be a suspension for that guy but the league won't.

I'm happy Murray is getting another shot. Ruff needs to use him the right way: park him at the net and use him as a backboard.

I get that the ref missed the head shot in real time, but the replays show it.  

I get that since the ref thought it was a good hit that Krebs would get the extra 2, but 10 more minutes was excessive.  Are only good teams allowed to respond like this?  

[SwampD]

18 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

I get that the ref missed the head shot in real time, but the replays show it.  

I get that since the ref thought it was a good hit that Krebs would get the extra 2, but 10 more minutes was excessive.  Are only good teams allowed to respond like this?  

And he lifts his ass up to make sure he hits him in the head. Way more dangerous than a shoulder and there will be no fine, because NHL.

Actually I take it back. He’s a repeat offender so he might get suspended.

[Porous Five Hole]

2 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Head shot flu. There should be a suspension for that guy but the league won't.

I'm happy Murray is getting another shot. Ruff needs to use him the right way: park him at the net and use him as a backboard.

 

2 hours ago, Pimlach said:

I get that the ref missed the head shot in real time, but the replays show it.  

I get that since the ref thought it was a good hit that Krebs would get the extra 2, but 10 more minutes was excessive.  Are only good teams allowed to respond like this?  

 

1 hour ago, SwampD said:

And he lifts his ass up to make sure he hits him in the head. Way more dangerous than a shoulder and there will be no fine, because NHL.

Actually I take it back. He’s a repeat offender so he might get suspended.

Not sure about that, Swamp.
 

I guess my take is going to be unpopular to you three, but what responsibility does Kulich have to bear for having his head down at the level of someone else’s hip? Like, yea, dude could have laid up knowing Jiri was vulnerable, but that isn’t a dirty hit.  While there was clearly contact to the head, I don’t believe Howden was targeting Jiri’s head at all. It just happened the way it did.
 

Rookie-level awareness by our guy. in the AHL, he beats the pursuit clean and is ready for Howden.

It sucks and I hope he’s OK.  

[LTS]

2 hours ago, Pimlach said:

I get that the ref missed the head shot in real time, but the replays show it.  

I get that since the ref thought it was a good hit that Krebs would get the extra 2, but 10 more minutes was excessive.  Are only good teams allowed to respond like this?  

The 2 minute instigator penalty automatically carries a 10 minute misconduct penalty. It's non-negotiable. The only negotiable part is whether it's a game misconduct or not and it certainly did not warrant that.

I don't like the 2 minute penalty at all.  As for the headshot, Kulich put himself in a vulnerable position. I would be shocked if the NHL took any action. I thought it was clean at the time. It's unfortunate, but it's a contact sport.

[LGR4GM]

2 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Head shot flu. There should be a suspension for that guy but the league won't.

I'm happy Murray is getting another shot. Ruff needs to use him the right way: park him at the net and use him as a backboard.

He's a 4th liner at best. 

[inkman]

8 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

He's a 4th liner at best. 

Yes. I’d like to see him the last 1/4 of the season in the bigs just to see if he can be serviceable in the role. 

[Brawndo]

2 hours ago, SwampD said:

And he lifts his ass up to make sure he hits him in the head. Way more dangerous than a shoulder and there will be no fine, because NHL.

Actually I take it back. He’s a repeat offender so he might get suspended.

Unfortunately He’s playing this afternoon against Detroit.

[Archie Lee]

1 hour ago, Porous Five Hole said:

 

 

Not sure about that, Swamp.
 

I guess my take is going to be unpopular to you three, but what responsibility does Kulich have to bear for having his head down at the level of someone else’s hip? Like, yea, dude could have laid up knowing Jiri was vulnerable, but that isn’t a dirty hit.  While there was clearly contact to the head, I don’t believe Howden was targeting Jiri’s head at all. It just happened the way it did.
 

Rookie-level awareness by our guy. in the AHL, he beats the pursuit clean and is ready for Howden.

It sucks and I hope he’s OK.  

My answer to the bolded question is: almost none. Hits like this are available every game. I will often see a player opt against such a hit. I can only assume this is because players recognize when their opponent is in a vulnerable position. The game forces players to frequently skate bent over, or to look down at the ice for the puck, or to reach with their stick. I'm not saying Howden intended to hit Kulich in a manner that caused injury. The game happens fast. Just as instincts can lead a player to put himself in a vulnerable position, instincts can also lead a player to commit to a check that is dangerous. We know today the potential long-term impact of such hits to the head. Suspending players for such hits, is a must. 

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, LTS said:

The 2 minute instigator penalty automatically carries a 10 minute misconduct penalty. It's non-negotiable. The only negotiable part is whether it's a game misconduct or not and it certainly did not warrant that.

I don't like the 2 minute penalty at all.  As for the headshot, Kulich put himself in a vulnerable position. I would be shocked if the NHL took any action. I thought it was clean at the time. It's unfortunate, but it's a contact sport.

The misconduct is either a 10 or a game?  Stupid rules.  What determines that decision?  

The NHL is famous for these poor rulings.  

Why didn't Kolesar get an extra 2 and a 10?  He told the reporter afterword that the Sabres were playing a "heavy game" and he went out to stop it.  Why isn't that an instigator?  

Ridiculous rules.  

[Porous Five Hole]

24 minutes ago, Archie Lee said:

My answer to the bolded question is: almost none. Hits like this are available every game. I will often see a player opt against such a hit. I can only assume this is because players recognize when their opponent is in a vulnerable position. The game forces players to frequently skate bent over, or to look down at the ice for the puck, or to reach with their stick. I'm not saying Howden intended to hit Kulich in a manner that caused injury. The game happens fast. Just as instincts can lead a player to put himself in a vulnerable position, instincts can also lead a player to commit to a check that is dangerous. We know today the potential long-term impact of such hits to the head. Suspending players for such hits, is a must. 

To the bold, that is every body check.  The intent is to blow someone up.  
 

The hit was not illegal.  It was not late, Kulich had time to see him coming, and Jiri had the puck.  If Jiri was standing up, he would have taken it in the middle of the chest. 
 

To me, there’s a difference between targeting the head and contact to the head.  I would suspend a target, you seem to want to suspend contact. I get that you want to err on the side of caution.  In a perfect world, so do I.  But that wasn’t a dirty check.  

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, Porous Five Hole said:

 

 

Not sure about that, Swamp.
 

I guess my take is going to be unpopular to you three, but what responsibility does Kulich have to bear for having his head down at the level of someone else’s hip? Like, yea, dude could have laid up knowing Jiri was vulnerable, but that isn’t a dirty hit.  While there was clearly contact to the head, I don’t believe Howden was targeting Jiri’s head at all. It just happened the way it did.
 

Rookie-level awareness by our guy. in the AHL, he beats the pursuit clean and is ready for Howden.

It sucks and I hope he’s OK.  

Players bend over reaching and stretching all the time.  Are they supposed to play scared and just stay straight up.  Howden took advantage an opportunity to bury a vulnerable younger, smaller, rookie and he got away with it.  He actually got rewarded for it.  

A head hit is a head it.  Either you enforce player safety or not.   Which is it?  You want the ref to determine if he meant it or not, in real time?    No.  

And the extra misconduct on Krebs, which I'm told could have been a game misconduct, the ref does what to decide that?  

[Porous Five Hole]

1 minute ago, Pimlach said:

Players bend over reaching and stretching all the time.  Are they supposed to play scared and just stay straight up.  Howden took advantage an opportunity to bury a vulnerable younger, smaller, rookie and he got away with it.  He actually got rewarded for it.  

A head hit is a head it.  Either you enforce player safety or not.   Which is it?  You want the ref to determine if he meant it or not, in real time?    No.  

And the extra misconduct on Krebs, which I'm told could have been a game misconduct, the ref does what to decide that?  

I agree with you in principle.  I really do.  But why do we not see hits like this all the time? It’s because players know better than Jiri does.  
It’s because our Rookie doesn’t have NHL spatial awareness and because he’s adjusting to a faster game.  You’re right, he got taken advantage of.  But that doesn’t make the hit illegal.  
 

I actually prefer the policy you’re proposing to protect player’s heads, but I would be very upset to be suspended and lose paychecks because a guy bent over or surged forward at the last second on me.