Player Safety arrives at a very controversial decision for Spurgeon, who showed intent to injure on Buchnevich
Minnesota Wild captain Jared Spurgeon certainly got away with one on Monday night, as it has been announced that he would not receive a hearing after clearly showing intent to injure St. Louis Blues winger Pavel Buchnevich in Game 1.
During the late third period in a runaway game, with the Blues leading 4-0, Spurgeon made a play on a puck while contested by Buchnevich, with both players going down to their knees. After Spurgeon was spun around by Buchnevich, he delivered a stiff, intentional cross check downward on Buchnevich's leg, bending his ankle in an awkward direction.
While this is clear intent to injure, the Department of Player Safety did not see it that way, electing to fine Spurgeon $5,000 on the play, rather than offering him a hearing, which would have opened up the option to suspend him.
Perhaps it's Spurgeon's status as a player who has no prior history and someone who isn't known as a dirty player that kept him clear of a hearing. Needless to say, if you're the NHL and you're trying to set a precedent, you need to start punishing the act itself, rather than the name on the back of the jersey.
| POLL | ||
MAI 3 | 34 ANSWERS Player Safety arrives at a very controversial decision for Spurgeon, who showed intent to injure on Buchnevich Should Spurgeon have received a hearing for his play on Buchnevich? | ||
| 100% | 14 | 41.2 % |
| No, it was not that bad | 10 | 29.4 % |
| Show me the results | 10 | 29.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
