Bunting gets cross checked in the head, no penalty call; suspension coming for Heinola?
It did not take long for the rough stuff to begin in the Jets/Leafs game on Thursday evening, with Jets defenseman Ville Heinola catching Leafs winger Michael Bunting with a stiff cross check to the head just a couple of minutes into the contest.
At least the officials got this one right and called the penalt- wait.. what? Scratch that. A very clear cross checking infraction right in front of the Jets' net went uncalled and Bunting was slow to get up.
In what could end up being a very costly missed call against the Jets, yet again the NHL officials are putting their incompetence on full display. Unfortunately for the Leafs, just after the cross check to the head of Bunting went uncalled, the Jets, who should have been killing a penalty, took a 1-0 lead on a goal from captain Blake Wheeler.
The silver lining here is that we know what the precedent is for a cross check to the head. Just a few short weeks ago, Matthews received a two-game suspension for cross checking Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin during the Heritage Classic, so we'll look forward to the announcement that Heinola will have a hearing, because that's how it works, right?
Unfortunately, we've seen this movie before, and I wouldn't be surprised in the least if George Parros just turned a blind eye to Heinola's cross check due to the fact that it was delivered against a Leaf.
| POLL | ||
MARS 31 | 407 ANSWERS Bunting gets cross checked in the head, no penalty call; suspension coming for Heinola? Is the NHL's Department of Player Safety biased against the Leafs? | ||
| Yes | 275 | 67.6 % |
| Yes | 48 | 11.8 % |
| Yes | 43 | 10.6 % |
| Yes | 41 | 10.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
