It is my belief that the Capitals' Alexander Ovechkin's knee-on-knee hit on hit on Penguins' blueliner Sergei Gonchar has already been reviewed by the NHL. It does not appear that there will be any supplementary discipline in this case.
You always want to leave an out when you discuss possible suspensions because the National Hockey League will likely look at the incident several more times. At the end of the day what the NHL is looking for in a kneeing suspension situation is where does the knee track? Does the knee stay firm in the line that Ovechkin was on? Was he attempting to hit the player with his shoulder or was the knee thrown out at the last second to try and create a hit?
If you look at the video over and over again, what you see is that Ovechkin's knee is out there, but it is not pushed out there. He's got a wide body stance, he's coming in and tries to launch the shoulder, but unfortunately he goes knee on knee. It's definitely a penalty, probably because of the severity of the injury to Gonchar it could have been a five-minute major in the game, but there is no intent to injure with the knee, and that is what the NHL is looking for in the case of a suspension.
Keep in mind the conspiracy theorists will say that Alex Ovechkin during the lockout year in Russia, knocked Gonchar out of action with a concussion due to a head-shot, however Ovechkin himself said after the game that it was an accident. I know the people in Pittsburgh won't be happy but Ovechkin was believable when he said it and I think it's the end of the story.
Canes in the Bruins Heads
When watching Game 4 of the Bruins/Hurricanes series it amazes me how slow Boston looks compared to Carolina.
Usually in the playoffs with a team like the Boston Bruins who were so good during the regular season and now they are not moving their feet, it's not a feet issue, it's all between the ears.
I really believe that the Bruins are entirely spooked about the way Carolina is taking the play to them. They really did not have a lot of adversity during the regular season and now it looks like that they are freezing up and are paralyzed.
