Comments on: No discipline for Holzer

By: matthewmacisaac

matthewmacisaac — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 19:23:02 +0000

I’m surprised not because of “intent to injure” but it is the exact, dangerous kind of hit they are trying to get out of the game. The Flyers are lucky McGinn is tough and didn’t end up concussed. The refs knew how bad it was and gave him a five minute boarding major. That should have told the league something. Schenn got one game for hitting a guy head on but nailing a guy from behind into the boards gets nothing. I don’t care what Holzer’s intent was, if you ask him he’ll probably tell you it was to break Sittler’s single game scoring mark, but he should have gotten something for a hit like that.

By: hockeywithdrawal

hockeywithdrawal — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 03:00:19 +0000

It’s actually not technically hearsay, just an opinion. The ‘comment’ section is normally the place for those. And you are correct, it is fairly biased, I’ve seen a lot of Flyer diving, and anything like this is fairly suspect.

By: phillyphanatic77

phillyphanatic77 — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 00:51:58 +0000

So was Kessel diving when Giroux got a boarding penalty? There’s no indication or evidence anywhere that McGinn embellished either hit. Just because it happened twice doesn’t mean McGinn is purposely putting his health in jeopardy to draw a penalty. Suggesting so with ZERO evidence is nothing more than hearsay. And biased hearsay at that.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 23:20:21 +0000

There was no reason for Holzer to push the Flyer.
Still looks like the NHL isn’t serious about protecting its players, must be residual thinking from the lockout.

By: bleed4philly

bleed4philly — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 22:55:55 +0000

I’m a Flyers homer and I don’t have a problem with the ruling.

By: lek9898

lek9898 — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 19:21:50 +0000

I have watched Holzer since he played for the Toronto Marlies…. Make no mistake about it he is a Big Lad
and an excellent defensive defenceman…. He also has been lighting it up a bit 2 goals in the last 4 games… Based on the games I have seen he is not a goon , just a hard guy (defensively sound ) to play against…. Holzer and Frazer were a tandem in the minors , it’s really nice to see them come up to the Leafs and play so sound….

By: hockeywithdrawal

hockeywithdrawal — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 18:59:35 +0000

I don’t think anyone’s saying that he ‘faked’ his face hitting the glass. Or bleeding. Just the act of turning his back to the player before impact, stopping about 2 feet from the boards, and launching himself into the boards when he received a hard, but not overpowering, cross-check from Holzer. I wouldn’t have thought anything of it, had it not happened with him the game before…these kids that are called up will do a number of things to keep their place on the nhl club. But, who knows…certainly not me. Just my opinion from watching it.

By: ndrick731

ndrick731 — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 18:20:37 +0000

Flyers season ticket holder here and penalty and league response were correct. And please people stop trying to tell everybody else what he was thinking. Unless you’re clairvoyant you have no idea what he was thinking or what anybody is thinking in 99% of these type of hits.

By: aclassyguyfromaclassytown

aclassyguyfromaclassytown — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 18:13:57 +0000

I’m a Flyers fan. I thought it was a good call by the official and a good decision by the NHL to not fine or suspend for the hit. The Leafs looked really good out there last night. They’ve looked pretty good so far this year though, so that’s no surprise really. They made the Flyers work really hard to even just get the puck out of their own zone, and really moved the puck around well IMO. Sorry to disappoint by not acting the way most people stereotype Flyers fans as being.

By: jaredphi

jaredphi — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 18:07:39 +0000

Stupid comment. There was BLOOD coming out of his mouth. How do you fake or act that?

By: hockeywithdrawal

hockeywithdrawal — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 17:49:46 +0000

Second game in a row he displayed some good acting…I think they’re on to him.

By: hockeywithdrawal

hockeywithdrawal — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 17:44:56 +0000

Good call – play on. I’ve actually been satisfied by Shanahan’s office this year.

By: nunan

nunan — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 17:32:40 +0000

I just disagree with you. Sorry if I come across as a jerk. In my opinion, it is this quick jump to extremes by fans (not classifying you) in general that is dangerous to the game. People throw around terms like ‘intent to injure’ or ‘targeted the head’ way too loosely now and the result is an over-sensitivity to every hit. Fans do this, coaches do it, etc. People are up in arms about clean hits and what ends up happening is the games get called way too tightly. Hitting is such an important aspect of hockey, I’ll add fighting to that too, and I think an over-sensitivity to it can negatively effect things. We have to be realistic and understand that 99.9% of players have no intention of injuring another player. Nobody is targeting the heads, knees, or anything like that. Bad things happen when the game is this fast and physical but intent is not part of it. Those days are over because the players know they’ll get punished. You think any player wants to go anywhere near another players head right now? They’ll be suspended and fined before you can blink. Torres and Cooke are good examples of this. Those guys had intent and have had to change how they approach the game. It’s why Shanahan’s job is so difficult. He can’t react emotionally to these things. He has to look at each situation for what it is.

By: jaybird22seven

jaybird22seven — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 17:24:48 +0000

Holzer hit McGinn with one hand. And it wasn’t done with any intent to hurt him. McGinn actually turned towards the boards and did some good acting for the refs. This should be a non issue

By: stakex

stakex — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 17:04:22 +0000

Glad to see the league seems to be a little less reactionary with their suspensions this year. No fine/suspension was the absolute correct call in this case.

This is a case of a player having a responsibility to not put themselves in a dangerous position when a hit is imminent. McGinn turns his back to the hit almost as Holzer makes contact, and he pays the price for it….. end of story. If he doesn’t make that turn, this play looks like any other play behind the net.

By: 1943mrmojorisin1971

1943mrmojorisin1971 — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 17:00:31 +0000

He had no intention of getting the puck so he used a cheap tactic in an attempt to win the puck? Sure, whatever you say. Point is it’s not intent to injure, not even almost, it just is what it is: five and a game for boarding.

By: jpelle82

jpelle82 — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 16:55:26 +0000

i said almost and i’m no philly homer either. he crosschecked him in the lower back, it wasnt a soft push. big difference in putting your hands on someone and using your stick. you crosscheck in the lower back because it hurts and they tend to go down or react to it. you do it against the boards in an attempt to win the puck, its cheap. the choice to use your stick vs your shoulder or hands is a conscious effort that displays malicious intent in my book. he had no intention of getting the puck or his stick would have been on the ice

By: 1943mrmojorisin1971

1943mrmojorisin1971 — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 16:53:34 +0000

Exactly. Holzer wasn’t out there with the sole purpose of slamming McGin into the boards and messing up his face. It wasn’t even much of a push but McGin goes face first into the dasher so the five and a game has to be called, and it is the right call. I would have been ok with a fine on top of that but this is certainly not suspendable.

By: nunan

nunan — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 16:34:58 +0000

So you believe Holzer consciously went after McGin, with the intent of injuring him? Do people understand what ‘intent to injure’ means? Nobody in the NHL is going around looking to injure another player. As much as fans want to think that a player on their team was targeted and injured on purpose, that’s completely bogus. Just bc an injury occurs or a play had a nasty result doesn’t mean the player doing the hitting wanted to concuss another player or board him from behind. I’ll tell you right now, Korbinian Holzer was not targeting McGin with the intent of injuring him. That should be obvious, especially with a soft push like that. Right call was made on the ice and by the league. This ‘intent to injure’ phrase is used way too loosely, nowadays.

By: jpelle82

jpelle82 — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 16:18:12 +0000

i’m surprised. maybe a $2500 fine at the least i suspected. looked pretty bad, with intent to injure almost. i guess the league has had a chance to watch mcgin the last couple days with this being the second time for him getting hammered so maybe they are seeing something in his board play that makes them believe he is setting himself up for it?