That was brutal.  His stick even flexed.

Posted by WingsFanInBeanLand from Lidstrom's head telling him 1 more year on 12/10/10 at 10:57 AM ET

Chicken s@!t move by rene. Hope Doughty is alright.

Posted by jmiller on 12/10/10 at 11:47 AM ET

Awful, just awful. As bad as this is, it’s nothing compared to the similar(if not worse) crap Homer takes every single shift.

Lets Go Red Wings!!!!!

Posted by Kate from Pa.-made in Detroit on 12/10/10 at 11:51 AM ET

In all fairness, Doughty fed him a crosscheck from behind, a move I truly hated when it happened to me (beer leagues, nothing serious). I never resorted to a spear in response but I would retaliate, usually a slash across the side of the knee. Getting knocked down wasn’t the problem, it was the whiplash with my head because of the high crosscheck to the shoulder blades. I don’t condone the spear but Doughty had something coming.

Posted by madhatter on 12/10/10 at 11:59 AM ET

Spearing can seriously injure someone internally. No excuse for it. The crosscheck from behind was pretty lame though.

Posted by awould on 12/10/10 at 12:07 PM ET

the crosscheck from behind is par for the course when you’re trying to park in front of the goalie, yeah?  I mean, at least that I’ve noticed over the past 20 odd years.  I can tell you what isn’t par for the course is spearing someone in retaliation for being hit, even more so being hit for trying to stand in front of the net.  Why the foch do you think they call them dirty areas? hard areas of the ice? Cause you gotta pay the price to be there, what you don’t do is spear someone in retaliation.  Anyway you look at that it’s intent to injure.

Posted by HockeytownOverhaul on 12/10/10 at 12:47 PM ET

I agree w/ you HockeytownOverhaul, but it annoys me when it happens to Holmstrom. Anyways, a crosscheck from behind is a different thing than from the side or whatever.

But the spearing is really bad, and historically a Calgary Flames go-to move. Anyone remember Iginla on Schneider?

Posted by awould on 12/10/10 at 12:55 PM ET

They need to have a rule that when this stuff happens in the waning moments of a decided game (and this was, with seconds to go), that the penalty is even more severe.

I’m with jmiller… chicken-sh*t move by Bourque.  Of course, look at the team he plays for… ‘nuff said.

But the spearing is really bad, and historically a Calgary Flames go-to move. Anyone remember Iginla on Schneider?

Posted by awould on 12/10/10 at 11:55 AM ET

I firmly remember a Flames backup goalie making a similar chicken-sh*t play on a Red Wing in the playoffs as well.  In fact, I remember him being put into the game specifically to do it, so when he got kicked out Kiprusoff could come back.  I also remember that the goalie had to go to Japan to find work after that.

Posted by Primis on 12/10/10 at 01:07 PM ET

They could call the hit from behind (since it’s illegal) and it would stop happening. There’d be no chickenshit retaliation from idiots like Borque.

Posted by redxblack from Akron Ohio on 12/10/10 at 01:09 PM ET

The Wheel of Discpline has spoken and the result is:

Posted by Hank1974 on 12/10/10 at 02:18 PM ET

http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=26354

62.1 Spearing - Spearing shall mean stabbing an opponent with the point of the stick blade, whether contact is made or not.

62.2 Double-minor Penalty - A double-minor penalty will be imposed on a player who spears an opponent and does not make contact.

62.3 Major Penalty - A major penalty shall be imposed on a player who spears an opponent (see 62.5).

62.4 Match Penalty - A match penalty shall be imposed on a player who injures an opponent as a result of a spear.

62.5 Game Misconduct Penalty - Whenever a major penalty is assessed for spearing, a game misconduct penalty must also be imposed.

62.6 Fines and Suspensions - There are no specified fines or suspensions for spearing, however, supplementary discipline can be applied by the Commissioner at his discretion (refer to Rule 28).

it should have been a 5 minute major and game misconduct.  it seems, all too often, that the NHL officials don’t even know the rules.

Posted by PaulinMiamiBeach on 12/12/10 at 06:33 PM ET