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Boston Globe: Possible broken orbital bone.
by David Lee on 05/11/09 at 01:14 AM ET
Comments (7)
The Bruins Blog is reporting that Claude Julien thinks that Aaron Ward may have suffered a broken orbital bone as a result of Scott Walker’s punch in the closing moments of Boston’s 4-0 win on Sunday. Boston staved off elimination, but may have lost one of their top defensemen.
Rule 47.22 clearly states that Walker will be in line for an automatic one game suspension because he instigated a fight with less than five minutes to play in regulation. It also states that coach Paul Maurice will face a $10k fine. In some instances, the penalty may be rescinded, but this won’t be one of those cases. Walker was suspended for one game last season for headbutting Ottawa’s Mike Fisher, so he doesn’t have a pristine driving record.
Carolina will have to make at least one lineup change for game six, and I think probably two.
I’ve already said that I’m not really impressed by Tim We Got Us a Great Big Conboy as a postseason player. He’s doing more to hurt his team than help it. I don’t know whether Ryan Bayda has recovered from the flu, but I’ll hope that he’s available on Tuesday. Either way, Walker is out which means someone will have to go to the second line right wing. Jussi Jokinen can play any forward position, but I think it would be a mistake to break up the Samsonov / Jokinen / Ruutu line. That means that Patty Eaves will possibly get promoted to the second line and the Boston native Michael Ryan might make his playoff debut.
Carolina has many questions, and we won’t know the answers until Tuesday. Is Bayda healthy enough to play? Who will take Walker’s place? Will Conboy stay in the lineup?
Boston’s question will be answered sooner than that. Aaron Ward will be examined on Monday if not overnight Sunday.
All we know right now is that Scott Walker will be suspended for at least one game and Paul Maurice will be fined $10k. While the league probably expressly forbids it, he’ll probably take that out of Walker in some way at some point.
With the league’s disciplinary wheel of fortune, there’s no telling whether they’ll throw him under the bus like they did Brashear or whether they’ll let the automatic one game suspension stand alone. We’ll know more about everything on Monday.
Filed in: | Red and Black Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Aaron+Ward, Boston+Bruins, Carolina+Hurricanes, playoffs, Scott+Walker,
Comments
Note that Bob McKenzie opines that even the one-game suspension may be rescinded….that would be kinda amazing, especially if Ward is out until next season.
Linky:
http://www.tsn.ca/blogs/bob_mckenzie/?id=278323
Posted by Caneiac 4ever from yahoo.com on 05/11/09 at 02:49 AM ET
Maurice should’ve just told staal to break his leg, then maybe he’d get a minor and everyone would blame it on ward. Sending a message should only occur when an enforcer picks a fight with someone who’s not physical. I didn’t realize that people enjoyed watching hockey players getting brutally injured but it may be possible; is this what hockey has come to?
After seeing the responses to that retard Surovy slashing his own goaltender I’d imagine it has come to that. “Dude…he totally wasn’t “almost decapitated”“.
Posted by stoneman from Vegas on 05/11/09 at 04:00 AM ET
I assumed from the headline you were drawing some analogy to the paper’s woes.
Posted by Stevis on 05/11/09 at 07:49 AM ET
While the league probably expressly forbids it, he’ll probably take that out of Walker in some way at some point.
What does this mean? What person is the pronoun referencing in “he’ll”?
The only interpretation I can take out of this is that Paul Maurice will demand $10,000 from Walker to pay him back for his fine.
Posted by Muero from Ohio on 05/11/09 at 10:32 AM ET
it is indeed deeply ironic when someone in the bruins organisation or amongst its fans is complaining about dirty play and injuries, given the bruins are a team that prides itself on toughness, dirty play, and the occasional cheap shot.
Posted by hector on 05/11/09 at 11:53 AM ET
Wow. Looks like the NHL had the TSN PR machine in high gear even before they let loose with the non-suspension. If you want to talk about the fighting “culture” then it is also customary to allow the opponent to drop his gloves before you drop him.
Posted by Hockey1919 from Montreal on 05/11/09 at 02:13 PM ET
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David Lee is a restaurant manager with an unused degree in political science. He can be found at Carolina Hurricanes games, Scrabble tournaments and indie-rock shows. Sometimes, all in the same day.
David has contributed to CBC.ca for their Stanley Cup playoff coverage in 2006 and to the New York Times Slapshot blog for theirs in 2008. Red and Black Hockey was founded in July of 2005.
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If true, wouldn’t there be additional time for suspension since Walker’s a repeat offender?
Posted by Jeebus on 05/11/09 at 02:29 AM ET