Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Ryan Callahan will not receive any sort of supplemental discipline for his hit to Kris Letang in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final.
The Tampa Bay Lightning knew coming into the Eastern Conference Final against a team like the Pittsburgh Penguins they were going to be faced with their greatest challenge yet. Unfortunately, what the Lightning didn’t know is Game 1 of the series would cost the team one, and almost two, of their best players.
The Lightning came out of the gate with plenty of intensity, looking like they were ready to take on the world. Unfortunately, all the air deflated from their balloon in an instant just under three minutes into the game.
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang would attempt to play the puck in their Penguins defensive zone. Right on his tail was Tampa Bay Lightning alternate captain Ryan Callahan who would lay a hard hit on Letang sending him crashing into the boards. As the hit came to a conclusion, Letang’s head would crash into the glass. He would remain on the ground for quite a bit until he made his way off the ice.
The call on the ice was a five minute major for Ryan Callahan for boarding. As you can imagine, this ignited the ire of not only the Pittsburgh Penguins, but the NBC Sports announcers as well. We all know how much they love their Pittsburgh Penguins. In any case, there was cry from all sides that Callahan should have received a game misconduct and been ejected from the game.
When it was clear this was not going to happen, the anti-Callahan movement suggested the play should be evaluated by the NHL Department of Player Safety and Ryan Callahan should be suspended for Game 2 of the series on Monday night. Unfortunately for them, according to ESPN’s Scott Burnside, the NHL has confirmed that Ryan Callahan will receive no supplemental discipline for his hit to Kris Letang.
We’re fairly certain this is going to ignite a huge fire underneath some Pittsburgh Penguins fans and Tampa Bay Lightning detractors alike. At the same time, while we don’t ever like seeing someone get injured, even if only temporarily, the Department of Player Safety made the right call. First, let’s take another look at the hit.
As you can see, Letang is well aware that Callahan is coming up behind him. Rather than preparing himself to take the incoming hit, he purposefully turns his back to Callahan and lowers his head as he makes his way into the boards. Now, Callahan could have laid off the gas a little bit prior to hitting Letang, and yes, Callahan’s arm did make contact with Letang’s head; however, all of this could have been avoided if Letang didn’t put himself in a vulnerable position.
Now, before you begin to jump down our throat for our opinion, allow us to shed a little light on the situation according to the NHL Rulebook. In Section 6, which covers Physical Fouls, we find Rule 41. Here is how Rule 41 reads:
"“There is an enormous amount of judgment involved in the application of this rule by the Referees. The onus is on the player applying the check to ensure his opponent is not in a defenseless position and if so, he must void or minimize contact. However, in determining whether such contact could have been avoided, the circumstances of the check, including whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position immediately prior to or simultaneously with the check or whether the check was unavoidable can be considered. This balance must be considered by the Referees when applying this rule.”"
The bolded excerpt above explains the most probable reason as to why Callahan received no supplemental discipline for the hit. It is apparently clear that Letang knew Callahan was coming up behind him. Turning his back to Callahan put Letang in a much more vulnerable position and thus takes the majority of the onus of the hit off of Callahan and onto Letang.
This is not a case of the NHL “endorsing this kind of hit” or anything like that. It as simple as they are following the rulebook as it was written. Just because it didn’t work out in a favorable conclusion in some people’s opinions doesn’t make the result any less correct.
Next: Ben Bishop Stretchered Off The Ice In Game 1 (Video)
There was plenty of hard hits being laid on both sides of the ice. We’re pretty sure as this series rolls on we are going to see more than a couple of those hits come from both sides of the ice. The true mark of a winner is not how many times you get knocked down, but how you pick yourselves back up and get back in the game. In other words, the team who wants it the most will eventually be crowned the victor.