Rivalry Reaches New High for Bruins and Penguins

The tempo and emotion of the final meeting of the regular season between the Boston Bruins and the Pittsburgh Penguins was established with the first shift on the ice. It was clear that it would be a physical, finish-your-check kind of a game, which traditionally favors the Bruins, as the more emotionally invested they are, the better they seem to play

During that first shift, Penguin Brooks Orpik put an open-ice hit on the Bruins Loui Eriksson, that while not dirty (as in he did not appear to intentionally target Eriksson’s head) should have resulted in a penalty to Orpik for interference. Unfortunately, Eriksson went down hard and then, once off the ice, headed down the tunnel to the locker room. He would not return to the game. And during the post game interviews, Bruins head coach, Claude Julien, confirmed that Eriksson had suffered another concussion.

When asked if it was frustrating for Julien to see Eriksson out of commission with another concussion, he pointed out that there is more at stake than a person filling a spot on a team.

“Frustrating, yeah,” he said. “It has to be frustrating for him too. We’re talking about health here too. Concussions are not just an injury; it’s a health issue and it’s unfortunate that that happened to him.”

And while Eriksson was struggling to get up off the ice, Bruin captain Zdeno Chara cross checked Chris Kunitz, for which he would spend the next two minutes reflecting on his lapse in control.

Unfortunately, what happened throughout the bulk of the first period leaves virtually no one on either team innocent, except perhaps the goalies—Tuukka Rask and Marc-Andre Fleury—who continued to attempt to play the game of hockey.

At 11:06 of the first period, a lot of horrible took place under the guise of a sports game. One player would head down the tunnel to be examined after a knee to the head (after having been what appeared to be tripped first). But far worse, another player would require immediate medical attention requiring him to be taken to a local Boston hospital. A third player would be ejected from the game, for his role in the injury; perhaps never to be looked at the same way again by the hockey community.

The facts, as seen by the available camera angles afforded the various media outlets airing the game show the following at the critical time mark of 11:06.

First, Brad Marchand had gone down on the ice just inside the Bruins red line after what appeared to be a trip by Penguin captain Sidney Crosby.  When asked post game, Marchand innocuously responded “I think I just tripped myself. Yeah, tough skates today, two left feet.”

While on the ice, his upper body slightly raised as he leaned on his elbow, Penguin James Neal came along and kneed Marchand in the head.

Click to set into motion.

When Neal was asked about the hit after the game, he responded, “I need to be more careful and I guess get my knee out of the way, but I’m not trying to hit him in the head or injure him or anything like that.”

Neal will have a telephone hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety on Monday. While assessed a two-minute minor for kneeing on the play, the hearing could result in lost games for Neal .

Second, after having tried to engage Orpik during a previous shift, Bruin Shawn Thornton was seen taking him down and hitting him at least twice which apparently resulted in a loss of consciousness to Orpik.

The referees intervened, issuing a match penalty to Thornton and escorting him from the ice. A match penalty results in the immediate suspension to the player until the Commissioner of Hockey looks into the matter.

The above video shows that Gregory Campbell and Kris Letang were having a heated discussion which is what drew the attention of the on ice officials to that end of the ice, and then shows Thornton coming up and taking Orpik down. However, it also shows no resistance from Thornton as the referee pushes him away toward the Bruins bench. At the door to exit the ice, the referee talks to Thornton who nods and leaves the game.

Anyone who has ever seen Thornton when he is involved in a fight or when he has been ejected from a game for what he feels is an unjust reason has seen an extremely loud and animated individual. Saturday night, as the referee pushed Thornton to the exit door, it was clear that he was stunned by what had just happened and his part in it.

He was made available to the media following the game, and though most will criticize him and his comments, as outsiders—people who do not personally know the real Shawn Thornton—those vilifying him on every blog and through every social media outlet are irresponsible and do nothing to foster communication about the sport of hockey.

The remainder of that first period simply put wasn’t hockey. No one who is a true fan of the sport wants to see any player on either team seriously hurt. And for the Bruins fans, there was the shock of seeing one of the players they respect, cross a line they never thought he would. But in the end, he admitted to his mistake and it is clear that he understands the severity of the trouble his actions have brought on him and his team.

To those who know all the players involved, personally and away from their “hockey” personas, they struggled to reconcile the people they know with the spectacle that was supposed to be the opening frame of a hockey game, rather than two rival gangs rumbling.

Julien, perhaps put it best when he answered the opening question of the post game press conference, “It kind of escalated to the point where I don’t think anybody is proud of what’s happened in this first period; both sides I would hope.”