You Be The Judge: Should Alex Burrows be suspended?
When Alex Burrows finished his check on Habs defenseman, Alexei Emelin, last night, you could feel the simmering boil from Habs fans over Twitter. When Nick Bonino scored just a few seconds later to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead, well, let’s just say the online outrage was a lot more obvious.
Burrows’ hit on Emelin had all the trademarks of the kind of hit the NHL is trying to eliminate. Emelin was admiring his pass, which placed him in a vulnerable position, Burrows’ point of contact was high, and there were a couple of steamboats from the point that Emelin got rid of the puck to the point that Burrows hit him – the hit was high, the hit was late, and the hit was to a guy in a vulnerable position. Maybe Emelin shouldn’t have been admiring his pass – personally, I’ve always felt there should also be responsibility placed on players to keep their heads up as they all teach you when you were wee – but I know there is increasing pressure, perhaps rightfully so, to change that mindset. In this case, Burr should have laid off the hit.
You be the judge: Should Burr be suspended? And if so, how many games should he get?
(Update: It looks like Burr will have a phone hearing today.)
from the replay I saw, burrows didn’t leave his feet. And he didn’t even make contact with the head. Emelin came back in the third period and was ok. I can’t imagine any reason for a suspension or even a penalty. What would be the call?
The problem with the Burrows hit is that the principle point of contact is Emelin’s head. Much like we are now seeing in the NFL, the NHL is on a serious crackdown on contact to a players head and therefore, are starting to go to lengths to remove it from the game. Add in the fact he wasn’t penalized on the play and the Canucks scored a goal (which happens without the hit as it is) on the play and I think the league took a harsher stance.