Keep an "eye" out for Orpik vs. Stamkos

by John Fontana on Apr 26, 2011 3:34 PM EDT in Playoffs

2011_ecqf_header_medium

Watching the 3^rd period of game six, with the contest still in doubt and plenty of time left on the clock, Ryan Malone's antics in front of the Pittsburgh net and the ensuing scrum had me in a tizzy.

Watching Steven Stamkos go five degrees of livid, however, made me righteously confused and built up my already high anxiety levels to somewhere north of the sanity plane.

Essentially, the question there was "What gives?" Stamkos was on, what look liked, the verge of getting an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. That's putting it nicely, as a red faced Spicoli look-alike wanted to lunge at a stolid on-ice official, but was pushed away by one of the linesmen.

Why? Just why?

I can't find a video of the incident, and the highlights package I found from TSN Sportscentre give you only a fraction of the play and ensuing scrum in front of the Pittsburgh net. Jump to 1:40 of the video, and while you see Stamkos battling Brooks Orpik, the scene soon transitions to Victor Hedman getting jabbed in the face.

The St. Pete Times noted, in brief, this morning that Head coach Guy Boucher claimed that Stamkos was poked in the eye by Orpik. Steven Stamkos himself had no comment, and the Penguins had amscrayed before they could be asked about the incident.

Without the full context in a replay of what happened, it's hard to say what DID happen. I jus tknow I could read Stamkos' lips after the incident, and he was not praying...

It's another storyline to take into tomorrow night's series finale in Pittsburgh.

[Note by John Fontana, 04/26/11 8:02 PM EDT ] Mike Gallimore of Electric Blue Hockey Test uploaded film from the incident. This is the SUn Sports feed:

Tweet Comment 11 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Not saying Orpik’s acts did or didn’t happen in EyeGate, but I have two thoughts.

1. What happened to players respecting each other? Why are some cheap-shoting others?

2. Nothing p!55es me off more than cheap players. The Pens roster—nothing against their fans—seems to be filled with players who act cheaply (Orpik, Niskanen) and those who are cheap (yes, I’m talking about you, Cooke).

by MTBoltFan on Apr 26, 2011 4:02 PM EDT reply actions

No mention of Letang?

Dude is young yet, but with the amount of playoff experience he has, he’s allowed himself to get rattled and undisciplined on a regular basis. Between the several instances of late hits and a flying elbow, he could easily have 3-4 more penalties in this series. Last night he got away with a blatant interference/late hit behind the Lightning net after the puck was intercepted and spun the opposite way from where he was pinching from. The ref simply wasn’t looking.

by Michael Gallimore on Apr 26, 2011 8:31 PM EDT up reply actions

Sure, Letang is undisciplined and opportunistic, and I surely don’t like him. But I guess in my mind I saw the other three I mentioned as worse.

Ironic, isn’t it, that some of these sorts of players—I’ll stop just short of calling them dirty—play for an owner that called for elimination of head shots?

by MTBoltFan on Apr 27, 2011 9:15 AM EDT up reply actions

Mario’s been awfully quiet this playoffs, hasn’t he?

The ways of Jedi Master Yzerman are not the ways of others.
Raw Charge, an SBN Tampa Bay Lightning community. Follow me on Twitter: @dagmar27.

by Cassie McClellan on Apr 27, 2011 10:25 AM EDT up reply actions

When it was announced the Lightning had received an additional penalty, I was incredulous. Malone definitely deserved an interference penalty, but Orpik tackled Stamkos without (physical) provocation. How Hedman ended up in the box without Kunitz is anybody’s guess.

by Michael Gallimore on Apr 26, 2011 8:23 PM EDT reply actions

That one baffled me, too

Kinda like Downie’s 10-minute misconduct from Game 4. Still trying to figure that one out.

by MTBoltFan on Apr 27, 2011 9:16 AM EDT up reply actions

You mean Downie's one game suspension for Game 4?

Or the misconduct in game 5 (I think)? Because I don’t think I understand either one.

by Incipient_Senescence on Apr 27, 2011 10:09 AM EDT up reply actions

Downie left his feet on the hit in Game 4. That’s definitely a penalty, but not a suspendable offense. However, he is a repeat offender. And with his reputation, he was lucky to get only one game.

Of course, Ovechkin leaves his feet on a lot of his hits and rarely gets called for it, but that’s another story entirely….

The ways of Jedi Master Yzerman are not the ways of others.
Raw Charge, an SBN Tampa Bay Lightning community. Follow me on Twitter: @dagmar27.

by Cassie McClellan on Apr 27, 2011 10:24 AM EDT up reply actions

Yep, Game 5

Thanks for the error-correction.

Cassie, thanks also for the explanation—even though I still don’t agree with the ref’s call.

by MTBoltFan on Apr 27, 2011 10:30 AM EDT up reply actions

Downie was given a 10-minute misconduct to get him off the ice in Game 5. The refs wanted to get the trouble makers out of the way so the game wouldn’t explode. That’s all there was to it.

The ways of Jedi Master Yzerman are not the ways of others.
Raw Charge, an SBN Tampa Bay Lightning community. Follow me on Twitter: @dagmar27.

by Cassie McClellan on Apr 27, 2011 10:22 AM EDT up reply actions