Gauthier was given a five-minute major and game misconduct for this hit on Blainville-Boisbriand Armada's Joel Teasdale in the third period.
Teasdale was down for a while and did not return to the game, according to Sportsnet.Here's the Gauthier hit via my parents' TV (look at that nice doors reflection!) pic.twitter.com/fugHAQ4Ibq— Jamie Tozer (@station_nation) May 7, 2017
The suspension means Gauthier will miss Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, in Blainville-Boisbriand. The Sea Dogs lead the series 2-0, but this suspension gives the Armada a big boost heading into a crucial Game 3.
Gauthier has scored four of Saint John's 10 goals in this series, scoring twice in each game. The Carolina Hurricanes prospect has 11 goals and six assists in 16 games this post-season.
My take: once again, if the league wants to give out suspensions for plays like this, fine. Do it. Player safety, especially head safety, should be the priority in junior hockey. But how this hit gets two games while others get nothing is mind blowing.
We keep going back to the non-suspension of Joey Ratelle for his hit on Mathieu Joseph in the semifinals. How a play like that, where contact with the head is clearly made (Joseph's helmet blew off!) gets nothing but this Gauthier play gets two games... I don't know. And that's the problem. Nobody seems to really know what should/shouldn't be a suspension outside of the league office.
The league needs to start getting a better hold on all of this and explaining to fans, who pay to attend games, why plays are or aren't suspension worthy. I'm not a believer in all the conspiracy theories that are out there involving Quebec vs the Maritimes, but surely the league knows that they're out there. The least they could do is start to prove those theories are not true by providing fans with more reasoning and information.
Until that happens, myself, and many others, will be wondering what in the world is going on here.
Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation
It is so frustrating to see these Quebec teams bouncing our players around and not getting penalties. I have watched the replay on TV and agree with you. Gsuthier is a threat to them winning and they only want the Que teams to win the Pres. Cup.
ReplyDeleteIt is so frustrating to see these Quebec teams bouncing our players around and not getting penalties. I have watched the replay on TV and agree with you. Gsuthier is a threat to them winning and they only want the Que teams to win the Pres. Cup.
ReplyDeleteBien sur ARMADA SE SERT DE CELA POUR SORTIR ', GAUTHIER '' CAR EN 2 PARTIE Julien a été capable à 2 repises de percer le mur de Motenbeau ....ainsi il l'élimine pas fort de jouer comme cela pas sur mais les dirigeants regardez bien la vidéo .... crime le gars S'ASSURE QUE L'ARBITRE LE REGARDE POUR SORTIR JULIEN PIS DUBOIS LUI A LES MAINS BLANCHE JE SUPPOSE FRUSTRÉ COMME IL ÉTAIS DONC LE COACH A SORTIT UN LAPIN DE SON CHAPEAU BEAU TOUR DE MAGIE ....
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping the Maritime owners flex their muscles at the next league meetings...the franchise fees, the high average ticket sales, priority access to Maritime players (e.g. Crosby)...If the Quebec-based teams want to win the league, maybe they should run their teams the way the Maritimes ones do. Enough of the b.s.!
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