Fallout From The Ovechkin Hit

March 16, 2010 –Michael Frazier

It’s Tuesday morning; many, if not all of you have seen the hit dealt by Alex Ovechkin on Hawks defenseman Brian Campbell from Sunday. I know I’ve had time to look it over several times and some of us have had some healthy debates on the matter. Brian Campbell will likely miss the rest of the season with a broken clavicle and ribs. Losing Campbell that long will surely hurt the Hawks down the stretch, and possibly well into the post-season. They are still within striking distance to topple San Jose for top spot in the Western Conference while the Capitals have quite a comfortable lead over second place Pittsburgh (14 points with only 13 games to go). From first glance, the hit looked quite vicious, but Ovechkin insists there was no malicious intent nor does he believe the hit warranted such a hefty penalty.

“It was not a hard hit,” he said. “I just wanted to push him. It’s just a moment in the game. I don’t think it has to be five minutes or something like that. I just felt bad.”

Ovechkin did appear to show sincere concern when he was shown on the telecastraising his left hand to Campbell as if to say “I’m sorry, that wasn’t my intent.” That’s why I like the guy so much. I don’t condone the hit, but I don’t think he’s a dirty player. Over-zealous at times, but not dirty. Now, I can’t speak for everyone here at The Puck Doctors, but I’ve had some friendly discussions with some colleagues about the length of his suspension. Two games seems to be an appropriate length for Ovechkin – but you’ve got to wonder how much Brian Campbell’s injury influenced the League’s decision.

Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau spoke out on Sunday about Alex’s suspension, and he took issue with Colin Campbell’s decision:

“If you look at it, [Campbell's] skates were parallel to the net. Once Campbell dishes it off, he knows Alex is there. He doesn’t hit him, he pushes him. As he’s going, it looked to me like [Campbell's] left leg stumbled and he almost toe-picked the ice. He’s one of the greatest skaters in the game. He’s stayed healthy because he’s able to avoid this. I’m sure he thought he was going to spin off it. …
“The [refs] waited and waited. They didn’t want to make the call. The last thing [referee] Dan O’Halloran wanted to do was kick Alex Ovechkin out on an NBC game. But he thought in his mind that, ‘If this guy is hurt, I have to give him a five-minute major.’ …
“Alex pushed [Campbell]. He pushed him. If he doesn’t fall awkwardly into the boards, a) Is it a penalty? b) Are we having this discussion? … Alex is so much stronger than everyone else. So we’re penalizing him for being strong.”

Was Boudreau off base? Should the League have left the hit on Campbell alone? Leave your own thoughts in the comments.