The Vancouver Canucks took an 8-1 shellacking last night in game three of the Stanley Cup final. The game was played in Boston and the home town crowd seemed to have a big impact on the play of their team who were down two games to none coming into the Monday night tilt. A pivotal moment in the game came about five minutes into the first period when Canucks D-man Aaron Rome levelled Nathan Horton, arguably Boston's best player. Video and commentary on the hit can be found here. While the hit was possibly a tad late, I didn't think it warranted the stiff 4 game suspension that the NHL handed down to Rome today. The hit was on open ice and was basically a head-on collision. Rome made no effort to go for the head, didn't use an elbow and exhibited no malicious body positioning that suggested an intent to hurt. I think that Horton needs to bear some of the blame for not skating with enough due care and attention and, let's face it, had the hit occurred half a second earlier it would not have been deemed late but would likely have resulted in the same outcome. I think the 5 minute major and game misconduct were reasonable penalties given the questionable timing of the hit but 4 games? Come on. It would be nice to hear Horton come out and take some of the blame but, for largely political reasons, that will never happen. I think we can expect an exciting game 4 and if all goes well, the outcome will be markedly different.
