Panther Parkway Noon Headlines: NHL 14, Nate Thompson, Joffrey Lupul, and More!

What better way to spend your lunch break than catching up on all of last night’s amazing NHL action that you may have missed! Here are the top stories and videos from the all of yesterday’s action around the NHL.

 

• EA has released their first official trailer for NHL 14, check it out below!

 

• Origin of NHL nicknames – Western Conference. [Last World Sports]

 

• The Penguins have signed Quinnipiac goaltender Eric Hartzell. [TSN]

Panther Parkway’s Noon Headlines: Dazed And Confused.

What better way to spend your lunch break than catching up on all of last night’s amazing NHL action that you may have missed! Here are the top stories and videos from the all of yesterday’s action around the NHL.

* Yesterday’s biggest news items revolved around player suspensions.  Or lack of.  Rick Nash escaped what many thought should have been a two game suspension for this hit on Tomas Kopecky.  Later in the afternoon Alex Edler received a two game suspension for charging Phoenix goaltender Mike Smith for this hit.  I still wonder if the NHL’s Discipline Department, and Division of Player Safety really know what they are doing.

* When looking again at the Tomas Kopecky/Rick Nash hit, and how it happened and where Kopecky was hit and you compare to this hit from Joffrey Lupul on Victor Hedman, which earned Lupul a two game suspension, it’s hard to know what’s right and what’s wrong.

* I would have to agree with our good friend Bill Whitehead that Brendan Shanahan swung and missed.  Mostly Panthers Hockey.

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Shocked: Rick Nash’s Hit on Tomas Kopecky Goes Unpunished

It was reported by TSN’s Bob McKenzie this afternoon that New York Rangers’ forward Rick Nash would receive no supplemental discipline for his dangerous hit on Panthers’ forward Tomas Kopecky during last night’s game. This news should not only come as a shock to Panthers’ fans, but also the entire NHL as Nash clearly skipped out on what obviously should have been at least 1-game suspension. Considering NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan has been handing out suspensions like candy in recent weeks, the lack of punishment for Nash’s hit becomes that more baffling.

Below I have taken the time to look over just what rules were broken during Rick Nash’s hit as well as comparing the incident to other recent player indiscretions.

Rules That Were Broken During The Nash Hit

“Rule 48.1 Illegal Check to the Head – A hit resulting in contact with an opponent’s head where the head is targeted and the principal point of contact is not permitted. However, in determining whether such a hit should have been permitted, the circumstances of the hit, including whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position immediately prior to or simultaneously with the hit or the head contact on an otherwise legal body check was avoidable, can be considered.”

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