Rypien Hit

Thanks again to 'sexy randal' for the video. I'll tell you why I disagree with your comments in the prior thread.

First, it was a charging penalty. That was the call on the ice. It would have been a charging penalty regardless of whether Roy was injured. The idiot was skating a hundred miles an hour from his own blueline.

Second, every NHL player knows that when there is a 50-50 play and a guy has his back to you, you can't put him through the boards. But since Rypien isn't an NHL player he doesn't actually know this...my bad. Even Rypien himself (and the announcers on the video) said he should have pulled up. Was Roy his own worst enemy on the play? Yeah. But is it his fault? No.

Once again it comes down to respect. There's a difference between making a solid hit to separate a guy from the puck - which is the purpose of checking, lest we forget - and trying to murder someone. These are hits to hurt, and invariably it's always perpetrated by some young 'energy' guy, who has been in the league for 8 seconds and doesn't understand the respect factor.

I'm curious to know what other people think.