BOROWIECKI NEEDS TO FIND BALANCE
Senators love defenceman’s physical game but NHL considers him a repeat offender
Mark Borowiecki is on the National Hockey League’s radar screen.
The Ottawa Senators’ alternate captain will have to tread carefully when he returns from the three-game suspension he received from George Parros of the league’s department of player safety on Monday for his illegal check on Cody Eakins of the Vegas Golden Knights one night earlier.
As the Senators wrapped up their road trip on Tuesday in Arizona, Borowiecki started serving his second suspension in less than a week. He also missed Friday’s game in Denver for elbowing Urho Vaakanainen of the Boston Bruins last Tuesday.
While there has been no shortage of opinions in the hockey world that Borowiecki was just making the right play when he delivered the hit on Eakin during the Senators’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Knights on Sunday, such plays are immediately reviewed and Borowiecki wasn’t in a position of strength.
Given his brief but recent history with the department of player safety, it was going to be difficult for him to escape without a suspension, and that’s why he won’t be eligible until the Senators face the Tampa Bay Lightning at home on Sunday.
“I thought (Borowiecki) came up a little bit and I thought it was avoidable,” Dave Poulin, a former NHL player and Toronto Maple Leafs assistant general manager who is now a TSN analyst, said on Tuesday.
“It was an unorthodox hit, for me, because it was avoidable.
“He’s not going to get the benefit of the doubt. He’s just not.”
Borowiecki deserved the suspension he received for his the elbow on Vaakanainen, but the incident with Eakin has been argued fiercely by both sides. Many believe Borowiecki isn’t doing his job if he doesn’t finish his check on Eakin.
Jeff O’Neill, a former Carolina Hurricanes and Maple Leafs forward, was surprised that Borowiecki even received a penalty on the play.
“I guess I’m not the guy to ask on these,” said O’Neill, an analyst on TSN radio and television in Toronto. “I look at it and (Eakin) has his head down, and of course, there’s going to be contact there. The head goes flailing because he’s looking down.
“That’s unavoidable. But I guess I haven’t done my homework on this because, when I talk to guys like Bob (McKenzie) and (Poulin) on the panel, they’re like, ‘Oh no, you’ve got to take a different line there.’ That wasn’t an option when I played, but I think, if I did now, I’d just say, ‘I’m not hitting him because what’s the sense?’ I don’t have enough time to make that decision.
“You don’t have time to process it, ‘Oh, I’ve got to take a different line?’ No, it’s your job to eliminate the guy with the puck and not to figure out a line to get there.”
That’s the issue Borowiecki is facing.
Playing the game is about making split-second decisions, and if a scoring chance results because Borowiecki gave the opponent a free pass, then he’s not doing his job. It’s a slippery slope because nobody wants anybody to get hurt, either.
If Borowiecki doesn’t play physically, he’s not going to be in the league for long. He isn’t being paid for his offensive skills; he’s on the roster because he’s tough to play against and he makes opponents pay a price if they want to go to the dirty areas.
“I love the way he plays, but he has to err on the side of caution,” Poulin said. “He just has to. I think he can make that adjustment. The majority of hits he makes are fine. But it’s up to him to eliminate that one (he got suspended for). Players have to make adjustments and he has to make that adjustment.”
Poulin is right. Borowiecki will have to adapt because he now has a reputation and repeat-offender status, which only comes into play when Parros is determining the length of a suspension.
Until these two incidents, Borowiecki had been suspended only once, for two games in December 2016 after a hit from behind on Tyler Toffoli of the Los Angeles Kings.
If there’s a next time for Borowiecki with Parros, expect even harsher treatment.
Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals is appealing a 20-game suspension for an incident in the pre-season, and he’s also a repeat offender.
O’Neill wonders if players will start to back off on the physical element of the game if hits like the one Borowiecki made on Eakin draw a suspension.
“How is (Borowiecki) supposed to play? He’s only effective if he’s aggressive, hitting people and a pain in the ass out there. What’s he going to do? Start playing a skill game? He doesn’t have that skill set,” O’Neill said.
Borowiecki’s best bet is to find the right balance.
How is (Borowiecki) supposed to play? He’s only effective if he’s aggressive, hitting people and a pain in the ass out there.