‘A GOOD HARD HOCKEY PLAY’: SUSPENDED SEN IS ADAMANT
Even after receiving a threegame suspension for his open-ice hit on Cody Eakin of the Vegas Golden Knights, Mark Borowiecki’s view hasn’t changed.
“In my honest opinion, I thought the hit in Vegas was a good hard hockey hit and a good hard hockey play,” Borowiecki said following the Ottawa Senators’ morning skate Tuesday.
Borowiecki, who had just rejoined the lineup after serving a one-game suspension for elbowing the Boston Bruins’ Urho Vaakanaienen in another contest on Oct. 23, says he understands and appreciates the process that led to the latest suspension.
He says he would never want to have such a job because, ultimately, one side or the other will be disappointed with the outcome.
Borowiecki had a phone hearing with George Parros of the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety on Monday.
It had been a broken play, of sorts. Borowiecki left his position near the blue-line, hoping to receive a pass from teammate Colin White. Eakin intercepted White’s pass, but his head was down as Borowiecki made contact.
Eakin immediately fell to the ice. He was taken to the dressing room and didn’t return to the game. The Golden Knights’ Jon Merrill then dropped his gloves to fight Borowiecki.
“I will say the same thing I said to George on that call,” Borowiecki said. “My initial gut reaction after that play was that we were going on a two-minute power play. I thought (the Golden Knights) were getting two minutes for instigating (a fight). There was no call in real time by the referees.”
As he has played the hit over and over again in his mind, Borowiecki isn’t sure what he could have done differently. Part of his argument to Parros was that all parties involved — including Vegas coach Gerard Gallant — said there was no indication that Borowiecki had targeted Eakin’s head.
“That’s kind of the confusing part of it sometimes. But if you’re going to play on that line, you’re going to cross it sometimes and the consequences are what they are.”
If Eakin hadn’t been bent over and looking downward as he stickhandled the puck, the Senators suggest, there would have been no head contact.
“I want to preface this by saying I am by no means putting the onus on Cody Eakin at all,” Borowiecki said. “He is not to fault for this, but our argument for this is, if his head was up, where would the principal point of impact be? I think it’s left (pectoral muscle).”
Ultimately, though, Borowiecki says he must respect the decision. As he looks back at what led to last week’s suspension, he acknowledged he could have dealt with that circumstance differently.
“The one against Boston was not intentional, but I need to make a better decision there,” he said. “I take a lot of pride in throwing a lot of bodychecks and the majority of them are pretty clean. I’m going to try and get back on track, but by no means am I going to change my game or the way that I play. I’m not out there looking to target guys or hurt guys. I’m just playing the game hard and sometimes you cross that line.”
With Borowiecki suspended, with Ben Harpur recovering from a back injury in Ottawa and Senators coach Guy Boucher sticking with his preferred alignment of using seven defencemen, Christian Wolanin made his season debut against the Coyotes.
“I didn’t really know what to expect coming into the road trip with injuries and I was kind of like an extra body and that’s what I had assumed,” said Wolanin, originally recalled from Belleville of the AHL last week.
Wolanin, who played 10 games with the Senators last season, was caught off-guard when he was assigned to Belleville during training camp.
“Originally, when I first got sent down, I took it pretty hard and I wasn’t happy and I was disappointed in myself and the situation. But the more time I spent down there, the more I realized, it might be good for me. (Belleville coach) Troy Mann has been unbelievable down there with my development and I’m an even better player than when I got sent down. I’m confident in myself. I think I can play at this level.”
HOMECOMING FOR BOEDKER:
Returning to the Gila River Arena he called home for eight years, winger Mikkel Boedker spent a good part of his Tuesday morning shaking hands with old friends. “I just kind of grew into a man here, I guess,” said Boedker, selected eighth overall by the Coyotes in the 2008 NHL entry draft. “I met a lot of great people here. It still feels somewhat like home, so it’s pretty special.” Boedker says wearing shorts in and out of the arena every day is one of major differences from most NHL stops. So, too, is the limited number of microphones. “From a media standpoint, it’s a little more quiet, but I really enjoyed my time here and I have nothing but good things to say about the place.”
IN PRAISE OF SPEZZA:
Jason Spezza hit the 1,000game mark Tuesday when his Dallas Stars played the Montreal Canadiens. “He’ll always be in the pictures, when I look back at my first game, my first point, and everything,” said Mark Stone, who assisted on a Spezza goal in his NHL debut, a playoff game against the New York Rangers in 2012. “I liked playing with him. I liked being around him. Just with the way he genuinely enjoyed being at the rink and the passion that he played with. People don’t really understand how much he enjoyed playing hockey and still enjoys playing hockey.”