» FLAMES WANT DISCIPLINE FOR FLAMES PLAYER
DENVER — Joe Pavelski called it “gutless.” Pete DeBoer used to the word “predatory.” The NHL Department of Player Safety says meh.
Sharks general manager Doug Wilson is livid that Calgary Flames forward Sam Bennett isn’t going to be facing supplementary discipline for delivering a late hit on Radim Simek Monday that gave the rookie defenseman a concussion. Simek will be sidelined for the Sharks bout with the Colorado Avalanche in Denver Wednesday. At this point, the Sharks don’t have a timetable for Simek’s return.
“The veteran referee on the ice made the correct call in issuing a match penalty for attempt to injure,” Wilson said. “While having the ability to suspend the Calgary player for his actions, the department of player safety decides to disagree with the official’s call.
“It’s disappointing.”
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Bennett threw the questionable hit with 23 seconds left in the Sharks 8-5 loss to the Flames as animosity between the Pacific Division rivals was bubbling. Evander Kane, Matthew Tkachuk and Rasmus Andersson received misconduct penalties after they got into a brawl just 18 seconds earlier and Sharks goalie Aaron Dell caught Bennett with a spear as he skated past the goal crease.
Bennett nailed Simek with an eastwest hit roughly 0.6 seconds after the Sharks defenseman sent a pass below the goal line. Justin Braun received the pass just after Bennett delivered the check, showing just how late the hit came.
Working in Bennett’s favor is the fact that he didn’t elevate, his feet stayed on the ice and he hit Simek in the shoulder instead of the head. Sources say that Simek suffered the concussion when his head hit the ice after the hit.
Wilson believes that Bennett should have faced discipline from the league because veteran official Dan O’Halloran deemed that the Flames forward threw the hit with the intent to injure. He’s perplexed as to why player safety doesn’t share that view.
“The official who was on the ice at the tenor of the game said this player attempted to injure that player,” Wilson said. “And he was successful in injuring him.”
Fortunately for the Sharks, Barclay Goodrow will not be suspended for getting an instigator penalty in the final five minutes of the game after he jumped Bennett in defense of Simek.
“Whenever you see a hit like that, pretty much any guy on the team is going to do the exact same thing,” Goodrow said. “I’m glad to hear that there isn’t any punishment for it.”
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The decision to give Bennett a pass for the hit is particularly frustrating for the Sharks considering that Erik Karlsson received a two-game suspension last month for throwing a hit on Los Angeles Kings forward Austin Wagner that player safety deemed to be illegal.
“I try to separate events, but I will say this, if anybody deserves the benefit of the doubt, it’s Erik Karlsson,” Wilson said. “It was a hockey play in the middle of the game with a guy that had played 600 games with a basically spotless record. This is with 23 seconds left with incidents during the game and the official sees it exactly how we see it.”
Sharks coach Pete DeBoer also drew a line between Karlsson’s suspension and the lack of discipline for Bennett.
“It’s a little hard to swallow,” the Sharks coach said. “I don’t have to agree with it.”
Though he declined to comment on player safety’s decision in the Bennett case, Karlsson acknowledged that he thinks the check on Simek was predatory.
“I think everyone will come to the same conclusion,” Karlsson said. “I don’t think he wanted to hit him until he realized that (Simek) was not in a position to defend himself. He made a split-time decision to eventually hit the guy and we’re going to be without (Simek) for a while because of it.”
With Simek sidelined, Joakim Ryan will draw back into the Sharks lineup in Colorado Wednesday, suiting up for just his second game since Dec. 1. Simek brought a stabilizing presence to the Sharks blue line after he made his NHL debut on Dec. 2. The Sharks are 9-3-2 with the rookie defenseman in the lineup.
“He’s been a great addition with (Brent Burns) back there,” Kane said. “He’s a big-strong kid. He moves the puck well and has some good-offensive instincts, too. Tough to miss him, but luckily for us, we have some good-defensive depth. It’ll be next man up.”