When Marc Methot ran Henrik Sedin from behind in the second period of the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets Monday night, Canuck Nation (at least those who fill my Twitter feed) went ballistic that there was no immediate response on the ice to the hit.
Folks were fired up that no one went after Methot and those same folks were screaming for an immediate call up of Mike Duco to protect the team.
Now that may be jumping the gun a bit but I have to agree that it doesn’t look good when someone runs the captain of a team and then gets to skate unscathed to the penalty box.
Sure there is a time and a place for everything and no Canuck wanted to take an unnecessary penalty in a 1-1 hockey game, but I also think in game two of the season you have to let everyone know there will be consequences if your best player is laid out by a dirty hit.
As it turns out there was a response to Methot, it just wasn’t caught by cameras. John Garrett – my grandfather and colour analyst on Canucks telecasts – pointed out that Kevin Bieksa went over and had words with Methot. I asked Bieksa what transpired and he told me he asked Methot to fight a couple of times after the hit but was turned down.
Bieksa told Methot it was time to “pay the piper” for the hit but he wasn’t interested in a scrap. He also said Aaron Volpatti wanted a go at Methot as well but since Methot was always on the ice against the twins, there was no real chance to confront him. Bieksa added he wasn’t going to just jump the guy in a tight game and cost his team in the point column.
Could someone have gone after Methot right after the hit? Sure. But you have to have the right guys doing it in my opinion. If the right guys aren’t on the ice then it doesn’t always make sense.
As for the hit, I didn’t think it was nearly as bad as the one Ben Eager delivered on Daniel Sedin in the 2011 Western Conference Finals. Methot has less to time to react to Henrik turning his back and I don’t think he really tried to run Hank through the boards like Eager did to Daniel. So is it suspendable? He could get a game and no one would blink an eye, but I’m guessing he won’t be.