With 1:25 left in Wednesday’s Winnipeg-Washington game, Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey hit Capitals forward T.J. Oshie into the end boards. The hit itself wasn’t bad, but what followed is drawing comparisons to a hit thrown earlier this season that led to a two-game suspension.
“It’s going to be something the league looks at – similar to a situation that happened in Vancouver earlier in the year,” Capitals coach Todd Reirden said after the game. “Vulnerable player that’s thrown to the ice. That was difficult because we had possession six-on-five. We thought we were making a push a couple times at the end of the game there.”
Morrissey will have a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety for “interference/unsportsmanlike conduct” on Thursday afternoon and the first comparison that comes to mind is Mike Matheson’s throwdown on Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson in October. Matheson got a two-game suspension for “interference/unsportsmanlike conduct.”
Similarly, Morrissey’s hit isn’t the point of contention here, but that he threw Oshie down to the ice afterwards and caused an injury.
Though the Capitals maintained possession in the offensive zone for nearly another half-minute, Oshie was a non-factor after he struggled to get to his feet. He was visibly shaken up and the one-man advantage was washed away — the Jets scored the game-sealing empty-netter with a minute left in the game.
There was no penalty on the play and it’s not clear how much, if any, time Oshie will miss.
How will NHL Player Safety look at the Morrissey’s hit? We only need to go back to their video explanation following Matheson’s hit to see how Morrissey’s will be measured.
From the video explanation:
It is important to note that it is common to see hits in which the natural momentum of the check causes players to fall dangerously. Specifically, players receiving checks along the boards often end up in elevated and vulnerable positions before falling to the ice with force. It is also common to see two players engaged in a battle for the puck attempting to throw each other off balance in a way that can cause one or both to fall to the ice dangerously. While these plays can be dangerous, generally speaking these are hockey plays that are either legal or sufficiently penalized by the on-ice officials. This is not a hockey play.
What causes this incident to rise to the level of supplemental discipline is that it encompasses two separate and distinct acts. First, Matheson pins Pettersson to the boards in a legal and effective defensive maneuver. Then, with the puck long separated from the area and Pettersson unable to defend himself, Matheson drives him directly downward and into the ice with force, causing an injury.
Now, the Morrissey hit:
One difference is Morrissey doesn’t put his stick in between Oshie’s legs. He does, however, appear to use his right leg as leverage to aid in throwing Oshie to the ice. The biggest difference – and this is what makes Morrissey’s check not appear as bad to the eye – is the size disparity between players. Where Matheson had roughly a 25-pound advantage on Pettersson, Morrissey and Oshie are similar in size and weight.
But like the Matheson hit, the puck has vacated the area by the time the player is thrown down. Oshie didn’t make a direct pass the same way Pettersson did, but the puck may have been away from Oshie longer than it was from Pettersson. There was also no call on Morrissey.
Does Morrissey act in one motion? That’s hard to say – it sure appears there is a hit, a pin against the boards and then a clear throw to the ice after the puck is gone.
Another factor to consider is that, unlike Matheson, Morrissey would be considered a repeat offender. Though he doesn’t gather a large amount of penalty minutes, Morrissey was given a one-game suspension for cross-checking in April 2018. That means, should he face supplemental discipline for this play, Morrissey’s lost salary would correlate with the number of games in the season instead of the number of days in a season. So, a two-game suspension would cost Morrissey 1/41st of his salary rather than 1/90th.
This kind of play isn’t new to the NHL, but the standard for discipline has seemed to have changed around it, due to how the league ruled on Matheson-Pettersson.
“That is a finish to a hit we’ve seen a thousand times, but now based on the Pettersson (hit) that’s a two-game suspension,” Nick Kypreos said on Hockey Central at Noon.
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