We’ve got a controversial hit on our hands.
In Thursday night’s game between the Boston Bruins and Minnesota Wild, Trent Frederic drilled Kirill Kaprizov into the boards front behind. Kaprizov left the game and didn’t return.
On Friday’s edition of "The Daily Faceoff Show," Scott Burnside and Frank Seravalli discussed whether or not Frederic’s hit was worthy of a suspension.
Burnside: I know Mark Messier said during the intermission last night, "Oh, you don’t know if the intent wasn’t there," but I’m not sure how you can tell that from far away.
To me, he’s in a vulnerable position. He’s hit blindside or pretty close from behind and hard into the boards. I just hate those hits. And the fact that it’s the Wild’s best player and he leaves, I just think that that’s the kind of stuff that if you could swing a wand and take them out of the game, the fans would love it.
I’d say suspend him for one, maybe two. I didn’t like the hit, and I’m all for suspending players willy-nilly. That’s my take on it.
Seravalli: I think that’s a fair take, but I know that’s not how the Department of Player Safety operates.
When I look at this hit, you break it down and say with Kirill Kaprizov tangled with Matt Grzelcyk, clearly, he was a defenseless player. Did Trent Frederic have enough time to stop and really hold up on the hit? I watch it, and I’m not sure that’s the case. I think you look at the force he goes into Kaprizov with, yes it was heavy, but it wasn’t the full force.
To me, the fact he also gets Kaprizov from the side and not front behind, I don’t think this warrants a suspension. We’ll see what the DoPS decides. I can see it going either way.
You can watch the full episode here…
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