This one sure won’t sit well with Flyers fans.
The Department of Player Safety has made its official decision on Zac Rinaldo’s hit on Sean Couturier from Wednesday night’s Flyers-Bruins game and has deemed there won’t be any supplemental punishment. Check out the full explanation here:
Come on, Pronger! In the video above, it is explained that Rinaldo’s hit “passed” four criteria where the department was looking for an infraction. According to the video:
• It wasn’t elbowing, because Rinaldo’s arm was tucked close to his body.
• It wasn’t interference, because Couturier got rid of the puck after Rinaldo had begun to initiate his check.
• It wasn’t a check to the head, because Rinaldo mainly made contact with Couturier’s body.
• It wasn’t charging, because Rinaldo didn’t launch into Couturier in an excessive manner.
Here’s my main question: How can you support the call made by the official (charging), and then say it’s not charging two minutes later? I guess there can be wiggle room... but should there be?
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann