Bruins Forward Paille Suspended 4 Games For Illegal Hit

Added on Feb 04, 2011 by J Merrill in

NHL

Boston Bruins forward Daniel Paille was suspended four games, and fined $23,000 Friday for a hit he put on Dallas Stars forward Raymond Sawada during Thursday’s game. Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Mike Murphy was the one who handed out the penalty. Normally, league disciplinarian Colin Campbell would have held the hearing. However Gregory Campbell, is a Bruins forward and was involved in Thursday night’s game, in which Paille was ejected for an illegal hit to the head. Greggory is the the Son of Collin Campbell.

Murphy described the reason for suspension and what went into the decision. He said “Paille delivered a lateral hit where the principal point of contact was his opponent’s head. Additionally, the injury suffered by the Dallas player was a factor in this decision.”

Curring the second period Paille was given a five-minute penalty for an illegal hit to the head, as well as a game misconduct. Sawada was carrying the puck into the Bruins’ zone midway through the second period when Paille hit him. Sawada left the ice under his own power but did not return to the game. Stars coach Marc Crawford said Friday morning that Sawada had a broken nose and a sprained shoulder.

Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference said after the game Paille felt bad for the play, and he understood the call. He said “It’s a bad hit, right? That’s what they’re trying to get rid of and you can’t be hypocritical about it when it happens to you and say it’s fine when your teammate does it. You hear it from every player after they do it; they feel bad. I talked to Danny and he feels bad. It’s tough, that backchecking forward, to make those kind of hits. It’s so hard to do it in a clean fashion with the new rules.”

It seems Paille is singing a little bit different of a song now after he has taken a look at the play himself. He talked to the media after Friday’s practice, and described the play. He said “Obviously, it was a fast paced play and I just recognized that Sawada was going on a breakaway. I just went over to back check and get the puck, but he cut back to the middle. And If you look at the play, I’m ahead of him when I hit him. I felt that I hit his shoulder and…looking at the replay I felt that he kind of turned towards me, so I went and finished my check. I felt that I hit him in the shoulder at first,” he said.

Paille also said he didn’t agree with the penalty. He said “Right now, although I don’t agree with the amount of games, I accept it. I hope that Ray is alright. I heard that he does not have a concussion, which is something that I am glad about. He concluded “I haven’t got a hold of him yet, but I hope that the injuries that he has now are all he gets and nothing more.’

Bruins Head Coach Claude Julien gave off the vibe that he didn’t agree with the penalty and was talking like he just wanted to put it behind them. “It’s a very touchy question,” said Julien. “I think we are all very supportive of the new rule that has come in and at the same time you want to support your player. At the end of the day you try to respect what the league is trying to do.”

Julien also talked about players putting themselves in these situations to get penalty minutes, and that its something people should keep an eye on. He said “Whether it’s playing with your head down or being by the board and seeing you are going to get hit and turning your back, or whatever the case may be, I think if the players start taking the responsibility it’s going to minimize a lot of these things. I know if I was a player I wouldn’t want to have a concussion and I would try to avoid putting myself in those situations.”

Paille will miss the Bruins next four games — Feb. 5 vs. San Jose, Feb. 9 vs. Montreal, Feb. 11 vs. Detroit and Feb. 13 at Detroit and may return to action Feb. 15 vs. Toronto.