I've seen players around the league do what Powerplayer is describing. Most notably a d-man from Toronto...I think it was Mike Van Ryne two/three seasons ago. He turned his back to the forechecker and faced the boards, knowing that a hit would be a boarding penalty and taking a small chance that the forechecker would lay off. The forechecker did not lay off and Van Ryne got hit hard and lost a bunch of games. The hit earned a well-deserved suspension, but Don Cherry was critical of Van Ryne and other players for putting themselves in a vulnerable position in an attempt to avoid a hit by making it illegal if completed.

I know exactly what PP means, but in this case I don't think Pominville was expecting that hit at all. He may have caught Halmuyfjhson in the corner of his eye, but wasn't expecting to have the boom lowered on him the way it happened. As for the suspension, I think it deserved 4-5 games if the NHL is serious about eliminating reckless plays that can cause major injury. We all know they aren't that serious yet, but even still it would've have been wise to make it three games and avoid the potential for stupid drama on Saturday.

What's idiotic is trying to shift any blame whatsoever away from Hjalmarsson and towards Pominville, which is what you're implying if you're suggesting that Pominville positioned himself to discourage the hit.

This thread just seems to be rooted in stirring up crap for the sake of stirring up crap which has long been the OP's MO. It's one thing to actually have a dissenting viewpoint on a popular topic once in a while. It's another to do it constantly just because you're a dickhead.

_________________
Proud LGBTQQ Individual

What player would in the right mind turn around and risk their neck just for the small chance the asshole doesn't pull off an asshole move?

_________________
"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.

While I agree it seems the OP just wants to stir up shit....this isnt as cut and dry as some people here are making it out to be. Pommers DID look up before he was hit, seemed to almost disregard the oncoming check to make sure he recieved the puck well, and then got plastered. It really does look like he sees superintendant chalmers coming to get him.

Either he DIDNT see him, and was looking for a quick outlet pass, or he DID see him, and thought for whatever reason that he didnt need to protect himself.

But damn, I think we've beaten this horse inside out by this point.

If Pommers saw him, it was in his peripheral vision at best based on the positions of players. Pommers also did not take a long look, it was a quick over the shoulder glance, that's it.

If Pommers was hurt on a CLEAN check, then yes, you can say he should have made an effort to protect himself. However, no player should ever have to consider that they may be hit with an illegal check, which is what happened here.

It's amazing what inferences have been drawn from the simple hypothesis that I introduced.

What I DID NOT say:
--Pominville is to blame
--the hit wasn't dirty
--Pominville tried to get hit
--Pominville wanted to draw a penalty

What I DID say:
--Pominville MAY HAVE put himself in a twisted position that he was hoping would DISCOURAGE any hit, since his upper half was pointed away from Hjalmersson.

Several posters completely understood the point, while most did not.

All I was trying to do was discuss whether you thought Pominville made this common gamble or not. That's all.

If a player is thinking "I may get hit here and it can be bad" he won't try to discourage somebody from doing it by going into a WORSE position. That's stupid.

_________________
"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.

I do agree here. I think pommers saw him coming and thought that he could turn away from Hjarlrjashfnfhsk and not get destroyed thinking: "this asshole won't hit me from behind so I'll be able to make this play." basically relying on the fact that you can't hit from behind. What he didn't realize is that on that day, Hjarkshsdjsdhsdfk was that type of asshole.

_________________

Man, you sure are naive.

Players DO this kind of thing. It's not unheard of. Ever see a basketball player plant his ass in front of another player who's going at full tilt---only to be run over like a freight train? They do that to draw a charging foul. It's against every instinct to avoid injury, but they do it.

I'm not even saying Pominville was trying to draw a penalty---I don't think he was. I just think there IS a chance he was angling the upper half of his body away from Hjalmersson to discourage that player from even hitting him because of the "hit from behind" rule. Hjalmersson was likely going for a sideways hit.

Simple point. But not for everybody.

The thing that pisses me off is that this dudes name is so hard to spell, I mean...he MUST have known we'd start 38759823 threads on the topic, and have to keep referencing him. The bastard!

Egh, I just think you're wrong. And I still think that saying that Pominville deliberately put himself in that position is shifting some of the blame for the incident off of Hjalmarsson and onto Pominville, no matter how much you want to deny that is your intention.

_________________
Proud LGBTQQ Individual

I merely said he MAY have put himself in that position intentionally. I don't know for sure.

Neither do you.

This threads gone far enough. Closing.

_________________

I think a reasonable person who watches that play could come to the conclusion that Pomminville was making a normal play at the puck, and did not intentionally place himself into a position to be boarded.