No suspensions for Riberio or Osgood

Good call I think. http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs2008/news/story?id=3391167

great call. Osgood started it with a dirty play, and then acted like Ribeiro circa 2003 with his dive.

The lack of disciplinary action sends a poor message. Because Osgood carelessly got his stick up in the face of Ribeiro (granted Ribeiro skated into it ), that gives him a free two handed swing near the goalies throat? Right, Ribeiro did get a match penalty at the end of the game.

So if I understand the NHL's ruling on this, if the victim is not hurt and the offender is fouled before swinging his stick as a weapon, it's ok? Wow, cool. Can't wait for the next Flyers/Pens game!

Anytime a player swings his stick as a weapon, it deserves punishment regardless of whether the other player is injured. Remember Marty McSorley swinging for the fences with Donny Brashear's head as the baseball? McSorley said he was aiming for his shoulder. Riiiight.

A couple of inches higher and Osgood gets popped in the throat, he sustains a crushed larynx and needs to have a life-saving tracheotomy on the ice.

The fact that Osgood embellished the slash is irrelevant to what Ribeiro did. Give Osgood a diving penalty, so that if he does it again, he'll face fines.

what happens if Osgood's stick hits Ribeiro in the eye? The best move would have been to suspend both of them for a game or two, but good luck with the ball-less NHL disciplinary committee making the right move.

It's the classic case where the league doesn't want the spirit of the playoff series tainted by suspending 2 key players.

In the regular season, there would have been suspensions though - therefore the discipline committee look like hypocrites.

Simple solution:

If no suspension, hit the players involved with fines that really hurt the wallet so the garbage plays are kept to a minimum.

The Comish wrote:
The lack of disciplinary action sends a poor message. Because Osgood carelessly got his stick up in the face of Ribeiro (granted Ribeiro skated into it ), that gives him a free two handed swing near the goalies throat? Right, Ribeiro did get a match penalty at the end of the game.

So if I understand the NHL's ruling on this, if the victim is not hurt and the offender is fouled before swinging his stick as a weapon, it's ok? Wow, cool. Can't wait for the next Flyers/Pens game!

Anytime a player swings his stick as a weapon, it deserves punishment regardless of whether the other player is injured. Remember Marty McSorley swinging for the fences with Donny Brashear's head as the baseball? McSorley said he was aiming for his shoulder. Riiiight.

A couple of inches higher and Osgood gets popped in the throat, he sustains a crushed larynx and needs to have a life-saving tracheotomy on the ice.

The fact that Osgood embellished the slash is irrelevant to what Ribeiro did. Give Osgood a diving penalty, so that if he does it again, he'll face fines.

completely agree and karma for you for going against the grain.

MolsonX wrote:
It's the classic case where the league doesn't want the spirit of the playoff series tainted by suspending 2 key players.

As opposed to tainting the spirit of the game with a blatant two-handed slash going unpunished (4 seconds doesn't count as punishment, even if it is counted in playoff games)

If no suspension, hit the players involved with fines that really hurt the wallet so the garbage plays are kept to a minimum.

I believe the collective bargaining agreement limits fines to players to $1000. Wow, that's got to hurt the pocketbook!

Molson, I agree with you, the NHL took the easy way out on this because no one was injured. I would have agreed with one game for Osgood and two to five for Ribeiro.

I honestly don't know how the NHL (Campbell/Bettman) gets away with their inconsistent suspensions.

If you're a star, you get less games.

If you're a goon/repeat offender, you get the death penalty (see J.Ruutu vs Pronger rulings)

In the playoffs, you get suspended at a 1:2 ratio. If it's a four game suspension in the regular season, it's only worth two in the playoffs

If you're a star and you put yourself in a position to be suspended in the playoffs, well, you get fined and maybe if the other guy is injured, you'll get one game.

If Osgood's stick hits Ribeiro in the eye and he loses some vision (ala Berard) people would be crying for 20 games. And if Ribeiro slash was a little higher and catches Osgood in the throat... hell that would be at least 30 games, not to mention probably being charged with assault (ala McSorley and hiw whack over Brashear's head I believe it was).

Once again, instead of being proactive, the NHL turns to the reactive route in handing out discipline.

It was a love tap. In the overhead view you could see the stick barely glancing off the chest protector. If it hit him in the eye, through his mask, then Ozzie would just rub his eye for a second and move on. My teammates have patted my ass with their stick with more force.

As for the decision,
It was either suspend them both and ruin it for Dallas and Detroit fans, or suspend neither and be smart about it.