Did you see the game the other night between Montreal and Carolina? Habs’ captain Saku Koivu[espn card] got a horrible injury to his left eye from Carolina’s Justin Williams in a blatent, but said to be accidental, high stick. Yet, there was no call on the play.
Koivu collapsed to the ice with blood streaming down his face. He skated off the best that he could, but his vision was obviously hampered. He held his arms out as he went towards the bench, looking for help from anyone nearby to give him a hand.
Several Montreal players after the game couldn’t understand why referee Dennis La Rue missed the obvious penalty on Williams, particularly after Canadiens defenceman Mike Komisarek was assessed a four-minute high-sticking call for an infraction on Hurricanes forward Cory Stillman with 4:34 remaining in regulation time. [full story…]
There has been a series of strange happenings with calls being made. This one takes more controversy simply because this injury won’t take just a few stitches to heal. I’m wondering if he’ll have full vision in his left eye again.
There should have been a call. The fact that there wasn’t has people wondering about the referee system in general. The incident took place not far from the puck, so the attention wouldn’t have been that far away from the official. And yes, it makes me sad to see Koivu out. I want the Hurricanes out. Go Habs Go!