IIHF Says Slew Foots are A-OK?

Disappointing as it may have been for hockey fans hoping for a competitive match, Wednesday night's Olympic quarterfinals game between Canada and Russia certainly provided exciting theater.

After the game Alexander Ovechkin has gotten (deserved) flack for shunning English-speaking media. A bad move by Ovechkin, but also one that has taken the attention away from an on-ice incident that apparently will pass with no ramifications.

My issue is with an incident between Alexander Semin and Dan Boyle with just under 3 minutes remaining in the game, the score 7-3, and a delayed penalty on Semin for a high stick.

Boyle was carrying the puck behind Canada's goal line and had just cleared it around the back of the net and up the boards* when Semin skated from the bottom of the circle and delivered a hefty shoulder check that sent Boyle flying into the boards.

Boyle took clear exception at the hit. As both players skated out of the zone, with the puck having long since entered the neutral zone, Boyle skates up behind an unsuspecting Semin from the forward's left side. Semin sees Boyle out of the corner of his eye as the Canadian slides his right leg behind Semin's legs, puts his right elbow into Semin's chest and throws the Russian player backward.

[Kinda like this]

After the game, NBC's Joe Micheletti asked Boyle about the play, and here's what the defenseman had to say, with a smile on his face:

"I guess he hit me, it was probably a good hit. I just lost my head a little bit, it's a part of hockey I guess."

It was a textbook slew foot. Seriously, textbook. It was also extremely dangerous. A player who gets slew-footed has no idea the trip is coming and can't brace himself, and often has little chance to break his fall.

To my eyes Semin's hit was hard but clean, getting Boyle on the shoulder (contrary to Eddie Olczyk on-air, who called it a high dirty hit). Regardless, it was not penalized. Boyle received a minor penalty for Interference. After the game, according to Sean Leahy of Puck Daddy, an IIHF spokesman said:

The IIHF usually doesn’t review minor penalties. It’s not likely they will do it now either.

Let's be blunt: That is the wrong call.

Make no mistake, Boyle's play was a dangerous play (and also more correctly a trip, rather than interference). He didn't like Semin's hit, rightly or wrongly, and got retribution behind the play. This wasn't a case of a crosscheck or poke with the stick, though. A slewfoot is an extremely dangerous play.

Whether or not Boyle though 'I'm going to injure Semin' is irrelevant.My first thought after seeing the play was a very bad incident for the NHL, Marty McSorley's attack on Donald Brashear. There's one key difference, which is that McSorley came at Brashear with a stick whereas Boyle used his body to trip up Semin. However, there are a few similarities too.

In both incidents the fouling player approaches the fouled player from behind. In both the fouled player is watching the play, which is up ice, and and the fouling player takes advantage of that. In both incidents an essential part of the action is the fouled player's complete inability to protect himself.

Really, what's the major difference between the two? The damage done to Brashear was not a result of the contact from McSorley's stick. The damage was from Brashear's head snapping back and hitting the ice well after his body landed. The only thing keeping Semin from suffering a similar injury was a tighter chinstrap.

IIHF reserves the right, per section 510 - Supplementary Discipline of their rulebook, to review any play:

In addition to the suspension imposed under these rules, the Proper Authorities may, at any time after the conclusion of the game, investigate any incident and may assess additional suspensions for any offence committed on or off the ice at any time before during and after the game, whether or not such offences have been penalized by the Referee. (emphasis mine)

When the rule specifically states that plays may be review even when a penalty is not called, let alone a minor penalty, it would be extremely shortsighted to state that because a minor penalty was awarded on the play no additional consideration is required.

(This ties into a whole other debate on the NHL and IIHF's preference to consider injury suffered as a primary factor of supplementary discipline. Just because a player doesn't get hurt on a dangerous play doesn't keep it from being a dangerous, suspendable play.)

To quote that refereeing guide I linked above:

Slew footing is a dangerous move and a cowardly move on top of that. It has put players out of commission for days, weeks, and even months with concussions, bruised tailbones and broken elbows and wrists from the player trying to brace himself as he falls. There is no room for this type of move in the game of hockey

Or, as Don Cherry might say, it's not 'The Canadian Way.'

Wait! Don Cherry did say something exactly to that effect (between 4:20 and 5:15 marks) last Valentine's Day after Tomas Plekanec was given a two-game suspension for slew footing Dennis Grebeshkov:

In the old days there's two things we never did. We used to use the stick a lot, we used to fight a lot [but] if you kicked somebody, I remember I was in Springfield, one of our players kicked a guy, we would never speak to him, they finally had to get rid of him. And you never slew foot!...You cannot slew foot! That's how...if you wanna get a guy killed, that's the way to do it. (emphasis mine)

Seriously! The emotion behind the play is defensible, the actual action itself is indefensible.

Even still, I'm not faulting the referees on the ice, though the trailing ref probably should have had his eye on the two players after Semin's hit, since the incident was away from the play and happened in the blink of the eye as Boyle engaged Semin from behind. Nonetheless, for the IIHF to say that because a minor was awarded on the play it requires no further attention, let alone discipline, is irresponsible and frankly embarrassing.

Also embarrassing, while we're on the subject, is the way the play was handled in the post-game by Jeremy Roenick and Mike Milbury on NBC. Here's what Mike Milbury had to say, from that clip I linked above:

I don't blame Dan Boyle for going right after Semin on this one. Look at Semin trying to get out of the way. I know this is a legal hit, with just under 3 minutes to go, with a 4 goal lead, that's not what you do, that's not cool, that's not how you behave, JR [Jeremy Roenick]. Unless it's a personal grudge, or a history, I don't blame Boyle for getting right in his face. (emphasis mine)

Really, Mike? Russia knew they were going to lose and therefore they should stop playing hard...the very thing you eviscerated them over in your next statement? Of course, that next statement ("Eurotrash") was the one that really got Milbury in trouble, but other, more talented writers have discussed the way in which Milbury amazingly continues to earn airtime despite bringing absolutely nothing to the table (except, perhaps, advice on how not to serve as a GM).

Roenick wasn't much better, chiding Semin for somehow not knowing that Dan Boyle, he of 438 career PIM and five career fights in 656 career games, would extract extracurricular revenge? I didn't think to transcribe Roenick's statement until after the Sweden-Slovakia game, by which point he removed the cackle from his analysis [no, really, he was cackling] and tempered his words by admitting Boyle may have cheapshotted Semin:

You just don't do that to Danny Boyle, Danny Boyle is going to make sure he gets the last laugh. A little cheap shot but I'm sure Alex Semin will remember that the next time he sees Boyle.

And when would that be, Mr. Roenick? If both their NHL teams are lucky, June, or otherwise once, maybe twice in 2010-2011. Cherry, as bombastic as he always is, was right last year when he stated loudly (in his own endearing way) that there's no place in the game for that sort of attack. For Milbury and Roenick to chuckle about it, and in no uncertain terms endorse it on national television, is a) way over the line, and b) completely expected from those two by this point in time.

Let's be honest, between Boyle on Semin and some of the other incidents during the game (stay classy, Ryan Getzlaf), there's certainly plenty of room for everyone involved with the ice hockey competition to welcome a little more of that Olympic Spirit into their hearts.

*Originally I said it was debatable whether or not Boyle still had the puck. Another replay showed it had clearly left his stick, but Semin hit Boyle well within the time frame allowed for finishing a check.