According to Komets General Manager David Franke, the Central Hockey League has ruled that the video replay from Karl Linden's elbowing major against the Komets' Chris Auger does not clearly show an elbow to the head. The video was reviewed by CHL Director of Hockey Operations Jim Wiley, and the league is not issuing a suspension for further discipline. Franke said he won't know until Wednesday at the earliest if Auger will be able to recover from a concussion to play in Wednesday's game against Texas.
Franke said that defenseman Dustin Molle is ready to come off injured reserve for Wednesday's game after missing several weeks with a groin injury.
Comments
And Fort Wayne gets screwed again by the CHL.
Good news about Dustin.
I guess concussions are just something you get skating about on the ice. Maybe the CHL has ruled he doesn't have one............
Dear Mr. CHL Director of Hockey Operations, Thank you for making elbows to the head legal, i hope you have passed this on to your officials so you don't call us for doing this if we were to accidentally elbow someone in the head and they get a concussion.
"does not clearly show an elbow to the head" well you can pretty much argue that statement on any elbow to the head that you review on grainy tape.
when in doubt send a strong message.
FAIL CHL, FAIL hope no one gets hurt on the next none elbow.
Make the call you chickens, sissies - send a message next time and quit hiding behind video.
This just says any questionable hit is now tolerable, why wouldn't it be, you just justified it?
Expect some "frontier justice" next time.
Well, i do believe this just started a war. If there wasn't one already.
Some of you must've been watching a different team for the past several years if you think there is going to be retributions. When was the last time Al released the hounds on a team to get revenge for a cheapshot on one of our players? Even when we supposedly had the best circus show, I mean fighter, in all of minor league hockey he wasn't used. How did we get Little Snake and his group of goons back after they beat down Shaf and the boys?
We'll just take the high road and worry about winning the game to sweep this all quietly under the carpet.
The league definetly got this wrong. This is exactly the type of play that needs eliminated from the game. Who ever made this decision has no guts.
Running komet..I think the retribution came in the form of a championship
In some respects, RunningKomet, I do agree with your main thought.
Here is where I differ from you a bit.
1) Evansville and Rich Kromm are certainly building a reputation for cheap shots. Counting Shafranov, the Komets have now lost at least three players to the IR because of his shenanigans.
2) I believe that winning the game is the most important thing, but saying that does not excuse their actions nor does it eliminate the eventual payback for those actions.
3)This Komet team is a little different from some in the past. They do have the horses to get payback and more. Henley, Starencky ,Dustin Molle, Bryant Molle, and Schrock ought to be called the Fed-Ex'ers because they are more than capable to deliver the messages fast. Then add Chaulk, Thomas, and Thorne who can throw 'em when provoked, and you've got yourself a lot of guys who I would call "talented fists". ( My favorite Komet team,72-73, also had a roster loaded with toughness and talent).
4) I think Al Sims understands the need for retribution. He has the roster to do it this year.
5). The CHL referee calls a five minute major and game misconduct for elbowing. The offending player (Linden) cannot get off the ice fast enough, and the Komet player (Auger) cannot get off the ice at all (without help). Why do you have to go to any tapes? The ref called the play, and there is no such thing as an "accidental" elbow to a guy's head that results in the need to call such harsh penalties. So what part of the CHL do we believe, their on ice officials or their Director of Hockey Operations?
6). As Christmas fast approaches, Santa will remind everyone there should be "no peeking". If I were Todd Robinson or Brian Bicek, I wouldn't take that advice. I would be peeking over my shoulder for a long time now. As Evansville continues their cheap play by taking out our scorers, those two would be first on my list.
So I agree with Vanessa, Steve, Burgee, Ron, and AC...and I agree with you, too, RunningKomet. The next step is how the Komets are going to react and what they will do.
I'm not sure when the payback will come. I am sure that without retribution, the Komets will suffer more of the same.
Always Kromm's punching bag.
Offthepost, I agree with you, too. I must have been still typing my thoughts when your thoughts were posted.
offthepost, your last sentence agrees with the one I wrote.
The hit put on Auger has a lot of similarities with the one that OC put on Ryan Menei from Rapid City last year. As I remember it, both players had their heads down and the hit was kind of angled from the side. Obviously I don't have the tapes to compare side by side but I'm sure the league does. The non-punishment by the league on the Auger hit does not jive with what OC receiced last year.
I dont expect to see him soon.I talked with someone that helped him in the locker room that night and they said he had no idea what was even going on.I wont go into details about things but didnt sound good at the time.I hope im wrong he is a big part to this team and we need him on the ice for us.Eville will get theres i hope soon.
Just some food for thought.....
If any one doesn't think the CHL officials will be watching closely, the next time these two teams meet, for any kind of payback then you are walking on thin ice. I think Sims knows this. With how poorly they have handled big situations like this in the past (MacMillan), I could certainly see our player (if a retaliation were to happen) ending up getting a lengthy suspension.
My first comment to my girlfriend was... "Sims better F*$^@%G put every fighter we have on the Robinson line and T-off on his head at the face-off!!" I was talking to my boss this morning and he actually mentioned a time when Robin Bawa was sucker punched after the whistle had blown to stop play. On the ensuing face-off Sims sent Fletcher in to take the face-off against Steve Gotas. Obviously, Fletcher had no intentions of playing the puck. My boss said he just gave a hail-mary uppercut and laid the guy out. Those were the days when Players policed each other. That type of play doesn't happen any more. I even watched an interview with Barry Melrose some time back where he suggested that the league needed to go back to this type of play and the cheap shots would in fact become less frequent. At any rate, I am all for punishing one of their top players but I just do not see it happening.
Best of luck to Auger in a speedy recovery as he is really a fun player to watch and a integral part of this years team.
I think that what disturbs me the most about this whole thing is that the evidence was clear. It was clear enough to prompt the ref to call a major penalty and a game misconduct. However, CHL leadership saw the same tape and came to a completely different decision: they claimed it didn't clearly show the elbowing to the head. How clear does it have to be for there to be a suspension? As Alan so eloquently stated earlier, Auger couldn't get off the ice without help. To me, that speaks for itself. The CHL messed up royally on this one.