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Minnesota hosts Penn State: 2/5 & 2/6

Driftryder

Driftryder

Gopher Hockey
Minnesota and Penn State play this weekend at Mariucci Arena. Friday night puck drop is at 7pm and is on the BTN. Saturday's game is at 4pm and is part of Hockey Day Minnesota, Saturday will be broadcast on FSN.

Both teams are looking to get back on the winning track after losing both games this past weekend, Penn State lost both to Michigan and the Gophers lost to Bemidji State and Mankato State.



Go
 
Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 2/5 & 2/6

gopher wes said:
*sigh*
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After this past weekend's letdown that's an appropriate reaction. It will take me a few more days to move on. Hopefully the players already have and will take any lingering frustrations out on the nittanies.
 
Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 2/5 & 2/6

Penn State will be pretty ****ed but as long as you take it to them physically you should be OK.
 
Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 2/5 & 2/6

PSU's SOGs will be magically cut in half from their normal totals. ;)
 
Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 2/5 & 2/6

Penn St. leading goal scorer Andrew Sturtz will be out for the game on Friday after receiving a one game suspension from the Big Ten for this brutal HIT on Tyler Motte last weekend.
 
Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 2/5 & 2/6

SteveO said:
Penn St. leading goal scorer Andrew Sturtz will be out for the game on Friday after receiving a one game suspension from the Big Ten for this brutal HIT on Tyler Motte last weekend.
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I can't believe he's not out for both games. One of the worst I've seen. :eek:
 
Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 2/5 & 2/6

D2D said:
I can't believe he's not out for both games. One of the worst I've seen. :eek:
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Yeah I agree, I don't see any visible difference between that hit and Wittchow's hit on Novak except that Novak was knocked out. Motte actually came back into the game later and scored an ENG (nation best 22nd already :eek:).
 
Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 2/5 & 2/6

SteveO said:
Penn St. leading goal scorer Andrew Sturtz will be out for the game on Friday after receiving a one game suspension from the Big Ten for this brutal HIT on Tyler Motte last weekend.
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It looked bad, and naturally I may be a bit biased, but I think one could reasonably contend that Sturtz was actually trying to get out of the way. Motte bangs it off the boards and then begins to peel into a turn just as Sturtz begins to peel away from where he perhaps thinks Motte is going. The way Sturtz and turned his hips and his body language almost seems like one of avoidance, but unfortunately Motte turned that way as well, and they met at the worst possible moment. Glad he seems ok, anyway.
 
Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 2/5 & 2/6

Several others at GPL also thought it may have been inadvertent for the reasons nappy described above.
 
Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 2/5 & 2/6

nappyvalley said:
It looked bad, and naturally I may be a bit biased, but I think one could reasonably contend that Sturtz was actually trying to get out of the way. Motte bangs it off the boards and then begins to peel into a turn just as Sturtz begins to peel away from where he perhaps thinks Motte is going. The way Sturtz and turned his hips and his body language almost seems like one of avoidance, but unfortunately Motte turned that way as well, and they met at the worst possible moment. Glad he seems ok, anyway.
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I suspect your perspective was taken into consideration by the Big Ten and thus determined it would only be a one game suspension. My personal take on it is I don't buy it. Hockey is a game of split second decisions. If you watch the play as it develops (:25 of this VIDEO), Sturtz rounds the net with full speed and has an unobstructed, face to face view of Motte from about 10 feet away as he unloads the puck. All players understand 10 feet (nearly half a faceoff circle) is plenty of time to put the breaks on or slow down instead of leaping off the ice and continuing full speed with a clearly extended elbow directly into Motte's face protector.

As a survival tactic, that's an impact that any player at this level knows how to avoid and there's no question Sturtz has probably done it many times in his brief career. Leaving the ice was a completely unnecessary and aggressive move. It's rare when a player leaps off the ice like that to avoid a hit with his elbow properly positioned for impact to the head. Had Sturtz decided to continue at that speed without leaving the ice he would made full body contact, still been penalized, but most likely would have avoided the suspension.
 
Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 2/5 & 2/6

Not sure where anyone sees an extended elbow in that hit. Looks pretty clear to me he drops and holds his arm tight against his body. The arm only extends after the hit when Sturtz is flailing through mid-air as the result of the unexpected contact.

I don't see that as an intentional hit. When I see that, I see a guy trying to maintain his speed to pursue the puck by trying to evade the player rather than put the breaks on. Putting the breaks on means puck pursuit ends, and if Motte had turned the other way (or turned a fraction of a second later) Sturtz would have had a great jump to track down the puck.

It was the wrong decision, but it wasn't a malicious one. It was also deserving of suspension. Regardless of intent, players are accountable for their bodies.

That's how I see it.
 
Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 2/5 & 2/6

Well, we can agree to disagree, but that's not the way I see it at all. The other video shows evidence he actually raises his arm and elbow, not drops it. As the commentator rightly pointed out, "he left his feet and led with his elbow". That's very clear to me. He's nowhere near the puck, so puck pursuit had already ceased and there was no reason for the collision. If Sturtz wanted to pursue the direction of the puck he should have skirted the wall where there was plenty of room for puck pursuit.

Motte's direction was obvious and he did not change the direction of his skates at all during and after possession of the puck and Sturtz appears in the video to track his direction not avoid it. He had ample time to stop and players do it all the time to avoid contact. I've personally never seen a player literally leap off his feet and make direct contact with the head attempting to avoid contact.
 
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