Rinaldo suspended for six games (pol)

[yave1964]

Zac Rinaldo has been suspended for six games for his conduct in a game right before Christmas against the Colorado Avalanche.

 

 

  First he drilled Avalanche star player Nathan MacKinnon at center ice with a good clean hard hit, rookie Samuel Girard voiced his displeasure to Rinaldo who dropped a glove and sucker punched the rookie knocking him out. It set off a brawl, the league took a look at it and decided that Rinaldo was deserving of six games for his fifth suspension.

  He seems to be following the path laid down by guys like  Raffi Torres who sucker punched and dirty hit themselves out of the league. Truthfully, I am a bit shocked that in todays skill competition that is the NHL (no hit league) that there is still room for a Rinaldo, even on a bottom feeder team like Arizona. I know as a Wings fan that watching Witkowski fight is sometimes the only interesting thing in the game anymore, so I get it, a bad team needs something to wake the fans up at some point but Rinaldo is and always has been borderline awful. 

 

  Let me be clear, the hit on MacKinnon was clean and a thing of beauty and I am tired of every time someone hits someone seeing a teammate come rushing to their defense for a clean hit, I do not in any way shape or form completely remove Girard from this, he skated over towards Rinaldo to voice his displeasure over a clean hit, he even tapped Rinaldo with his stick to get his attention. My problem is the roundhouse bare knuckle sucker punch. In essence Rinaldo cleanly laid out MacKinnon, Girard poked the bear and the bear (rinaldo) mauled Girard. 

 

  Not defending Rinaldo, he is a slug and the lowest form of life in the NHL today but if the league put a stop to the ridiculousness of every time someone lays a good clean hard hit it leading to the opponent ganging up on said hitter this stuff wouldn't happen. I would give Rinaldo his six games for the sucker punch but there is an underlying problem when a clean hard hit leads to getting attacked more often than not. I am sure that Rinaldo was keyed up and expecting Girard and probably more Avalanche players to come after him for what was a nice clean hard hit.

[ruxpin]

Yeah, I think I agree with all of that. 

 

I don't like Rinaldo and don't like the sucker punch. Rinaldo is and always has been a punk on skates. Nothing more. There is hitting as artistry. The hit on McKinnon is an accidental example of that but that's not typical Rinaldo. 

 

And there's fighting with honor.  That's not Rinaldo. He's just a neighborhood punk hood who would bring a knife on the ice and stab you for winning a faceoff (and check your pockets for loose change and your wallet while you lie bleeding on the ice) if he could. Just the lost scum of society who would be in prison right now if some idiot hadn't bought him skates. 

 

6 games is fine for this, but it's not his last. Probably not even his last this year. 

 

But I agree with your complaint about everyone after a clean hit. In this case, they probably saw their star hit and doubled over and a RINALDO sweater. May have jumped to conclusions without having seen it.  But I agree with your complaint on a general level. 

 

I've no problem with rough and tumble. It's the classless behavior of Rinaldo I don't like. 

[yave1964]

@ruxpin

 

The thing with Girard, he is a 160 pound undersized kid who came over in the three team deal for Duchene, still trying to make a name for himself and struggling mightily since the trade, almost as much as Duchene. He saw the teams top player bent at the waist after the hit, skated towards Rinaldo and gave a little tap which resulted in being more or less knocked out cold. He is still trying to get established in this game and paid the price for not knowing his opponent.

 

  And that is my problem, I actually have zero problem with the MacKinnon hit, hard, fast, clean hockey, center ice leveling type of hit, obviously MacKinnon was fine as he got into a good old fashioned fight with both Archibald and OEL seconds after in retaliation for the Girard hit. STOP TAKING OFFENSE TO CLEAN HITS even by slugs like Rinaldo, this is not the ice capades or Disney on Ice, it isn't baseball, it is freaking hockey. 

[hf101]

Rinaldo deserved more than 6 games imo, intentionally seeking players to knock out of a game is not hockey.    The First hit by Rinaldo on MacKinnon was a dirty cheap shot that is clearly a late hit.  MacKinnon didn't have the puck.  Then Rinaldo proceeded to attack the next Aves player he saw in Girard. Watch at the 2:47 min mark of the video,  both actions resulting in blows to the head on both MacKinnon and Girard.  Seriously there is no place in this league for this as it is all intent to injure.  I hope Rinaldo never plays another game in this league.

 

On the other hand, I totally loved Johnson handing a mark or two on Rinaldo -- lol.

 

 

[pilldoc]

 

From my perspective..... love the hit.  I watched it over and over.  It was shoulder to shoulder and with how fast the play was developing I have no probable whatsoever with the hit Rinaldo laid into MacKinnon.

 

HOWEVER ......

 

the sucker punch is just plain ole dirty and unnecessary.  I get what @yave1964 is saying...players in general need to stop be offended by clean hard hits....however that does NOT give Rinaldo the right to sucker punch him.

 

I don't know if either MacKinnon or Girard were injured....if not then 6 games sounds about right.  Since he is a repeat offender with suspensions..... I would agree more games might be necessary.  I would have been ok with a 10 game suspension.  There is no place in hockey for this crap.........

[mkscrewy]

i saw a good amount of crying on reddit over the initial hit, which made no sense to me. Johnson gave him a proper mopping for the sucker punch. no problems there. 

[ruxpin]

3 hours ago, hf101 said:

Rinaldo deserved more than 6 games imo, intentionally seeking players to knock out of a game is not hockey.    The First hit by Rinaldo on MacKinnon was a dirty cheap shot that is clearly a late hit.  MacKinnon didn't have the puck.  Then Rinaldo proceeded to attack the next Aves player he saw in Girard. Watch at the 2:47 min mark of the video,  both actions resulting in blows to the head on both MacKinnon and Girard.  Seriously there is no place in this league for this as it is all intent to injure.  I hope Rinaldo never plays another game in this league.

 

On the other hand, I totally loved Johnson handing a mark or two on Rinaldo -- lol.

 

 

 

I'm with you on most of it except the MacKinnon hit.  It wasn't dirty, it was slightly late (he'd JUST passed the puck, but you're supposed to finish your check) and it's nowhere near the head.  He hits him in the upper arm below his shoulder. Literally nowhere near the head.  That's a good check (except for arguably slightly late).

 

But then the typical Rinaldo zoo animal comes out in him and he acts like the imbecile that he is.   I don't want his sorry [censored] in the game at all. He has zero skill and provides nothing other than a circus like you see in the video.

 

I like the emotion of the rough and tumble stuff.   But there's certain rules of engagement and fair game and all that.  It's all foreign to Rinaldo.

[ruxpin]

1 hour ago, pilldoc said:

I would have been ok with a 10 game suspension

 

I think given his history, this was probably appropriate.   I mean, they go with long suspensions and you have arbitration and NHLPA appeals, etc. etc.  You can apparently deliberately crosscheck a linesman to the ground and get the bozoes at the NHLPA to defend you.  So, maybe there's some sort of thought about that kind of thing in these decisions.  But I'm good with 10.

 

Rinaldo really isn't a hockey player.   He's an 18 year old jackass punk kid hanging out with a bike behind the liquor store with a joint tucked in his ear waiting to beat the **** out of some unsuspecting fool to steal his liquor -- on skates.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

I too fear for hitting in ice hockey going the way of the dinosaur.

 

I get the NHL wants to promote skill, speed, and scoring.

But at its core, hockey is just a rough, physical game....and not one just anyone can play at its highest levels.

 

Flag hockey anyone? 

I hope not.

The NFL already has gone to ridiculous extremes regarding that......sadly, I see the NHL going that way as well.

 

It is true that many times teams overreact to hits on their teammates. The line between clean hits and not-so-clean hits seems extremely blurry..

 

That all said, I simply have NO IDEA why a guy like Zac Rinaldo still exists in the NHL.

None.

 

I am all for a guy who is just a grinder, hitter, PK'er that kind of thing, with ZERO offensive production.

But Rinaldo is not that.

He has never been a producer...at ANY level in his career.....and he isn't really a defensive specialist, or a particularly smart hockey player.....so what does he really bring? Toughness?

Ok...LOTS of teams have tough guys who aren't necessarily fighters....but also, won't go around cheap shotting fellow players.

 

You know, at first, when Rinaldo was let go by Philly, I thought that maybe he could do better elsewhere away from the microscope and scrutiny of not only the Philly media, but also the rabid fanbase.

I even thought that maybe Philly fans were a bit harsh on him.

 

But after watching some of his 'hockey career' unfold outside of the Flyers, I clearly see that the guy just doesn't belong in the NHL today.

Not the NHL of speed, skill, and scoring.

Not the NHL of no clutching and grabbing.

And hopefully, this NHL won't continue on to my aforementioned 'flag hockey'..............

 

The NHL has been doing away with the Sean Avery, Matthew Barnaby, Raffi Torres, Matt Cooke types.....bout time Rinaldo joined that group and found his way to the nearest MMA center for training on his new career.

 

Sure, rats like Brad Marchand and Alex Burrows (well, barely there) remain in the NHL...but those guys can ACTUALLY play hockey when they want to.

Rinaldo doesn't fit that description.

 

Hopefully, Arizona will smarten up and realize that if they want to build a contender, they best focus on players rather than goons.

The Yotes have LOTS of problems........Rinaldo shouldn't be one of them.

[hf101]

16 minutes ago, ruxpin said:

I'm with you on most of it except the MacKinnon hit.  It wasn't dirty, it was slightly late (he'd JUST got rid of the puck, but you're supposed to finish your check) and it's nowhere near the head.  He hits him in the upper arm below his shoulder. Literally nowhere near the head.  That's a good check.

 

I'm likely the minority here stating that this wasn't as clean of a hit as the league is stating.  Granted things happen pretty quickly on the ice but look at the distance here from where MacKinnon is releasing the puck to where Rinaldo is on the ice.   What is Rinaldo thinking here as a hit to MacKinnon could easily be a blow to the head?  MacKinnon is lucky he had enough time to adjust  

 

 

 

 

In the 2nd photo, MacKinnon has had time to adjust his positioning and Rinaldo has hunched down to pop up a large hit, knowing MacKinnon didn't have the puck.

 

[ruxpin]

4 minutes ago, hf101 said:

 

I'm likely the minority here stating that this wasn't as clean of a hit as the league is stating.  Granted things happen pretty quickly on the ice but look at the distance here from where MacKinnon is releasing the puck to where Rinaldo is on the ice.   What is Rinaldo thinking here as a hit to MacKinnon could easily be a blow to the head?  MacKinnon is lucky he had enough time to adjust  

 

 

 

 

In the 2nd photo, MacKinnon has had time to adjust his positioning and Rinaldo has hunched down to pop up a large hit, knowing MacKinnon didn't have the puck.

 

I don't know. It looks like a good but arguably late hit to me (and McKinnon provides a great object lesson on "keep your head up kids!"). Had nothing else happened, I wouldn't have argued much against an interference call for late, but it's really close to me.  Otherwise, I'm fine with it. 

 

I'm not okay with Rinaldo in general, or with the sucker punch specifically. I'm good with what Johnson did. 

[MadDevil]

I just don't understand how an NHL team still employs Rinaldo. Aren't they run by some analytics genius? Was he taking a **** when they signed Rinaldo?