Aaron Rome Nathan Horton

It would appear to me as though the NHL has the same thought process with suspensions on hits as it does with the teams in the "sun belt" and that is, quite frankly, that they simply just do not have a clue.

I'm sure many of you watched game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals and saw the hit Aaron Rome put on Nathan Horton. I felt, and still do feel that there was nothing dirty about the hit. Everyone who has coached, or played hockey competitively at any level has been told to ALWAYS keep your head up in the neutral zone, ESPECIALLY when crossing the blue line into the offensive zone. You can clearly see in the video which I have provided in this posting that after Horton passes the puck he does not turn his head to see where he is, and just as he is about to cross the blue line, Aaron Rome plants him, as all defenseman are TOLD to do.

Now, yes the hit does happen after Horton gets rid of the puck, but the hit comes just about a second after he gets rid of the puck. Did Rome intend to hit him and hit him hard? Obviously. Did he intend to injure? Definitely not, especially since Aaron Rome himself has a history of concussions. The hit that Aaron Rome delivered is really no different than hits dished out by Scott Stevens against Eric Lindros and Paul Kariya, which were met with no suspension. If you watch the hit Rome puts on Horton, I'd say there is a better chance that the concussion, and knock out Horton suffered was more likely caused by his head hitting the ice (which can be seen at 1:01 of the video posting at the bottom), than the actual hit itself. How anyone can say the hit was dirty quite frankly doesn't know what they are watching and may find the women's game more to their liking as hitting is forbidden in women's hockey. That certainly is NOT a shot against women's hockey, I have the utmost respect for the game they play, and they are obviously much more skilled than I could ever hope to be, but since hitting is not allowed, perhaps that game is more to your liking. The hit that Chara dished out against Montreal earlier his season was MUCH worse than the Aaron Rome hit, which was, of course, met with no suspension (look at 1:02 to see Chara PUSH his head into the divider). Aaron Rome is every bit a victim here as is Nathan Horton. In the words of Jeremy Roenick, "NHL, wake up!"

Here is the Aaron Rome hit, as well as the hits I referenced by Scott Stevens and Zdeno Chara in my post.