During Game 2 of round two in the Stanley Cup Playoffs versus the Carolina Hurricanes, Jacob Trouba comes face to face with the boards as he attempts to smash into Martin Necas. Fans are now talking about the incident and calling Trouba a dirty player for trying to throw elbows.
While Jacob Trouba's intention may have been to slam into his opponent's body, fans seemed to think Trouba's intentions were clearly to harm the other player and that he should get suspended for trying to cause injury. Someone even pointed out that in the NHL if a player deliberately tries to hurt another player that there should be a consequence such as giving them a penalty. Another fan mentioned that while this type of clean open-ice body crush is something that Trouba is known for and that it is a style of hockey play that has been abandoned in the sport.
In another interview Greg Wyshynski talks about what happened with a colleague and they make it clear that while what fans are saying could have been true in a different game, that is not what in fact happened here. Wyshynski states that it seems to him that Trouba was throwing elbows to brace his impact with the boards after trying to body check Martin Necas and miscalculating. He also stated that it seemed as if Necas just disappeared out of thin air, either he was paying attention and ducked to escape the body check or he was just at the right place at the right time to avoid it altogether.
I think that Wyshynski and his colleague are correct here, although fans were wanting to think it was a premeditated injury attempt, especially since no one was actually hurt. I think it was in fact just a body check gone bad for Trouba. I also think it is just Trouba's style of play and that's just hockey for you. No harm no foul. What are your thoughts on this matter?
