Calgary's Ville Nieminen makes no points with Lecavalier or Tortorella.
By DAMIAN CRISTODERO
Published June 2, 2004
[Times photo: Dirk Shadd]
Tampa Bay's Vinny Lecavalier struggles to get up after Ville Nieminen's hit Monday in Game 4. Nieminen drew a five-minute major.
"It's pretty obvious it was a dirty hit."
-- VINNY LECAVALIER, Lightning center after watching video of Calgary's Ville Nieminen laying him out in Game 4.
[Times photo: Dirk Shadd]
Nieminen skates away after his late boarding penalty. The Lightning did not retaliate and played the final 4:13 with a man advantage. Nieminen is fifth in the playoffs with 55 penalty minutes and was suspended for Game 5 of the West semifinals against Detroit.
Lightning center Vinny Lecavalier said he could draw only one conclusion from the video that showed him being laid out by Calgary's Ville Nieminen in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup final.
"It's pretty obvious it was a dirty hit," Lecavalier said Tuesday.
Nieminen could be suspended for the elbow from behind that drove Lecavalier's head into the side glass with 4:13 left in the third period.
Lecavalier was on the ice for about two minutes, apparently recovering his senses, and after the game received stitches for a 11/2-inch cut on top of his head. Nieminen was given a five-minute boarding major and a 10-minute misconduct.
Lecavalier said he was "a little dizzy" for about 30 minutes after the game, but said he was fine Tuesday morning and expects to play in Game 5 Thursday at the St. Pete Times Forum.
Nieminen said after the game the hit was a result of the speed of play, and that he tried to get Lecavalier out of the way to play the puck.
"Two or something feet away from the board and he was just turning," Nieminen said. "I was going to finish my check and go for the board battle."
Lecavalier did not buy it.
"I've never hit a guy from behind, and sometimes it happens that someone turns at the last second. But it's pretty obvious my face is facing the boards and the glass. It's not like I turned at the last second."
Nieminen already has been in trouble this postseason. The rugged left wing, who always plays with an edge and is fifth in the playoffs with 55 penalty minutes, was suspended for Game 5 of the West semifinals for running Red Wings goaltender Curtis Joseph.
Even Flames coach Darryl Sutter admitted Tuesday that hit could not be defended. Of Nieminen's hit on Lecavalier, Sutter said, "This one is totally defendable."
In fact, Sutter said after the game he thought the infraction warranted only a two-minute minor.
"It's called a five-minute penalty because they react to the player going down," he said.
Sutter also has what could be a comparable situation: Cory Stillman's elbow on Marcus Nilson in Game 1, though Nilson was not hit as squarely from behind. Stillman was not penalized or suspended.
Asked Tuesday if it was fair to compare the two, Sutter said, "There is nothing fair. Remember that. Please remember that."
Lecavalier would not say if he expects disciplinary action.
"It's not for me to make decisions," he said. "It's up to them. It's definitely a dirty hit, but it's up to the league. I just want it to be fair. They'll get to see the hit and see it from behind, and it was an elbow. It could have been a lot worse, a concussion or something like that."
Lightning coach John Tortorella agreed.
"I think any player, our player, opposing team's player in the National Hockey League, when he's defenseless and it's a blow to the head, you're always concerned about health. And I'm not speaking just on our player, any player in the league. It's a tough game and it's supposed to be a tough game. But when it comes to behind-the-back blows to the head, that's where someone is defenseless."
Asked if making teams pay with power-play goals could lessen the rough stuff, Tortorella said, "Special teams can be used in a lot of different ways. Not only scoring goals, you're always looking at trying to score goals. But maybe it will affect some of the stuff that goes on as far as what's coming at you. More of a deterrent, I guess."
Lecavalier said neither he nor teammates are planning retaliation ... during the Cup final, anyway.
"Not at all," he said. "We want to win. We don't care about anything else. It's about playing hard every night. We can worry about it at other times. Now we'll be disciplined and keep being disciplined, and we'll get power plays and score some goals. That's what we have to do to win."
