Flyers captain, Mike Richards, has been cleared of all
wrongdoing by the NHL after an unfortunate hit on
Panther forward David Booth in the Flyers' win last
night. (Neat1325)
The entire Philadelphia hockey community held their breath when Panther forward David Booth was lying motionless on the ice after Mike Richards, the Flyers' hard hitting captain, caught the young star with his head down coming across the blueline.
Booth was carted off the ice to a standing ovation from the Wachovia Center. The same building had been quiet for what seemed like hours while the Panther was on the ice.
Then the waiting game began.
Fans knew that the hit was big, but the arguments as to its legality began surfacing. While NHL fans argued back and forth over the hits-to-the-head controversy, the league met behind closed doors to make a decision.
“I saw him with the puck, coming up the middle and cutting and obviously, a guy going the middle, I was trying to eliminate him from the puck,” Richards said. “He dished it off. Everything happened so quickly … I just wanted to separate him from the puck.”
While players on the Panthers as well as their general manager, Randy Sexton, called for Richards' head, the Flyers general manager, Paul Holmgren, was quick to defend his player.
“I don’t expect anything," Holmgren mentioned when asked about a possible suspension for his team's Capitan, "It was a good hit. Mike is doing his job. He is back tracking, to catch up to the play, he went to finish a check on a player, who had just passed the puck and hit him. His feet never left the ice. It was a shoulder hit.”
During the game Richards was given a 5-minute major for interference, a call that does not actually exist, as well as a game misconduct. The league decided that there would be no further action taken against Philadelphia's captain.
Early Sunday morning NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told the Daily News that the Hockey Ops staff reviewed the footage and decided there was no need for supplemental discipline. The footage was not reviewed by NHL executive vice-president of hockey operations Colin Campbell, who usually plays an important role in making decisions on dangerous hits. Campbell's son, Gregory, is a forward for the Panthers so he was kept out of this decision due to a possible conflict of interest.
Booth was also released from Pennsylvania Hospital this morning so that he could make his return trip back home. He suffered a concussion, though after a hit like that, he may be lucky that it was only a concussion.
The news of Richards' amnesty could not have come sooner for the Flyers' locker room. Tonight they face last year's President's Trophy winners for best record in the NHL, the San Jose Sharks. Going into a big game without their captain would be tough.
More information about the hit was well as the footage.
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