Dater Column: This One, On Jordan Eberle, Makes No Sense

Kraken forward will receive no discipline from NHL for dangerous hit on Cogliano

I guess Andrew Cogliano should have stayed down more. I guess the stop-watch didn’t run long enough past the time he had already stayed down in what looked to be gruesome pain following his being railroaded into the boards from behind by Jordan Eberle last night in Game 6.

If you’re just waking up: Earlier this morning, I learned that there will be NO hearing for Eberle for the hit, which you can see here:

I’ve obviously seen a lot of hits in my looong career covering this sport, and there’s no question: this is a very bad hit, a very dangerous hit. It could have broken Cogliano’s neck. Look at the replay. Look at how twisted his neck becomes after having it slammed into the boards.

What makes this hit particularly egregious is the time and space Eberle had before the hit. He had full intent to make this hit and look at the damage it did. First off, Cogliano WAS hurt on this play. He missed the rest of the second period.

But, he came back to play in the third, because Andrew Cogliano is one tough dude. At one time, he was the reigning NHL ironman and is well-known for his ability to play through most anything.

This is, once again, the double-standard the NHL Department of Player Safety seems to place on things like this. If there’s a real injury that keeps a guy out, the punishment will be more serious.

But if it’s to a guy like Cogliano, who can play through it, the offender often skates by.

But that was the textbook definition of a dangerous boarding hit and, in this case, the league should have at least suspended Eberle for one game. There are some who might be saying, “Cogs had his head down a bit too much, and that’s on him not to do that.” Players, indeed, always should try to keep their heads up as much as possible.

But in this case, it’s more on Eberle to see that Cogs was in a vulnerable position and not do a freight-train hit like that. It’s boarding. It’s a penalty and, in my view anyway and in the ones of many others, a hit worthy of supplemental discipline.

As it stands, Eberle will be in the Kraken lineup for Game 7 tomorrow. He probably should keep his head up out there.