Dirty Hit by Aaron Rome in game 3

courtesy to hockeyfights.com

Was it a dirty hit? Yes. He targeted the head. No question about it. He didn't really leave his feat for the hit. Leaving his feat was the aftermath of the contact. It was also late. Almost as late as this Stevens' hit on Kariya in 2003's Stanley Cup Final (not even a penalty on the play that year)

So now it's time for me to be critical. I'm going to compare these two videos. First off the fans. The Bruin fans cried all series against Montreal that the Habs players were diving. Ever since then, the Bruins have been doing the same exact thing. Now the game has changed since 2003 until now. The refs have gotten stricter with the rules. But the fans in the Anaheim game were not instantly booing/crying to the refs for the call which is exactly what the Boston fans were doing. (once again. I'm not denying it wasn't a penalty. It was.) Another thing, players dive more nowadays. They try anything to draw a penalty. Horton was down on the ice but looked fine after several minutes. He was taken to the hospital. They said he was fine essentially. Kariya? He eventually came back THAT GAME and scored a goal. Just saying.

Another thing. I don't play ice hockey but I still know the number 1 rule: DON'T SKATE WITH YOUR HEAD DOWN. In today's NHL, you will be dominated if you don't skate with your head up the whole time. This was why players like Eric Lindros kept getting injured. Horton, after passing it, took too long admiring his own pass instead of looking ahead. All of this could have been avoided if he did this. Well he paid the consequence.

So was it a penalty? yes. but this better not be a suspension.