Patrick Kaleta Suspended 5 Games for Hit on Brad Richards
Sabre F Pat Kaleta has been handed a 5-game suspension for hitting Ranger F Brad Richards from behind during Sunday's shootout loss in New York. The hit drew a match penalty and the Rangers scored twice on the power play.
Brendan Shanahan stated that, while the hit was not hard, the position of Richards in respect to the boards made the hit dangerous and illegal. The fact that Kaleta was a repeat offender also was taken into account. Here's Shanahan's video from the NHL.
Patrick Kaleta Suspended 5 Games for Hit on Brad Richards
Please enter your comments below.
03/04/2013 5:40PM
Girardi
The boarding call for Girardi on Ennis, should've been just as much. That hit was worse than the Kaleta hit....understood Kaleta's name and stuff hurts him more than anything, but why has nobody said anything about that?
03/04/2013 5:44PM
Sooner or latter
there will be another Bertuzzi/Moore incident. This stuff needs to stop, the HHL player safety is a joke Moores career ended, Bertuzzi is still a hero To Me he is a pos Any hits from behind or to the head must be 10 games to start!
03/04/2013 5:47PM
Double Standard
Look - stupid play by Kaleta. Gotta pay attention to where players are when you hit them. And......had that player been named Carl Hagelin or Darrell Powe, would he have gotten 5 games? And the hit on Ennis? Come on Shanny - get your head out of yourarse.
03/04/2013 5:49PM
Hit on Ennis
I guess Ennis' position with respect to the boards (Face in, back to player) didn't make that hit dangerous and illegal.
03/04/2013 5:50PM
Too harsh.
While I think it deserved a penalty, compared to others, I don't think it deserved 5 games. As he stated, "the hit was not hard". Thus, I don't believe he did it with intent to injure. Girardi's hit on Ennis was much harder, yet no hearing for that. I understand Kaleta plays a tough brand of hockey and gets others off their game, but I don't think he is dirty. You can't compare him to Cooke, Lemieux or Hunter.
03/04/2013 6:27PM
HOCKEY
CANT BELIEVE THAT GOON IS STILL IN THE GAME
03/04/2013 6:39PM
Kaleta's Just Not Worth It
This guy is a bone head. He's been suspended multiple times and brings nothing but the agitation factor to the Sabres lineup. I will admit that certainly has its place in today's NHL, and Kaleta has more brass than virtually all of his teammates but give me someone like Ott anyday who brings what Kaleta does in the irritation department but can also contribute much more at either end of the ice. For the amount of time Kaleta misses due to injury and/or suspension every year it would seem the team would be better off devoting his roster spot, ice time and salary to a player they hope could develop into more than just a guy who is generally on the ice just to stir the pot. Corey Tropp comes to mind. When he is back next year I think the team would be wise to cut bait with Kaleta.
03/04/2013 7:05PM
You're Kidding
Shanaban is so biased against the Sabres, it's not even funny. Richards was fine!!!! He acted.
03/04/2013 7:19PM
Reverse
If you reverse the players (Richards puts same hit in Kaleta), does it result in a suspension? My guess is it would have been a 2 minute penalty on Richards. For one, Kaleta would not have rolled around the ice grabbing five different spots while thinking which one would sell it best. Was it a dangerous hit? Yes. Was it intentional? No. It was a soft tap at the wrong time. Richards was shifting his balance when Kaleta hit him and a normally harmless tap caused him to lose balance. It happens. Because it is Kaleta, it's a suspension.
03/04/2013 7:23PM
predictable
I don`t have a problem with the suspension, I do think 5 games are little to much. What I have a problem with is the fact if it were the other way around Richards would not even got a phone call. I can give examples of why I feel that way is look what happened to Gerbe last year let alone what happened his first game back this year. Plus the reason given for why Brown was not suspended when he hit Kaleta, Shamabam send Kaleta looked over his shoulder and saw Brown coming and that Kaleta put himself in a bad position(which meant he deserved it)it did not matter that Brown left his feet to hit him. I listened to Sylvester today when he told a caller that there different rules for some of the premier players in the league. I never new that there were 2 rule books, when did that happen I thought everybody played by the same rules. But then again I`m not that surprised the government does it everyday.
03/04/2013 7:51PM
shanahan must have missed the first minute of overtime
the Dan Girardi hit was much more violent than the little tap on the back Kaleta gave... while I agree Kaleta deserved what he got, Girardi deserved a major penalty and a mini vacation also... maybe not 5 games but he needs to sit and think about his lack of composure also... and shanahan shows tremendous bias towards the Rangers on this day...
03/04/2013 7:51PM
But it's only Monday?
"Richards returned to play. He missed practice Tuesday but his coach, John Tortorella, said Richards was fine."
>THIS FURTHER PROVES WHAT A LIAR TORTORELLA IS
03/04/2013 8:05PM
The hit on Ennis?
What about the hit on Ennis later in the game...I guess Shanahan thinks Ennis's "position in respect to the boards" did not make that hit a dangerous hit.
03/04/2013 8:23PM
Fire Paul Hamilton
Useless.
03/04/2013 8:32PM
Should have been thrown out of the league
Now go get someone who can score some goals Darcy. Enough said.
03/04/2013 8:42PM
Time to trade Him
Kaleta doesn't bring any quality hockey to this team. We need OFFENSIVE SCORING. Please trade this guy away. Like to a western team. Get someone who has any kind of ability to score. A young guy an old guy anybody will do,
03/04/2013 8:45PM
Why is Kaleta on this team?
0 goals, 0 assists, the 622nd ranked player in the league and his undisciplined bone-head penalty contributed to a loss. Yes, I get that he's a local hometown favorite, but I'm not convinced that using a roster spot for an irritant is a wise choice for this team.
03/04/2013 8:51PM
Consistant?
the hit was very bad BUT there are alot more hits that could be examined- if the NHL REALLY wanted to reduce injuries they could be more consistant assessing suspensions and fines to all players found guilty - but the NHL has a clown in charge and the NHL will look the other way so the sport can make MONEY- same as any other sport- one day one hit will be fatal and how will any punishment bring back that player?
03/04/2013 10:04PM
kaleta hit
what the hell was rolston thinking having kaleta out there killing a penalty int he first place. kaleta has taken too many stupid penalties...he is not worth keeping around...
03/04/2013 10:32PM
Bulldog
Does this guy have a hardon for Richards? It just seemed that way during his show today!
03/04/2013 10:33PM
marchand & chara are a lot dirtier
but they don't get suspended
03/05/2013 6:29AM
Common Sense
For all the people screaming the Sabres do not need Kaleta and he is useless I have a question? Do you even watch the freaking games? He is a sick penalty killer and one of the few guys on this team with heart. He is willing to sacrifice his body to block shots. Draws a number of penalties not that they matter because the Sabres have the worst power play I have ever seen. Don't bother posting if you have no clue what you are talking about.
03/05/2013 7:32AM
Gerbe
Look at the hit from behind on Gerbe vs Philly . Was that Richards ? I don't remember who did it .
03/05/2013 7:46AM
Waste of a roster spot
I agree - cut him from roster and bring up anyone from Amerk's - Kaleta's play is embarrassing to the Sabres.
03/05/2013 8:30AM
Do the crime
spend the time. Kaleta does fill a role as an agitator and a penalty killer. Regardless of intent, he messed up and gets to sit. Feel free to cry foul that Girardi's hit was ignored but the two were unconnected incidents. I think Kaleta has improved his game the last few seasons but this was a bad penalty for him to take. I'd still hold on to him.
03/05/2013 8:34AM
Same old story
typical Kaleta. The "angola boy" warm and fuzzy thing has worn off...even PARROS has a goal this year. This ship has sailed he aint worth the trouble anymore, cost his team a much needed WIN
03/05/2013 8:48AM
These fans...
The comments on here tell it all. If you think Kaleta is useless, you should stop watching hockey and perhaps take up another Canadian sport like curling. Kaleta made a stupid and reckless play which luckily did not result in severe injury to Richards. My issue and most reasonable fans issue is that Richards sold an injury while writhing on the ice for 4 minutes. Ennis turned when he was hit, which is why there is no suspension or hearing for Girardi. However, if Ennis writhed on the ice for 4 minutes acting like his neck was broken, there might have been a hearing or even a major called on the ice. That is the problem with this whole incident. I agree Kaleta was reckless and should be suspended, but 5 games is enormous in a shortened season for a play which had no intent and did not injure the player. Shall we go back to Miller and Lucic last season? Plenty of players have done things worse than Kaleta with intent to hurt players and they werent looked at or suspended. Shanahan hates Buffalo!
03/05/2013 8:55AM
Penalty Kill
To all the morons posting on this suspension. Do you realize Kaleta kills penalties for this team? A team that takes as many penalties as Buffalo NEEDS good penalty killers. Do you realize he is one of the only players willing to lay out and block shots? For most of you calling our goaltender Mr Softee I would think you would prefer our players stop the shot before it gets to our goaltender. Do you realize no other team has 3 lines of 20 plus goal scorers? There isn't enough space under the cap to pay for 3 lines of goal scorers. Every team has a third line of agitator or specialty role players. Just wait until the expansion that adds in more of these specialty players!
03/05/2013 9:12AM
WGR AM Idiot Show (Howard and the Douches)
It's already two friggin' days talking about the Kaleta thing. GODDAMMIT, DROP IT ALREADY!!! Talk about ways Darcy can improve this hockey team via trades and make the playoffs. Tell Darcy to get his thumb out of his azz. You guys are pathetic repeating the same thing over and over again. Change the GODDAM topic. Push for the release of Fitzpatrick. Clock is ticking to dump his azz.
03/05/2013 9:22AM
Kaleta out...GOOD
Maybe Grigorenko can get more ice time now and the Sabres can score a few more goals and win in regulation the next 5 games.
03/05/2013 9:38AM
Team Needs Kaleta
Need the aggression but he has to be smarter then that hit!
03/05/2013 10:22AM
Kaleta..
Look! It's in the rule book for this type of penalty. Every NHL player knows this by now. If you hit or knock a player near or at the boards from behind, it's a penalty. Depending on the severity of the hit, the referee has the discretion to make the call.
03/05/2013 10:43AM
In the future...
If I'm the referee, any time Kaleta "draws" a penalty on another teams' star I'm giving Kaleta four minutes. First two minutes are for interference (in this case simply interfering with the game itself) and the second two minutes are for unsportsmanlike conduct. Guaranteed that Rolston or whoever is coaching the Sabres will stop Kaleta from doing that garbage in a hurry!
03/05/2013 11:09AM
Kaleta well worth the occasional faux pas
He is the Sabres' edge (pun intended). Good agitator, like Barnaby was. Puts his body on the line every game and is the heart of the team. He made a bad decision on the cross-checking shove to Richards due to the proximity of the boards and the player's vulnerable position, but it's a mistake - nothing more nor less. He has a definite role and is good at it. If those kinds of players offend some folks, maybe they should watch a less physical sport. Also note the team DID recover from his mistake and had the chance to win in OT, so him costing his team is kind of a moot point.
03/05/2013 11:28AM
Shame On The NHL !!!
This is a prime example of why the NHL will NEVER be taken seriously when it comes to player safety. First and foremost, Brendan Shanahan played hockey for the NY Rangers. This is a conflict of interest and is similar to a judge removing themself from residing over a case where they know the plaintiff or defendant. Second, you cannot suspend a player based on what could have happened, it's just ridiculous. Yes, Kaleta should be suspended for the hit, but it should have been assigned to someone who did not collect a paycheck from the NY Rangers. Additionally, since Brad Richards was fine and played the next shift, the suspension should have been minimal. There are several players who hurt other players this season and received less of a suspension or none at all. The system is flawed and I say thank you Patrick Kaleta for playing with your heart. The Sabres need more players like Kaleta, with the desire to bring a championship to this God forsaken city !
03/05/2013 11:37AM
Suspension was nonsense
If you look at the hit, Kaleta just used arm strength to push Richards. He didn't use his body, which is what Girardi did to Ennis.
Don't try to tell me that Richards didn't embellish the hit, it's obvious that this guy wants anOscar. He comes out the very next shift after returning from the locker room. Why did he need to go to the locker room anyway? To laugh?
The whole scenario is a joke, and Shanahan played right along.
03/05/2013 11:59AM
And the award for best actor goes to BRAD!!
Richards looking for best actor on that one, Kaleta hardly hits him and he goes flying into the boards ACTING like he just got hit by a semi-truck when he got a light cross-check. Then, on the ice he is again ACTING like he is bleeding out internally and might perish within seconds. Then he gets up and , to the surprise of all in attendance, is able to make it to the bench NOT on a stetcher. Of course, it is nothing short of DIVINE INTERVENTION FROM ABOVE and not his ACTING previously that makes it possible for him to be back out on the next shift playing like NOTHING HAD HAPPENED. I think Richards should be disciplined himself for contributing directly to the fans having ZERO confidence in the disciplinary system, not to mention that his ACTING got Kaleta booted from the game, 2 goals for the Rangers, and 5 games. And yes, Ennis turning his back to draw a penalty in OT is also an ACTING job.
03/05/2013 12:04PM
Really disappointing to see players fake it like this
It's really disappointing to see more and more players faking like they are hit by phantom high sticks, crushed into the boards after turning their backs on purpose to the defender (Ennis), and pretending they are injured when they are not (Richards). The NHL had a lot more honor and dignity among players in the past, now with the disciplinary system they have and even the refs on the ice you get points for acting. Euro soccer, here we come!!
03/05/2013 12:43PM
Bologna call
The THEATRICS by Richards made the hit worse than it was. There are worse hits EVERY game than that one. There should have been NO suspension. I watched that video clip 20 times and the suspension is NOT warrented !!!! Shanahan has played for the Rangersso he is just trying to help his former team !!!!
03/05/2013 3:37PM
Paul Hamilton...
No one reads or listens to Paul Hamilton.
03/05/2013 6:38PM
Reputation Suspension
NHL and Shanahan are getting in a habit of suspending based on a guys reputation. I watched it several times and if you reversed the players involved, Richards would have gotten no suspension. I like Kaleta as an aggitator and a gringer. He is good on the PK. He needs to quit being a bone head.
E-Mail
Print
