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Del.i.cious
Video: Did Grabovski bite Pacioretty?
By Allan Muir
It was a wild one in Montreal tonight where the Maple Leafs humiliated the Habs 6-0 on Hockey Night In Canada.
The highlights? A Phil Kessel goal. A 37-shot James Reimer shutout. Leafs fans whipping Montreal fans with their own Ole-ole-ole song. And enough fights to send Don Cherry to bed a happy man, including his that saw buddy Colton Orr one-punching Rene Bourque.
But this is the moment everyone will be talking about:
In the midst of a late third-period scrum, Montreal winger Max Pacioretty jumps Toronto’s Mikhail Grabovski from behind. In retaliation, the Leaf appears to sink his chompers into Pacioretty’s forearm.
There’s plenty of video showing the moment (here’s another angle), and while there’s nothing as definitive as this, there’s certainly enough circumstantial evidence to take it seriously. Maybe even enough for Brendan Shanahan to clear his schedule for a meeting on Monday. We could hear something about that by tomorrow.
Still..
You know, it’s tough to defend a guy who may (or may not) have gone teeth first into another player. But if he did, I think Grabovski might be able to mount a reasonable defense. It looks as though Pacioretty’s paw not only covers Grabovski’s mouth, but his nose as well. If the guy can’t breathe and can’t free himself from Pacioretty’s grip, as he clearly tries to do, well, it’s hard to say what else he’s supposed to do there.
What do you think? Did Grabovski channel The Walking Dead? And if so, should he be suspended?
Worth repeating what Craig MacTavish said a few years ago re biting in NHL: "Guys get hungry. . . in the 3rd period."—
Iain MacIntyre (@imacVanSun) February 10, 2013
If you Cover a players mouth and nose in any scuffle the NHL should suspend all players that want to intentional hurt some one , i would not call for that either , thats trying to stop his breathing and hurt the player . The biteing is not called for either , NHL should suspend the player or players for that too . where are the fines for Charity share some of that big money players if you want to bite and smother each other .
I totally agree. If you don't want to get bit, then don't mug the guy from behind and cover his mouth and nose. Really, does the NHL have to look into every offense that occurs now? It's like over-parenting. But I guess that's all over the place now too.