Pittsburgh Penguins: Sidney Crosby should face discipline for hitting Holtby

Should Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby face supplemental discipline after hitting Capitals goalie Braden Holtby in the head? 

Wednesday, Oct. 12 saw an exciting game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals. It didn’t take long for things to get heated between the two rivals. And who can blame them? They clearly don’t like each other and the Capitals probably don’t like the Penguins for eliminating them in the previous two postseasons.

Early in the first period, Penguins star Sidney Crosby and Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby both went for a puck behind the net. Holtby won, but got a shoulder to the head courtesy of number 87.

Does this deserve any supplementary discipline? Let’s look at both sides. Before we begin, Crosby has not been suspended recently, so he’s not a repeat offender. That works in his favor.

Why He Should Face Discipline

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The primary reason why Crosby should face some form of discipline is he didn’t get a penalty for it. There’s a lot of grey area and room for interpretation in the NHL rulebook. However, hitting someone in the head is unquestionably against the rules.

"48.1 – A hit resulting in contact with an opponent’s head where the head was the main point of contact and such contact to the head was avoidable is not permitted."

Crosby made a hit resulting in contact with Holtby’s head. The head was the main point of the contact. But here’s the grey area – was it avoidable? This is up for interpretation. But Crosby skates directly by Holtby and hits him. He could have very easily avoided the hit had he gone towards the goal rather than towards the board. There are some exceptions, but none of them are relevant to Crosby’s case.

And to those who say Holtby put himself in a vulnerable position, that’s partially true. But the goaltender gets the right of way when he’s in the trapezoid. Holtby is never shy to wander into uncharted territory, as Carl Hagelin later found out the hard way. It’s no secret number 70 loves to emulate Dominik Hasek and leave the front portion of the crease. But here, he stays well within the trapezoid.

Holtby has played the Penguins 31 times (18 times in the regular season and 13 times in the postseason). Let’s say Crosby’s been in 25 of them because he has missed a few Capitals versus Pens games. If he isn’t aware of Holtby’s tendencies, there’s no reason to believe he shouldn’t be aware.

Finally, this play happened very early in the game. The Department of Player Safety needs to take a look at this play and assess what should have been called. If they deem Crosby should have gotten a major penalty or match penalty, supplemental discipline is necessary.

Why He Shouldn’t

Crosby does not deliver a late hit to Holtby. It’s a split second play. This is another reason to believe Crosby didn’t go out looking to hit Holtby in the head. Did number 87 make a terrible lapse of judgment? Absolutely. But even though this should have been interference at best, does the penalty warrant any supplemental discipline?

Crosby probably didn’t do this with malice. Maybe I’m nieve, but I can’t fathom anyone deliberately hitting a goalie (or anyone) in the head. The mere fact that Crosby braced for contact and even managed to keep his stick down suggests he knew that it was coming. However, it doesn’t make it unavoidable.

The Department of Player Safety has yet to make enough decisions to gain any form of consistency, under their new leadership. So it’s hard to say whether they’d consider a minor penalty like interference to be suspendable.

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The Verdict

Expect the Department of Player Safety to take a look at this play. Depending on what they find, Crosby might get a disciplinary hearing. He should probably get one because the result of the play was hitting a goaltender in the head while he was in the crease. But will Crosby get one? That’s another story. But he should.

George Parros has an opportunity to give the Department of Player Safety some credibility. With a proper ruling, he can change the tides of the league. But if Parros makes the wrong one, it will be like nothing changed. I sure don’t envy him.