Brendan Leipsic 5 min major spear: you be the judge

In game 5 of the Portland / Kelowna series, Leipsic was given a major penalty for spearing.

Lets look at rule 62:

Rule 62: Spearing

62.1
Spearing - Spearing shall mean stabbing an opponent with the point
of the stick blade, whether contact is made or not.

62.2
Double-minor Penalty - A double-minor penalty
will be imposed on a
player or goalkeeper who spears an opponent and does not make
contact.

62.3
Major Penalty - A major penalty shall be imposed on a player or
goalkeeper who spears an opponent (see 62.5).

62.4
Match Penalty - A match penalty shall be imposed on a player or
goalkeeper who injures an opponent as a result of a spear.

62.5 Game Misconduct Penalty - Whenever a major penalty is assessed
for spearing, a game misconduct penalty must also be imposed.

They don't take spearing lightly, nor should they.  If you swing & miss, its a double minor.  Any spear that actually contacts another player and its an automatic major.  Again, I'm fine with this, but it should go without saying that not all spears are created equal.

In the above video clip of the incident, I left it long with Kelowna's audio feed to illustrate a point: that no one knew that this major had occurred until the penalties went up on the scoreclock.  I'm right there with them - I watched the replay not seeing the spear until I was looking for it.  I'm not sure how the league will look at this, but my rose-garden colored glasses don't think its a big deal.  We shall see.

We've seen some nasty spearing incidents in the last week or so:

Different leagues for sure, but many of us remember Lucic with the Giants.  Played hard as well as partied hard.   Dude just cruises up behind a dude, all nonchalant, and sticks him in the balls.  That's a calculated move - about the worst thing you can do on an ice sheet.  He got slapped with a $5,000 fine, no suspension.  (Lucic made 4.5 million this year, BTW).

Suspend Leipsic?  Time will tell.

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Corey Graham shares his thoughts on Victoria VS Portland

What we've done here is dub the Pipeline show over highlights of the game they are discussing.  Corey Graham is the voice of the Oil Kings, and is featured in this clip.

Some of - actually, most of - the things that Graham said kind of rubbed me the wrong way.  Like they said on the first Snoop Dogg record, "Get your pooper scooper, 'cause the [dudes] talkin' shit..."

I suppose that's just 'fan' being sort for 'fanatic', but I thought it would be fun to set the "celebrated like they won the Stanley Cup" line to the actual celebration. 

I am a hockey fan with a lot invested.  I am not, however, a Breitbart: meaning I don't believe in deceptive editing.   Here's my work:

The full segment of the Pipeline Show I used is right here

The Stanley Cup celebration by the Portland Winterhawks is here

You be the judge.

Brendan Burke's numbers in 2014

I finally got around to the show prep I meant to do two episodes ago for Pucklandia: our new podcast (subscribe button here).  While you're at it, follow on Twitter & befriend on Facebook to stay current.

We all know that Burke's been great in 2014, at least post trade deadline.  Some feel its the addition of Corbin Boes, others feel that Mathew Dumba has been the difference.  I feel that its a "tastes great / less filling" kind of debate - and a nice one to have.

What do Burke's numbers look like, you ask?  On January 4th of this year, he was sitting on a 3.22 goals against, and a .900% save percentage.  There's been worse in major junior for sure, but that's not exactly Memorial Cup kind of numbers.

According to the WHL website, his January totals were 1.83 / 0.934 in 8 games - which ain't bad.  February saw him go 2.33 / .912 & March looked like 1.33 / .950 - which you can live with.

If you start with the games after that January 4th point referenced earlier, his totals through the end of the season finished at 1.42 / .950 over a 12 game span, assuming my math is correct.  While not the biggest sample size, it sure seems like Burke's trending in the right direction, and the 4 games in round one demonstrated a 1.75 / .924 - which is fantastic considering how rough his game 1 was.

There's been talk about Portland's goaltending being a question mark.  Looks like its been answered to me.