Kaleta Gets Slapped With A 5-Game Suspension For Borderline Attempted Murder
Shanny should’ve exiled this scumbag for life. You could argue that there wasn’t an intent to injure. I’ll argue that playing this reckless time & time again is the same thing as intent. The dude’s already a serial head-butter. It’s a shame the NHL needed Richards’ head swaying from his neck like an 80 year-old saggy titty to give Kaleta the Raffi Torres treatment.
It’s Hockey 101 – if you see the numbers, you lay off. Especially when the player is in a prone position making a play on the puck 3 feet from the boards. Instead, Kaleta followed through with the most dangerous cheap shot in the sport outside of the McSorley. Richards’ back was turned from the dot. It wasn’t a bang-bang play. Kaleta had the opportunity to take an angle, but chose the lazy cross-check which miraculously didn’t result in a stretcher. Richards didn’t skate today, but Torts says he’ll be “fine”. That doesn’t make the play any less dirty though.
March 12th in Buffalo should be fun. With the rematch just 4 Sabres games away, there was no way Shanahan was going to sentence him to less. Still, there should be some residual fireworks before Kaleta’s gotta drop the mitts in April. Better be more than once.