By George Fallar 
Here we are again with an obvious non-call on the ice and no hearing with the NHL for a “star” player. This time it’s repeat offender Edmonton Oilers designated punk Taylor Hall maliciously slashing a Coyote hard enough to knock him down.
This came after Hall slashed Radim Vrbata on the wrist hard enough to knock him off the ice for the rest of his shift. Everybody saw it. No penalty was called. Why would it have been?
Star Player Penalties
Not only was no penalty called on the ice, there will apparently be no followup discipline call from the NHL. It’s the star treatment for Hall all the way, he’s a VIP with special privileges.
The officials obviously know that removing a guy with mad skills from the ice will have a more dramatic impact than doing the same with a fourth line grinder. So they give them more slack, and maybe that’s even acceptable. But, when the violations are as blatant and nasty as Hall’s slash, you HAVE to call those.
Just Ignore It And Win
The Coyotes seem to be making a concerted effort to ignore things on the ice that would normally result in a penalty and/or retaliation. If they are to make their long shot chance at a playoff run successful, they need to NOT retaliate when their goalie gets run, repeatedly, without a call from the zebras. They can’t afford to take many penalties, despite being able to kill penalties well.
Here’s the video of the rabbit faced doofus slashing the master shot blocker of the NHL Zbynek Michalek (playing his first game in a long time after being out with an ankle injury) in the back of the legs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a12ZMGRLasg
We all know that if the roles were reversed, Z would have received a penalty and probably would have been fined and/or suspended.
Rabbit face said “I meant to slash him on the back of the legs and I (then smirking) just kinda slashed him a little bit harder than I would have wanted to…” writing it off as a “heat of the moment” thing because his team was down 2-1. Hall admitted he was lucky he didn’t draw a penalty, but he didn’t appear very sorry he lost his temper.
You should applaud the Coyotes for maintaining their composure and deciding not to splatter Hall into a greasy spot on the ice. Sure, Marty blammed him down to the ice and also boarded him (oddly Marty DID get called for boarding).
Not His First Rodeo
Lest you think Mr. Hall is usually a clean player, Hall received a two game suspension for a knee hit earlier in THIS season, his first league discipline. Please feel free to view the below video for his dirty hit and decide for yourself. Other people have written that, while Hall should have had supplementary discipline, the zebras must have just missed the call on the ice. No, they didn’t miss anything. Look at the video, 1:10 or so in, and you will note at least two zebras were looking directly at Hall’s chop. They just didn’t call it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AuFRL6xn6o
Maybe there’s no call from Shanahan because he was prone to nasty plays like that as well?
This kid is an alternate captain for his team. Obviously he has hockey skills, but he is playing like a punk and needs to rein it in.
The fact remains that star players get free passes all over the ice. That needs to stop right now.