Larkin: Why Milan Lucic’s hit on Philip Broberg wasn’t dirty

There’s a handful of players each NHL generation who are so big that, whenever they initiate contact, it’s violent. Doesn’t matter if it’s the squeakiest of clean or the dirtiest of dirty. When these players collide with another, bodies fly no matter what. These hockey hulks therefore often become lightning rods for debates about whether their actions should be suspended.

Over the past 10 to 15 years in the NHL, a trio stands out in my mind in the “so big that he can’t help but hurt people” tier: Dustin Byfuglien, Tom Wilson and Milan Lucic. All three players have earned supplemental discipline plenty of times in their careers. They often land on the wrong side of the law, especially Wilson. But there are exceptions in which their size turns an innocent, legal play into something scary.

That’s what we saw during the Battle of Alberta Monday night when Calgary Flames left winger Lucic levelled rookie Edmonton Oilers defenseman Philip Broberg. If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s an initial look at the violent collision, which, thankfully, left Broberg unscathed:

Broberg isn’t exactly a runt at 6-foot-3 and 199 pounds. As he skated back into Edmonton’s zone to retrieve a puck last night, however, he appeared small with the 6-foot-3, 231-pound Lucic bearing down on him in a foot race. The first reaction to the bang-bang play, according to many concerned Twitter onlookers, was to cry foul on Lucic for a hit from behind. He was staring down Broberg’s numbers all the way, right?

No. There will be no supplemental discipline on Lucic for this play. Upon closer inspection, it was a mess of Broberg’s making. If you watch again, you see him sense Lucic’s presence and suddenly stop well before reaching the boards. It’s akin to doing 100 mph on the highway, seeing a Hummer tailgating in your rearview mirror, then suddenly slamming on the breaks. Sorry, but you’re going to get rear-ended in that situation.

If we were to accept for the sake of argument that Lucic deserved a penalty on the play, it could’ve been classified as boarding, charging or checking from behind – most likely the latter since Broberg was so far from the boards. But here’s an important piece of language from the league’s rulebook definition on boarding:

There is an enormous amount of judgment involved in the application of this rule by the Referees. The onus is on the player applying the check to ensure his opponent is not in a defenseless position and if so, he must avoid or minimize contact. However, in determining whether such contact could have been avoided, the circumstances of the check, including whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position immediately prior to or simultaneously with the check or whether the check was unavoidable can be considered.

Now, a relevant excerpt from the league’s definition of checking from behind:

A check from behind is a check delivered on a player who is not aware of the impending hit, therefore unable to protect or defend himself, and contact is made on the back part of the body. When a player intentionally turns his body to create contact with his back, no penalty shall be assessed.  

Per the boarding definition, Broberg put himself in a vulnerable position immediately prior to the check by slamming on the brakes. Per the checking-from-behind definition, Broberg turns his body to create contact. Watch his skates. They pivot toward Lucic. If anything, the play was closer to an interference infraction on Broberg than it was to a penalty on Lucic.

That can be a bitter pill to swallow because the play, seen at full speed, looks like Lucic steamrolling a helpless defender with his back turned. What we actually witnessed here is what the Department of Player Safety calls “losing the physical battle.” Broberg shifted his momentum toward a bigger, stronger player, lost the physical battle, and the ensuing energy transfer launched him in the opposite direction.

We thus should not expect any supplemental discipline for Lucic.