New York Rangers captain and star defenseman Jacob Trouba made a massive hit against Montreal Canadiens defenseman Justin Barron on October 22.
With less than 13 minutes left in the game, Barron was carrying the puck over the blue line when Trouba lined up Barron and made a massive hit. The Canadiens defenseman was on the ice in pain.
It was a controversial hit and after the game, Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis sounded off on the hit and said it was a hit to the head.
“When I saw the replay I found the principal point of contact was the head,” St. Louis said.
Canadiens veteran forward Brendan Gallagher also thought the hit was dirty and the league should suspend the Rangers captain.
“They had a clean hit on the ice, we have a hit to the head from a player that’s had multiple, multiple warnings,” Gallagher said. “So, whether the league decides to do the right thing, whether he gets another pass, that’s up to them. I think it’s a headshot, but we’ll see what happens.”
Barron is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury following the hit, the Canadiens announced.
Trouba is no stranger to controversial hits, as was fined $5,000 by the NHL for a high elbow on the Florida Panthers’ Evan Rodrigues during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Trouba has been suspended twice in his NHL career and fined four times
NHL Won’t Discipline Rangers’ Trouba
Although Montreal thought the hit was dirty, the NHL Department of Player Safety didn’t agree.
The NHL announced there would be no supplementary discipline for Trouba. According to ESPN, ‘the hit was a legal full body check with Barron’s chest as the main point of contact. If there was contact with Barron’s head, that contact was covered under Rule 48.1, which considers “whether the player attempted to hit squarely through the opponent’s body and the head was not ‘picked’ as a result of poor timing, poor angle of approach, or unnecessary extension of the body upward or outward.”
It was a bit of a surprise to many NHL fans that the league didn’t punish the Rangers captain for his hit.
“Might be the dirtiest player ever,” a fan wrote.
“What an illegal hit… par for the course for Trouba,” a fan added.
Despite the complaints from fans and the Canadiens, Trouba won’t face any discipline for his hit on Barron.
Trouba Has No Animosity Towards Rangers Despite Trade Rumors
Trouba was involved in trade rumors this summer and even reportedly had blocked a deal to the Detroit Red Wings.
Despite all the rumors of Trouba being traded, the captain reported to training camp and said he had no animosity towards the team.
“I don’t think there was any animosity throughout the whole thing,” Trouba said. “Per my contract, I owe the list to them on June 30th. I knew that was coming. I think that’s a pretty standard part of contracts when a no-trade list has to be submitted. There’s a date that has to be done by. It’s just standard contract business.”
Trouba is the Rangers captain and is in the sixth year of his seven-year $56 million deal with the team.
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