I just watched the highlights of this. (Thanks for the link, kokaku) Yeah, Kovalev's actions look circumspect and wimpy, but I want to make 2 points. One, the Habs were caught changing defensemen when Kovalev gave away the puck, and that's why there was nobody behind Kovalev (a forward handling the puck in neutral zone; probably preparing to dump it in). Two, Kovalev's name was called in virtually every clip of that highlight reel. He was all over the ice, scored the second goal for Montreal, and the Habs wouldn't have made it OT without him.
This is a really odd incident. Julien and Souray seemed to question Kovalev as if they were talking about a Bruins' player. And Travis Green. "If I'd have double-handed him, his arm would be broken." And then, "I don't know if his arm is broken." A poor piece of improv. It's not a real slash unless bones are broken? >Problem was, Kovalev didn't dog it enough. Maybe that's right. Did anyone see Chris Pronger get a late-ish call? The other player skated away, Pronger pointed at the ref, the ref made the call. I don't understand this about putting away the whistles in overtime and the end of third period. The officials don't want to "decide" the game by making a call, but by not making a call, they decide the game.
It's not a real slash unless bones are broken? Completely biased opinion, but I think what he was getting at is the spin. Seems like every reference to the incident in the Montreal Gazette describes it as "two-handed". Your question applies there too: why are they bothering to mention the two hands? To me, the description "two-handed slash" evokes a ax swing with definite intent to injure. However many hands Green used, it didn't look that nasty.
Look. Hating the Habs is hardwired into my genetic code, but it's true that what happened wasn't a slash, the way one would think of a slash, especially a two-handed one. Green's stick got up to about waist-level, and he made a feeble attempt at a stick check he was just too far away to finish. That's all that happened. Anything else is mountain-molehill territory. Kovalev, no doubt, has not a friend in the world right now. If Montreal doesn't come back and win this series, he might be playing hockey in Venezuela next year. (I'm exaggerating, but I feel for him. A little.)
Personnally, I want Bob Gainey's head on a stick. I still don't get why they fired Pierre Gauthier, and the Kovalev trade was just about the worst thing the Canadiens could make. I believe it was a true slash, that would have been called in the first or second period. I also believe that the slashing really did hurt Kovalev, and that the pain caused a brain seizure. If he was faking it, he would have faked it well, he knows how to do this. I have never stood up during national anthems at sport events. I don't see the relevance.
