Lombardi on the Gauthier suspension

Here’s general manager Dean Lombardi on the suspension:

“We didn’t believe he deserved a penalty, let alone a suspension. When you stop the tape, his elbow is clearly down and at the point of contact, his feet are on the ice. They both ended up halfway up the boards, so it’s not a charge.

I understand when you see it at full speed and the way they end up on top of each other it looks more criminal than it is. When you slowed it down, was his elbow down? Yes. Were his feet on the ice at the point of impact? Yes.”

via Lombardi on the Gauthier suspension – Inside the Kings.

I have a lot of respect for Dean Lombardi, he did a lot of really good things with the Sharks, and he’s a great guy and I think he’s a good, solid GM.

But — you know? — sometimes he says things that make you stand back and remember that he’s a lawyer. This, here, is a lawyer speaking.

“Well, your honor, technically speaking, my client held the knife out and the deceased basically fell on it. you can’t blame my client for that”

Well, Dean, not exactly. But nice try on backing your guy. Sort of.

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