NHL says video of Zetterberg hit was inconclusive Five days after the hit, it remains the video clip that won’t die. TSN Senior Hockey Reporter Frank Seravalli examines the hit by Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg on Ottawa's Jean-Gabriel Pageau on Friday night.

Frank Seravalli TSN Senior Hockey Reporter Follow|Archive

Five days after the hit, it remains the video clip that won’t die.

Maybe it’s because it was Detroit Red Wings star Henrik Zetterberg. Perhaps it’s because Ottawa’s Mark Stone received a two-game suspension for a check to the head in a rematch the next night.

Either way, the comparisons flared up again on Tuesday when Winnipeg’s Dustin Byfuglien was spared by the Department of Player Safety after a hearing for a seemingly similar hit against Montreal’s Brendan Gallagher on Sunday.

Regardless of the reason, the NHL did not somehow “miss” Zetterberg’s hit on Jean-Gabriel Pageau in the final minutes of Friday night’s game at Joe Louis Arena.

NHL vice-president of player safety and hockey operations Damian Echevarrieta said Tuesday the league felt Zetterberg’s elbow did not rise to the level of supplementary discipline.

“That doesn’t mean that we thought it was a clean hit,” Echevarrieta said. “We never said it was a clean hit. Not to throw the referees that night under the bus, but should it have been a penalty? Yeah, probably. Whether it’s a two-minute or a five-minute (major), I don’t know.”

In video replays, referee Gord Dwyer appeared to be looking in the direction of Zetterberg as he skated toward Pageau. There was one minute and 26 seconds remaining in a one-goal game. Zetterberg led into Pageau with his left arm extended, contact was made and then Pageau’s head snapped back. The Ottawa forward ended up with a bloody nose as a result of the hit.

The issue the Department of Player Safety had with the play was that the video was inconclusive. Each arena has its different quirks as far as camera positioning and areas of the ice which have less coverage than others – the Joe is no different.

“We’re subject only to what we see. We didn’t have a real good angle on the play - that’s what made this an inconclusive replay,” Echevarrieta said. “I don’t think Pageau’s head was targeted. I can’t see if this was a rough or an elbow, or the degree of force in which Zetterberg hit him. Did he leave his feet? He doesn’t appear to launch at him.”

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Similar to how fans clamour for goals in which it appears the puck “obviously” crossed the goal line, the Department of Player Safety needs conclusive evidence of an infraction. Echevarrieta said that simply didn’t exist in this case - saying Zetterberg could have “gotten lucky” that the video angles did not paint a complete enough picture.

“They don’t want us guessing,” Echevarrieta said. “We couldn’t tell for sure.”

Echevarrieta said behind the door in his New York office, there is a list of comparable hits that the league uses as reference points for infractions and borderline plays. He works with Stephane Quintal and Chris Pronger and in his 17 years with the league, he can recite hits and plays from their playing careers.

With the uproar around Stone’s suspension, comparing that hit to those two from Zetterberg and Byfuglien isn’t necessarily apples-to-apples.

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“There are no two plays that are exactly the same; it’s like comparing apples to oranges,” Echevarrieta said. “Just because this hit involved Ottawa doesn’t change anything for Zetterberg or Stone. The Stone hit was reckless in our opinion. If anything, Zetterberg’s hit was an elbow, not an illegal check of the head. I didn’t think this was a charge.”

Echevarrieta said the decision not to issue supplementary discipline for Zetterberg has nothing to do with his reputation as a clean player or his discipline history.

“We hear that all the time. Every suspension or fine is based on the play itself, nothing else,” Echevarrieta said. “It’s only after a decision has been made to suspend or fine that more is added based on history. That way, every player is playing by the same rules - whether it’s Zetterberg or Stone or Byfuglien or (Zac) Rinaldo or Raffi Torres. We don’t think we’ll be seeing Stone again (for discipline) for a long time, either.”

Frank Seravalli can be reached at frank.seravalli@bellmedia.ca.