Canadian performs Niederreiter with the skate

class=”sc-29f61514-0 kHgAwW”>

You can hardly believe your eyes. Shortly before the break, fighting takes place on the boards behind the Canadian goal. Long and intense. And then the Canadian Joe Veleno ticks off. The 23-year-old Detroit Red Wings striker kicks captain Nino Niederreiter’s leg with his skate. Not by accident, but very deliberately, as the TV replays show.

Then the 30-year-old from Chur and the Canadian collide in front of goal and Niederreiter catches his opponent with his elbow on the head. Then the 2018 first-round pick, who hasn’t yet broken any ropes in the NHL, also theatrically pops his head back and sinks down.

While Veleno goes unpunished for his dangerously unsportsmanlike conduct, which should have resulted in a match penalty, Niederreiter has to go into the cooler for 2 minutes, which the Canadians use to make it 1-0.

“It’s Something You Shouldn’t Do”

However, the Swiss are not deterred and turn the game around, winning 3:2 and scoring their fifth victory in the fifth game.

After the win, the national captain told Blick: “I’m someone who rarely gets really aggressive. But with things like that one boy trying to hurt me… That kind of thing just doesn’t belong in the sport. With that I have a lot of trouble with things like that.” Out of a reflex, he somehow tried to pull the skate away.

If the international federation IIHF does not want to lose its credibility, Veleno’s unsportsmanlike behavior must still have consequences in the form of a longer suspension.

In the 2007 NHL, Chris Simon (New York Islanders) was suspended 30 games for a skate kick on Jarkko Ruutu (Pittsburgh Penguins) while on the ice. “I really hope the IIHF will do something about it,” says “El Niño”. That has no place in our sport. It’s still a men’s sport, where it’s played very hard but fair.”

Source : Blick