Afternoon Scrum 10/26/09

Hockey headlines from home and abroad. Read at your own risk.

• L.A. Kings D Rob Scuderi on his hit that sent CBJ F Jason Chimera toes over beak and left him bleeding from the mouth and above his right eye: "It was a good hit," Scuderi said. "Apparently, it was questionable, if not over the line with how the guys were up in arms. I understand their guys are just standing up for their teammate and that's fine. But at the same time, I thought it was a good hit." Mmmkay.

And Chimer's take: “It’s a dirty hit. There’s no room in the game for that kind of (expletive). A guy takes your knees out, what are you supposed to do? It wasn’t a hip check at all. It was a direct hit on the knee. That’s the way it goes, I guess. And he doesn’t want to fight after a hit like that, either. I landed on my face, on the ice. My neck was squished against the ice. I’m lucky I don’t have a concussion or something. It’s a dirty hit and there’s no room in the game for it. Too many guys now are getting carried off the ice on a stretcher. It’s just dirty stuff. It shows no level of respect. I don’t care if Scuderi’s a good player. He needs to stick up for himself. You fight after you do something like that to somebody.”

Here's the YouTube link. I don't think there is any question that the hit is illegal and dangerous. However, since Chimera came back seemingly no worse for the ware (save for some stitches) I have no doubt the league office will do little by way of punishing Scuderi. Maybe 1 game, 2 at the most.

Puck Daddy over at Yahoo Sports has a breakdown of some of the recent dangerous hits to plague the NHL, including the Scuderi/Chimera hit. Here's the link.

• Manny Malhotra, he of former CBJ glory and current San Jose Shark, had two goals in the Sharks win over the Flyers last night. Here is the game breakdown from the San Jose Mercury News. Nice work Mango.
  
• The 2010 NHL Trade Deadline is only 128 days away. Get some juicy trade rumors via THN. Frolov to Montreal for the Kostitsyn brothers? The Magic Eightball says "Doubtful."