(above) The WCHA has recommended "sanctions" for DU defenseman Patrick Mullen, but DU may still may appeal the rulingFrom: Duluth News Tribune
by Kevin Pateskpates
University of Denver defenseman Patrick Mullen may be suspended for a game or more for using his stick to hit the arm of Minnesota Duluth freshman winger Mike Connolly in the final seconds of last Saturday’s Western Collegiate Hockey Association men’s game at the DECC.
Mullen’s fate was being decided by WCHA and Denver officials Tuesday, supervisor of officials Greg Shepherd said from St. Paul. The Denver senior, the son of NHL Hall of Famer Joe Mullen, is expected to receive the ruling today.
Connolly, from Calgary, Alberta, had pushed the puck toward an empty Denver net with two seconds to play in a 4-2 UMD victory. He then fell to the ice and Mullen wound up and hit Connolly’s arm with his stick, which earned Mullen a five-minute slashing major penalty and a 10-minute game misconduct from referees Brad Shepherd and C.J. Beaurline at the game’s conclusion.
On Sunday, the referees asked Greg Shepherd (Brad’s father) and WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod to look at the incident on video tape. The league has since recommended a sanction to Denver, regarding Mullen, and is waiting to hear if the school has accepted the punishment, Greg Shepherd said.
If Denver doesn’t agree with the punishment, the school can appeal the decision to a WCHA executive committee.
No. 6-ranked Denver (17-9-3), a WCHA co-leader, has a game Friday at Colorado College.
11 comments:
This may get a little tricky because there seems to be many worse plays and injuries that went unpunished this season by the WCHA.
Consider that DU is already without Chris Nutini with an injury and DU is down to 5 defensemen heading into the biggest game of the year.
Because of the delay in announcing the penalty it seems to me that DU may be fighting this suspension.
It never ends with this DU team. What an embarrasment to all that are affiliated with the school.
Sounds like Mullen took out the Pios defense frustration in the last couple of games. I don't think there is any question that the defense has struggled, not sure what it will take to turn it around.
7:22......yawn. Come up with some new material, dimwit.
How many suspensions for actions during games have occurred to WCHA teams this season? And who are the teams?
I think a suspension is warranted in this case. You can't allow the stick to be used as a weapon. Mullen should sit a game or two.DU needs to do the right thing and set an example, and the fact that DU only has five d-men this week can't be a consideration.
Is there any footage of the incident? I don't remember the game being televised anywhere but was just curious. Mullen's slash sounds fairly egregious.
Regarding what the WCHA has done in past incidents, here's a little history. The WCHA has unually done NOTHING. I don't think this case should be viewed any differently.
Dirty posted this on USCHO.
"Shack gets nothing [broke the Mankato kid's leg a few weeks ago in a fight], Zach Jones gets nothing for going crazy, last year Kyle Radke gets no additional penalty for pummeling Vossberg after Vossberg was clearly down, Geoff Paukovich gets a one game suspension for his hit on Bina. Heck it goes back to Erik Westrum kicking Erik Adams in 2000. He only got a two game suspension for that. I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch of incidents but it's pretty obvious that the WCHA doesn't do anything ever. Seriously, if they did next to nothing to Paukovich, they'll never do anything."
Hey 7:22 - we all know who you are (UND zealot) so why don't you just post with your handle.
Why is "his fate being decided by WCHA and Denver officials"?
Who is supposed to enforce the rules? If it is the school, why do they pay a commisioner and director of officials? Maybe I should take that back, it is rather obvious that the director of officials does do something, he leads by example.
I don't think I have ever heard where a school and it's conference debate this kind of thing. Weird. I know I listened to the UMD call using your link, and they were total homers and neither of them were begging for suspension. They definitely noted the play though, but I just don't recall them going nuts. They did mention Sandelin was pissed. I recall them talking more about the time left on the clock, and was the game over or not. Why doesn't any of the UMD fans YouTube this so we can judge for ourselves? We, collectively, could come up with a suspension agreement quicker than WCHA/DU.
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