The devastating hit on Nathan Horton and Aaron Rome's suspension

While many of us were watching the game last night, we saw one of the ugliest hits this post-season. Aaron Rome took off and drilled Nathan Horton, as shown below.





Now some people may say that Rome was finishing his check. This is incorrect because when you are finishing your check, a player has already passed the puck and it's about a split second later that you hit him. Not only that, the player generally knows it's coming, or is up against the boards to help absorb the impact. Nathan Horton had just passed the puck, taken a little hop, took one stride, and then just before he could take another stride, Aaron Rome comes up and nails him in the head. The initial point of contact was Aaron Rome's elbow hitting Nathan Horton in the chest followed by his shoulder hitting Horton in the head less than a split second later. It was not a lateral or blindside hit, because Aaron Rome was in front of Horton the entire time. However, Aaron Rome's feet clearly left the ice and he was in fact looking to take Nathan Horton out of the play.
However, the blame is not entirely Aaron Rome's fault, had Nathan Horton just looked up the ice instead of looking to see whether Lucic got the pass or not, there still would've been an interference call, but he might've been able to brace himself, or at least move in a way to brace himself for the hit. The fact of the matter is that Aaron Rome had every intention on taking Nathan Horton out of the play and deliver a crushing hit that would help give his team momentum.

Aaron Rome's suspension


I could not find if Aaron Rome had previously been suspended for anything. However, I do agree with the suspension for three reasons. First, Nathan Horton is done for the playoffs, and thus, Aaron Rome should be as well. Second, after the absurd amount of suspensions that have been doled out this post-season, and both teams having a great deal of disregard for the conduct of the game as evidenced in game 3, this sends out a message to both teams that they will not tolerate any conduct that is unbecoming of the game. Lastly, after seeing how both teams have handled Alex Burrows biting Patrice Bergeron, you can be damn sure that they don't want to see both teams behavior in regard to the hit by Aaron Rome.

In regard to previous post-seasons, there have been a plethora of hits doled out that could've been suspended and hits that have been suspended. During the regular season alone there were a ton of suspensions and games lost to suspension that haven't been seen in the post-lockout era. The clear distinguishing line hasn't been drawn, but hopefully this is something that will be addressed in future games to come.