Former Philadelphia Flyer, current Boston Bruin and NHL Department of Player Safety club card member Zac Rinaldo thinks the hit he put on Philly's Sean Couturier on Wednesday night when the Bruins and Flyers squared off at the TD Garden Center in Boston was perfectly legal. You know, despite the five minute major and game misconduct he received as a result.
"I saw the puck coming around the boards, and I thought (Couturier) still had focus on the puck," Rinaldo said, per Nicholas Goss of NESN.
"I just tried to deliver a body check. That was about it.I've got no comment on the call or anything like that. I guess I just tried to deliver a clean body check, and that's what I thought I did."
Check out video of the hit for yourself.
It's not clear that Rinaldo's intent was to catch Couturier under the chin, though he does drive upwards on impact. Before the game, Boston bench boss Claude Julien pointed out to the media that Rinaldo had been keeping his usual on-ice transgressions to a minimum thus far this season.
"You see him in practice - he can make great plays, got a good shot," Julien said then, via Tim Panaccio of CSN Philly. "But sometimes the other part of his game would take over so all we've asked him to do is balance that out, OK? We don't want him to lose that edge that he has because it's not a bad edge to have. He really can give your team a spark, he can give you some energy."
Rinaldo, as is his wont, made it a point to let everyone know that there are "no friends" on the ice, when asked what it would be like to go up against his old team prior to Wednesday night's game. And he's right. The NHL is a serious game and a cutthroat business and no one expected Rinaldo do take it easy on the Flyers just because they drafted him into the league in 2008 or because he spent the first four seasons of his career in the City of Brotherly Love.
But there is a fine line when it comes to playing the agitator role, which Rinaldo often does so well, and being a danger to himself and others on the ice. Too often as a Flyer, Rinaldo's skill with the stick was wasted because of his penchant for stupid penalties and head scratching and often injury-inducing attacks on other players. His major penalty against Philadelphia didn't result in a power play goal against, but the Flyers certainly got the last laugh on the night, thanks to an overtime game-winner from captain Claude Giroux. It's unlikely that Rinaldo's intent was to injure Couturier - in fact, he later said that that's never his intention - but Rinaldo, much like an addict, is the kind of player who can keep himself on the straight and narrow for nine games out of 10. But all it takes is that one lax moment in that tenth and final game and he's right back to his self, team and league-harming ways.
So far, Rinaldo's been able to keep that side of his game under wraps in Boston. Whether he can continue to do so is another question entirely. And if the hit he put on Couturier is any indication, the answer is probably not going to be one that Bruins fans are happy to hear.
