Penguins' Players, Coaches React To Zac Rinaldo's 8-Game Suspension
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The FAN) - Kris Letang is expected to return Tuesday after missing a game-and-a-half with concussion-like symptoms following an illegal hit from Zac Rinaldo.
The Flyers' forward got an 8-game suspension from the NHL on Monday for charging and boarding.
"It's out of my power," Letang said of the length of Rinaldo's suspension. "It's what it is. Hopefully, he learned from that."
Head coach Mike Johnston says he's studied previous league discipline and he doesn't bother with getting worked up about it.
"They base it all on the history, what's happened, what did this guy get, what precedents were set," Johnston said. "I'm really confident when they review the case, they review it thoroughly and they make it based on case history."
Paul Martin thinks they got it right, saying there had to be some type of penalty, "that continues to get bigger if they want to take runs."
"I think it was a strong message," captain Sidney Crosby said. "You hope that number of games sends a message really at the end of the day. It doesn't matter the number of games it is, it's whether or not it's going to be enough to make that guy change his ways."
"It's a fast game, guys make mistakes out there and they're pretty quick to apologize. He didn't seem to be too apologetic. We'll see if that changes."
"I think it's always going to be part of hockey, but when it's always the same guys, you just have to make sure at one point it doesn't happen again," Letang said.
