Capitals forward Jason Chimera wasn’t too happy when Buffalo defenseman Mike Weber drove him into the boards early in Friday’s 3-1 win over the Sabres. Chimera lobbied for a five-minute major penalty for boarding. Instead, Weber earned the standard two minutes for a minor penalty. Afterwards, Chimera couldn’t help wondering if a little embellishment would have done the trick.
“If I stay down he gets a five-minute penalty,” Chimera said. “If I pretend I’m hurt. But I’m not that kind of player.”
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Chimera then got a follow-up question about the sport possibly going the way of soccer, where diving or faking injuries is too often rewarded by referees, who can’t always tell the difference at the speed these sports are played.
“Well, it shouldn’t be that way. It should be the act of what happens,” Chimera said. “[Weber] probably didn’t mean it. No one means to hit you in the numbers. But it’s one of those plays that if I stay down it might be five minutes. I don’t know. But it was two minutes. No big deal.”
Chimera said he received a brief explanation from the referee – not sure if it was Chris Lee or Chris Rooney – who thought Chimera may have turned towards the boards a little late to at least mitigate the circumstances. An official, according to NHL rule 41.3, “at his discretion, may assess a major penalty, based on the degree of violence of the impact with the boards, to a player guilty of boarding an opponent.”
Apparently no dice under this scenario. Chimera was less willing to take about the apparent middle finger gesture he flashed at Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller following his subsequent fight with Weber with 3:13 left in the first period. “I don’t recall” is all we got out of him on that one. Heat of the moment confrontation there that few live picked up on so wouldn’t expect any extra discipline for that.
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