Here's the video of Minnesota Wild forward Nino Niederreiter's hit on Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta. Make no mistake about it, this is a dangerous, reckless hit. That being said, Niederreiter is not a dirty player, not by any stretch of the imagination.
I included the hit by Penguins defenseman Ben Lovejoy on Niederreiter. This play happened right before Nino's hit on Maata. This is a push check, right or wrong, it happens in the game all of the time. Both hits should have been a penalty, but were not.
I have seen fans calling for a suspension on Niederreiter. Personally, this is a hit that needs to be removed from the game of hockey. I don't have a problem with the NHL suspending Niederreiter for this hit, but they won't. Not this time.
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) November 18, 2015
“It’s unfortunate the whole situation,” Niederreiter told the media following last night's game. “I pushed him and went for a change and I think he toe-picked the same time and the door was open. You never want to see anything like that. Obviously I feel bad.”
