Travis Hamonic Ejected for Phantom Elbowing Call During Second Period
In the second period of tonight’s battle between the Islanders and Penguins, referees Dan O’Halloran and Frederick L’Ecuyer assessed the Isles’ Travis Hamonic a five-minute major and match penalty for elbowing Pittsburgh’s Brooks Orpik. Here’s the video:
If you can spot where Hamonic’s elbow makes contact with Orpik’s head… Well you can’t. Because it doesn’t happen at any point. Orpik did come away bloodied, which at the time made some sort of a penalty seem sensible. Upon further review, Orpik was cut open by his own stick and is an early front runner for the Dive of the Year Award.
The Islanders were forced to play nearly 30 minutes without one of their top two defenders in addition to the major penalty assessed. They gave up a goal in the first minute of the penalty, as it created a 5-on-3, however they were able to kill the rest of the man advantage successfully.
Thanks to Keith Quinn for the video.
About Kevin Schultz
Kevin was formerly an NHL blogger for the now defunct AOL Fanhouse and was the creator of the hockey comedy blog Barry Melrose Rocks. He now covers the Isles for Islanders Point Blank. You can follow him for instant updates on the team and talk hockey with him on Twitter @schultz88. View all posts by Kevin Schultz →45 Responses to Travis Hamonic Ejected for Phantom Elbowing Call During Second Period
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Al R. says:
Once again the Isles double standard rears it’s ugly head. Last weeks hit on Nino by Fistric, although resulting in a suspension, was not deemed a penalty by the on ice officials. Tonight Hamonic gets a 5 minute major and a game misconduct for watching Orpik bang himself in the head with his own stick after a minor check.
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Joe says:
what a joke…of coure the refs kick out the islanders best player.
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VLo brooklyn says:
fuck you nhl
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Isles4cups says:
I concur with that statement!!! Also, I’m not sure who most people had to listen to as game commentators, but I had the privilege of listening to the Pittsburgh morons!
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joee says:
I’m getting really tired of this.
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jisles says:
So tired of this shit! It wasn’t even a 2 minute minor. Refs completely changed the course of this game. Our defence did not play well at all after losing Travis either.
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Islandersfan19 says:
This is a simple case of protecting the precious Penguins. Bettman loves the Penguins, once the Ref saw blood that was it Hamonic was done.
This cost us the game, Rolling out 5 D-men is rough and they all look lethargic.
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chestypuller says:
please we need roulston and moulson collide into each other and sit out the rest of the year nursing your bullshit injuries cause your bullshit play is not fooling me….off with their heads….
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Dc says:
What are u saying?
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rick says:
Huh? Moulson has a bad game and his 14 goals 8 assists means nothing???? he is a LARGE part of the recent 6 game streak .
Im not gonna argue the rolston one, although he has the 3rd most shots on the team (okposo got a pass on not scoring bc he was shooting, so why shouldn’t rolston?). I dont think anyone expected rolston to be a scorer.
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Mike from Sarasota says:
Brutal call, but I am not a fan of blaming the refs for a games outcome. Good teams overcome adversity. Bad teams make excuses. Pens were without Crosby, Staal, Letang and Michalek and Isles jumped out to 2-0 lead. Going to the first intermission 2-2 was not acceptable.
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Cdu says:
So will the refs be held accountable for changing the momentum in a hockey game? Isles played awful from that point on.
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Jon in Chicago says: Two-goal leads are like 5-goal deficits to this team. Talk about a winnable game and a blown opportunity. I’d be stunned if this team beats the Penguins this season.
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Blizz says: ….Tin foil hats not required. It seems there is one really bad call that goes against the Islanders every game.
Losing Hamonic was tough to overcome and totally changed the outcome of this game.
Disgusting
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Kevin says:
Pens were missing Crosby for the full game
Islanders were missing Hamonic for half the game
Pens win 6-3 WOW!! -
Scott says:
Short lived streak seems to be over. Forget the phantom penalty, they made several mistakes reminiscent of the pitiful efforts that were so common just 2 weeks ago. If you think this team is even close to being on the right track, you’re insane. Defensive lineup is about as afwul as the NHL has ever seen. Good teams just don’t lose to a watered-down Pens squad 6-3 in their own building. No excuses.
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moonshine says:
in any case, i really wouldn’t start from the refereeing to comment this game. isles are officially back asleep and bad as ever. no sense naming names, almost every single guy was bad. pittsburgh outskated them and all it took was some forechecking for the isles to fold like a deck of cards.
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Richard says:
This team has been blowing leads for the last decade,they go up 2-zip and then get blown out,and outscored by 6 to 1, totally unforgivable, the Harmonic penalty, albeit a bad call should have had no frigging bearing on how poorly they played after that, and the fat meatball behind the bench better correct it,and they deserve a much warrented “reaming” out. Montoya, and Streit both played like Swiss cheese tonight,so we suffer again vs the Pens along with bad plays, bad calls, and bad commentors like Butch, and Howie, just another bad night all around.
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Why do we bother with 2 refs, it obviously does not work!
Well, it was bound to happen, Montoya finally had a poor game.
I cannot for the life of me figure out why Rolston gets so much ice time, especially on the power play!
Streit was horrible tonight, and once Hamonic was gone our defense looked pathetic. They could have been more effective if they stayed home. We SERIOUSLY need an upgrade on D.
Our first line was surprisingly invisible tonight.
Okposso was decent, Martin worked his ass off, but everyone else…awful!
Can we please stop sucking so bad at home, please???? -
Nick from Austin, TX says:
You simply can’t win in this league, especially within this division, without top-flight goaltending. Montoya is starting to look extremely average. Another thing, can anyone name 1 team in the NHL that would employ the following players right now: Rolston, Mottau, Staios, Pandolfo, Reasoner (combined +38 +/-)…no disrespect intended b/c these guys have all had very good careers, but they are all liabilities on the ice. The only reason we get stuck with players like this is b/c NOBODY else will come here…very sad state of affairs.
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Phil L says:
I think Wang gets some tax credit for hiring disabled vets (Rolston/Reasoner etc)
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atta boy Captain Jack tell it like it is…that called sucked @$$ and changed the game…now dump roulston, moulson, reasoner, mottau..
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Mike says:
Moulson REALLY???????? 30-31&14 goals
Get a GRIP!!!!-
ease up milbury don’t mean to upset ya regarding your gary delabotti look-a-like…my dog can bury ‘em if she too was playing alongside Johnnie T…calling it like it is, Moulson is slow as shit, can’t stickhandle, cannot handle or make a pass ….so he can bury the puck into an open net … derek king ring a bell great from the circles on in but useless as hell anywhere else on the ice..watch with your eyes not your ears..
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Once again I’m going to mention the lack of scoring by Tavares, what is it 1 goal in like 16 games? That isn’t getting it done, ind I know he is working hard, but working smart is much more beneficial, and PAP, and MM have been getting some goals but JT is supposed to be the “go to guy” and the money they gave him needs to be earned, possibly he is gripping his stick too tight, because he has been getting chances in the last dozen games or so, but nothing but 1 goal to show for it.
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Anthony says:
That was a horrible call!!! But let’s face it we played well for the first 10 min and that was it. We were outplayed for 50 min of that game. Pens were playing without 4 key players. Even before Harmonic got ejected our D played horrible especially Streit. We were manhandled physically all over the ice. When will they realize we need more grit and physical play on this team. I hope this game does not set us back. Reasoner ,Rolston Matttau oh why bother………
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Dinerboss says:
I agree with Scott, this team needs to make moves from this point on till the beginning of next year or we will have absolutly no shot at finishing top 4 in our division next year.We just can’t compete with pitts,phila, wash,rangers,there more talented,physical,better skating,and there ownership,coaching makes the right moves for there team to succed.next year a loss like this(divisional) would be a 4 point swing!Can anyone tell me how the isles can compete when they cant win divisional games.Garth forget about this year but put start putting a team together that can compete for next year.if you need help give me abuzz!
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tavares had been working so hard that right now he’s pooped. he’s not a great scorer anyway. and the kind of goals he’s good at aren’t all that different from the kind moulson scores. sniper goals. except that moulson can’t do anything else, so tavares is always feeding him without it ever being the other way around.
montoya shouldn’t have played tonight. he’s not that kind of horse.
but it’s the same old, the fish stinks from the head, i.e. the owner. except that even the owner has an excuse. he blames the arena and the politicians… -
I was at the game and that HORRIBLE call was the game!!!!!Hey Shanahan how about suspending some of the CRAP you call refs!!!!
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Walt says:
‘FAIL FOR NAIL” back on track. Our defense will keep us in the running all year. Is there a worse defense in the league? If so will someone post it.
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Islanders Fan in NJ says:
What an AWFUL call by the refs AGAIN! Can Cappy show some emotion for crying out loud? Get the team fired up. They should have fed off the bad call and come out swinging after that. No emotion at all. It just took the wind out of their sails. So sick of the HORRIBLE officiating.
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Tom D in NJ says:
Do we really need some of the language being posted….IMO cheapens the site. Just my opinion.
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since'72 says:
agreed
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Bill from Oceanside says:
Let’s face it. Streit is not the same player he was two years ago. We need an # 1 D-man.
Tonight the JT line was horrendous. They did absolutely zippo and hurt the team everytime they were on the ice. I was at the game so I wonder if the announcers ever said the name Moulson at all. He was just invisible. And JT was just godawful.Reasoner, Motteau, Rolston gotta go.
We just cannot compete with the big boys with this team as it is. And it’s not getting better next year.
Snow needs to cut some dead wood loose and trade some assets/draft picks for some real defense. Otherwise another long year.
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andino says:
After that Pens Islanders game last year Islander fans are actually surprised that they have a bad reputation with the refs?
Of course you are not going to get the benefit of the doubt from the refs.
Sure it was a bad call but that wasn’t the reason for the loss.
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Jim says:
It’s beacuse of a blown refs call against Pittsburgh last year when an elbow to the head put our guy out with a concussion and there was no penalty, no suspension. If the ref makes the right call there then Firday Night at the Fights never happens.
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On a POSITIVE note, we now know hOw AWESOMELY awesome and valuable Travis is!!! I heart you Travis!!
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Real Hockey Fan says:
.. This is why i DESPISE the P)(SSY Penguins, they pull this nonsense all the time
.. Terrible call, maybe the misconduct will be rescinded but it already cost them the game – BRUTAL CALL!
.. The is why the new NHL is sooooo lame, this nonsense didnt happen as much as it has the past 5-6 years – BRUTAL!
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DB17 says:
Yeah..the call was brutal…but the bottom line is…the Pens have now seen Montoya a couple of times, is my guess. He’s a backup, folks. Time for Poulin…
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upstateIsles says:
oh stop, you think Montoya got chewed up, whata you think would happen to Poulin?
Montoya is our number 1
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Sidd.Finch says:
Don’t know how anyone can rag on Howie and Butch? Not for nothing, but how many guys have completely thrown their team under the bus like Howi did and survive? The clowns in Washington and especially Pittsburgh are some of the biggest f-ing homers in the league, please just call the game for what it is. Despite getting rid of one of the best commentators in the league in Billy Jaffe, the Isles broadcasters are more open minded than most.
While I usually say a team needs to be able to shake off adversity and deal with the situation, the Isles were already short handed and went down two men on a 5 minute PP while losing their best d-man was over the top. They were still up 3-2 at that point. Just typical NHL BS. I would like to know if the refs get disciplined whether it is stated or not.
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D in Big D says:
Anyone who is questioning the talent on this team needs to look @ our drafts.We are calling 3rd liners(both offense & d)successsful picks.Its amazing on how many 1st rounders Isles missed on.Cannot miss on 1st rounders.Jury still out on Bailey,Nino,Srome,Dehann but so far not looking too good.For a team that relies soley on good drafts they must employee only the best scouts.Montoya was awful in this one,period.
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Steve C says:
The ref who called Hamonic for 5 minutes against Orpik should have his eyes examined.
I am so tired of the poor officiating in the NHL. Just a brutal call…absolutely brutal.