Frattin Suspended One Game

This guy just cant catch a break!! The cops busted him trashing the street, then all buzzed up while driving, now this. Poor Guy! Frattin is a clown, always has been and always will be. A game wasn’t enough for Marvin for his hit that ended Genoway’s season and a game isnt enough for this. If there was more season left there isn’t a chance Wehrs plays again. WCHA needs to step up and grow a pair or this will keep happening…despicable.

I am fine with suspending Frattin. I think the precedent (as poorly as it has been set this year) existed going back to start of year and Genoway’s hit for a one game suspension.

I will say that without the WCHA’s misguided efforts this year this is a straight up 5 minute major for charging with a game misconduct. Since when was a 5 minute major not a serious consequence? Maybe only when you don’t score on it and you lose the series…..

Anyway, I will not sway any opinions here I know, but people should try to remember this was two people with their chests toward each other going for the puck. Frattin came in hot and Wehrs went low. But I do agree Frattin covered too much ice as Wehrs went low and probably should have tried to abort. But if you look at replay take note that all of that happened between second 10 and 11. Frattin had 1 second at high speed to realize it was not going to be the body to body confrontation I believe he was expecting.

I wish Wehrs all the best but this is hardly a malicious hit, nor is it a checking from behind incident. It is a hockey play where speed and time to react caught up with Frattin. And we have penalties like charging to address those types of incidents.

So was Marvin’s hit that messed up Geoffren(sp). The fact of the matter is he took about a dozen strides and left his feet. I know when the hit occurred he had a foot on the ice, but his momentum and follow through almost made him parallel to the ice. If that shows nothing else, it shows that he had waaaay to much speed to throw a hit. It was dangerous, as the result showed. If he didn’t target his head and leave his feet it would have been a very solid hockey hit…but he did.

it’s a tough thing…it’s hard to take the physical play out of the game or to punish those who make their pay playing that way. But this was irresponsible. In my opinion.

I also believe in years past Marvin would not have been suspended for his check on the Badger (hell if I can spell his name).

I guess my only real point is this. Violent collisions can happen in a sport that encourages hard physical contact. Further, dangerous collisions can also happen given that two players do not always have the same idea in the split second moments leading up to a hit.

I could be wrong, and at this point we will never know, but I firmly believe Frattin had no other intent than a strong finishing body check. It is incumbent on him to make sure that is what happens. It did not in this case and he got a major penalty for it. To me, that should be the end of it.

I am all for suspensions for anything hitting from behind, regardless of any perceived intent. But if the WCHA is going to start arm-chair quarterbacking this kind of hit I think we are headed down the wrong path.

While I am glad I do not know the answer to this. I am curious if anyone thinks the WCHA would have suspended Frattin had UND lost and was not playing this weekend? I suspect not. That gets leads me to question the quality of WCHA management – which is a topic unto itself.

Frattins hit was worse than Marvins on Shay earlier in the year. Surprised he only got 1 game for his blatant contact to the head and intent to injure.