Vancouver Canucks bruiser Rick Rypien, who shoved a Wild fan while walking to the locker room during the second period last night, has been suspended by the NHL pending a hearing. The League had to act quickly, because the Canucks are in action again tonight in Chicago.
The NHL did not release a comment, and won’t until the hearing has been completed.
A couple follow up items on this incident: It appears there is still some confusion out there about what happened to the fans involved. Some thought he and his friend were ejected from the game following the incident. They were not. They were moved to two seats on the glass in the Wild end for the remainder of the game. The two were later shown on the scoreboard, and one of the guys flexed his muscles. You’ve got to love it.
Also, even if Rypien hadn’t attacked a fan, you have to think he should have been suspended anyway. First, he suckered Brad Staubitz in the head while Stauby was being held by the linesman. Check out this photo and I think you can tell the Wild players on the bench would agree with my assertion that it was a bush league move. Check out Cal Clutterbuck’s face of outrage. You’ve got to love that too.
And then there was the altercation with linesman Don Henderson. As Henderson kept yanking the Vancouver nut job away from Staubitz, Rypien was just getting more upset. He responded with a blatant shove of Henderson. Didn’t Pete Rose get something like a 30 game suspension for showing an umpire back in the 80’s?
There are three people in this incident who look almost as bad as Rypien. First, hothead Kevin Bieksa trying to get involved in the incident and then visibly yelling at fans from the bench even after everyone had been moved away. Bieksa then told the Vancouver Province, “You were there too, weren’t you? I was on the bench. I wasn’t involved in it. I couldn’t see what was happening. There was a big crowd in front of me on the bench. Guys were standing up and I didn’t see what happened.”
Second, Manny Malhotra, who said after the game, “The fan got a little bit too involved, and there’s just no place for that in the game. There are boundaries that should never be crossed. We are in our area of work and we are all for the hooting and hollering and supporting your team and saying whatever is tasteful out there. But as soon as you cross that line and want to become physical with a player, we have to make sure we take care of ourselves.”
Third, wouldn’t the last night have been the perfect time for General Manager Mike Gillis to step up and admonish his player for clearly being in the wrong? Couldn’t he say, “It was unacceptable, and action will be taken by us.” Instead, all he said was, “We’ll wait and see how the league views it. I’m sure there will be a hearing of some sort.” Way to step up, Mike!
And finally, if you haven’t seen the incident with the Vancouver announcers calling it, you should Youtube it. It’s hysterical how some people can describe something completely different from what everyone else is watching. It hearkens back to Wild vs. Anaheim in the playoffs when the Ducks broadcasters insinuated that Kim Johnsson instigated the Brad May sucker punch.
wildlighthouse.wordpress.com 
He’s no Bertuzzi, Cooke, or Ruutu yet, but it’s nice to see Vancouver carry on their tradition of saving roster spots for utterly worthless thugs like Rypien.
On an unrelated note, it was kind of uncomfortable hearing Kerry Fraser talking about Glen Sonmor having only one eye during the FSN broadcast, when Glen’s vision is demonstrably better than Kerry’s ever was with *two* eyes.
I think Mr. Rypien needs some serious counseling. I don’t know what his deal is , but this guy is in serious need of professional help.
I am from Canada, not a Vancouver fan (oilers). I would like to say though that I totally agree with the comment of the Vancouver broadcasters. They pretty much blamed the fan for what happened and said they should be thrown out, it was embarassing to listen to. As a side note, the fans in Minnesota showed great class I thought by not provoking the Vancouver bench after the incident. Hope he gets what he deserves, and I hope the fan is compensated.
Good luck on the rest of your season!!
Malhotra says & I quote, “The fan got a little bit too involved, and there’s just no place for that in the game.” What friggin’ game was he at? The kid got mugged by Rypien, maybe he was mouthin’ off at Rypien who knows, but he didn’t physically attack him or even make an attempt. So what if he mouthed off anyway, what r ya gonna go after every fan that opens their mouth?! Whatever Canucks are punks, they are pissed that they lost the game and are making excuses. Minnesota fans are so MN nice anyway, it’s sick! Maybe that guy shoulda stuck up for himself, maybe the Wild fans need to make some noise and hell just pretend you want your team to win. Minnesota nice fans need to go home or root their team on. We don’t go to games anymore cause it’s pathetic, the enthusiasm is as dead as a rock. Rypien good luck punk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Interesting that the player attacks the fan and the fan gets kicked out of the game. In how many businesses can an employee attack a paying customer and the customer gets the boot? Not too impressed with the way the Wild treats their fans.
The fans weren’t kicked out of the game. Quite the contrary, actually. They were given upgraded seats on the glass
Nevermind. Just read that they were relocated. Much better impression of the Wild now.
As a diehard Vancouver fan, I don’t condone what Rypien did last night. He should definitely be suspended for what he did, but I am seeing a lot of calls for him to get 20 games. I am also seeing a lot of comparisons to the Todd Bertuzzi incident. This was nothing like what Bertuzzi did to Steve Moore.
The bare minimum should be 5 games, regardless of the meeting with Bettman and Campbell. If, in his meeting with league brass, he doesn’t make it perfectly clear that he knows what he did was completely out of line and that he will control himself henceforth when dealing with fans heckling him, he should get at least 10 games.
That being said, the Wild fan Rypien went after is apparently now seeking legal representation for having his shirt grabbed. He high-fived other fans after the incident occurred, on his way to his front row seats that were given to him and his brother. I don’t think any lawyer would be stupid enough to try representing this person given everything that took place.
Rypien, the Canucks organization, and the league should issue an apology to Mr. Engquist for the incident, Rypien should receive his suspension, and then we should all move on and get back to enjoying the game.
I haven’t heard yet what the Vancouver announcers were saying but I find it funny that the Lighthouse author can call them out questioning how they viewed the melee and that it was completely different from what everybody else saw, while ALSO saying that Staubitz won the fight in the first period when nobody else saw it that way.
Ryan, Wild players always win their fights. Always!
Then we can’t fault their announcers for blaming it on our fan. Never!
And Staubitz did take him down so yeah I guess you’re right, he did win that one, I guess.
Drew, you have summed up my sentiments exactly… wait a minute! A Wild fan and a Canucks fan – agreeing on something?!? I think the Apocalypse is imminent… 😉
Seriously though, you’re right. Mr. Engquist is in perfectly good health, and suffered no ill effects from the altercation. He got upgraded to on the glass seats. If anything, maybe give him a game worn jersey from Staubitz, but that’s all he deserves; certainly no money.
As for Bertuzzi, how the league allowed him to continue playing, after his actions *ended* Steve Moore’s career, I’ll never know. He only sat out for 20 games?!? He should have been banned for an entire season, minimum.
Drew, if you’re ever at the XCEL, I’ll buy you a beer – I’ll even make it a Molson!