Did Sidney Crosby deserve an extra penalty for roughing P.K. Subban in Game 5?

Sidney Crosby has yet again found himself at the center of a heated debate due to his actions against P.K. Subban during Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final. The question remains: Did Crosby deserve a roughing penalty for his actions?

Sidney Crosby has found himself at the center of yet another heated debate. During the first period of Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, Crosby got physically involved with Nashville Predators defenseman P.K. Subban. After the play was called, both Subban and Crosby were called for holding minors, making it 4-on-4 hockey for the next two minutes.

The question remains: Did Crosby deserve a roughing for what he did to Subban?

While you would be hard-pressed to find someone who would argue both players could, and should, have been called for holding minors, you would be equally as hard-pressed to find someone saying that isn’t a roughing minor. For a player who has suffered multiple concussions like Sidney Crosby, you would think pounding another players head into the ice would be something he would avoid doing.

In case you are unclear on the textbook definition a roughing minor in the NHL, you can find the NHL rule book on the NHL website. If you scroll all the way down to Rule 51, Roughing, the NHL rulebook states that roughing is constituted as follows: “roughing is a punching motion with the hand or fist, with or without the glove on the hand, normally directed at the head or face of the opponent.”

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The rule book clearly states that this is only a minor penalty, so Sidney Crosby should not have been tossed from the game. However, repeatedly pushing the head of an opponent, and a defenseless opponent for that matter, into the ice should surely constitute a punching motion with the hand or fist directed at the head or face of an opponent.

While it wouldn’t have saved Game 5 for the Nashville Predators, it is safe to say that the NHL referees should have called Sidney Crosby for a roughing minor during Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final.