Olli Maatta Out After Late Hit by Brooks Orpik

During the Pittsburgh Penguins two straight runs to the Stanley Cup Finals during 2008 and 2009, they knew what Brooks Orpik was capable of.

The bruising, rugged defenseman has the ability play right on the edge, which was a huge part of the playoff success of the Penguins for many seasons.

However, in Pittsburgh’s current NHL Eastern Conference semifinals series with the Washington Capitals, Orpik is dressed in another uniform and dishing out his punishment on the Penguins.

On Saturday night, Orpik made a borderline hit on Olli Maatta a Pittsburgh defenseman that knocked him out of the game. The hit was aimed at his head, said Penguins players.

Orpik also shoved Kris Letang from Pittsburgh after the whistle had blown. Asked if the former Penguin defender plays differently with the Capitals than when he played with Pittsburgh, Letang said no.

Letang said it was all part of the game, of the post-whistle antics by Orpik. Letang said that if that was going to be allowed by the officials, than it will be equal for both teams.

Orpik antagonizing his opponents is one thing, but the hit he made on Maatta should draw a great deal of attention from the league’s department of player safety, said Penguins coaches.

It appeared that after the puck had been gone, Orpik made contact with the head of Maatta and was given only a minor penalty of interference.

Mike Sullivan the Pittsburgh head coach said the hit appeared to be late and targeted at Maatta’s head. He called it the type of hit everyone in the game of hockey is attempting to remove.

Sullivan called Maatta out and said the team was going to have a further update on the player’s situation on Sunday. Pittsburgh tied the series on Saturday with a 2-1 win at Washington and Game 3 will be in Pittsburgh on Monday.

The availability of Orpik for Game 3 as well as moving forward will be dependent upon the type of discipline if any is brought down by the league for his hit.

Barry Trotz the Washington head coach said he had a conversation with Orpik. He said that Orpik told him he thought the puck was returning to him and that he did not intend to hit the Penguin’s defender in the head.

Trotz said Orpik finished a hit. He added that the size difference between the two players was very little and that Maatta had been leaning over somewhat.

Sidney Crosby the Penguins captain said the hit by Orpik on Maatta looked bad immediately. He added that you can call it what you want, but it did not look good from the start.