College Hockey:
WCHA suspends Minnesota’s Rau one game for hit on Zucker

USCHO Staff Report • Feb. 11, 2012

The WCHA announced Saturday that Minnesota freshman forward Kyle Rau has been suspended for one game for a check he levied upon Denver forward Jason Zucker in the Pioneers’ 5-3 win over the Gophers last night (Feb. 10) in Denver.

Zucker needed to be helped off the ice and did not return after the incident that occurred at the 6:38 mark of the second period.

Rau’s suspension was determined after a review of the incident under the WCHA’s supplementary discipline policy and procedures. At the time of the incident, he was assessed a five-minute major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct.

Rau will be required to serve the suspension on Saturday (Feb. 11) vs. Denver.

Details of Zucker’s status have yet to be determined.

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guest
Why does Rau get suspended for a hit on a DU player when DU took out 2 Colorado College players last week without even a penalty? DU favoritism by the referees.
- Hockey25
  That’s because the WCHA has no clue! In two yeasr it will be the WCHA WHO? Way to run your league – how about Kristo’s hit, or J.T. Brown’s hit on Friday – have to protect your big players instead of being consistant!
  - nogofer
    Rau deserved to sit.
- Jvmaloney3
  In regard to the CC-DU game, Zucker is on video slamming his forearm into the head of CC’s Nick Dineen. Zucker clearly launched himself off his skates to make the hit. Dineen was knocked unconscious and has been unable to play since the assault. No penalty, no WCHA sanction.
  - Fan
    Karma.
- CS native
  DU has favoritism by the Referees?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! You have got to be kidding me! There was a picture on the front page of the Sports section of the Colorado Springs Paper of Ryder being checked from behind by a CC player and that wasn’t call. Thankfully Ryder knows how to take a check. The CC goalie was injured by a CC player who cross checked a DU player into his own goalie. You can blame the CC player for the goalie’s injury. Dineen is a big baby and a dirty player any way.
Mah
Rau should have gotten 4 games. late hit directly to the head. he got off easy.
Avid DU fan/student
wow. du FAVORITISM?!?!?!?!?!?! DU vs CC is a rivalry. that stuff is bound to happen. no suspension needed. and if you were to watch ANY du games, you’d see that we don’t even get many calls our way AT HOME. there is NO du favoritism at all. watch the hit. i was at the game. rau hit zuck’s head straight into the boards. Zuck is lucky he can walk under his own power after it.
- guest
  I am not saying that Rau should not have gotten a suspension but Zucker should have been suspended for his flagrant elbow on Nick Dineen. That is what is not consistent, DU plays a cheap shot style of game and gets away with it.
  - DU Fan/Guest
    The Zucker CHECK to Dineen and the HIT to the HEAD on Zucker…not comparable. and DU plays a cheap shot style of hockey…CC is one of the WORST in the WCHA. I agree with Avid DU fan/student. DU gets very few call that should be against CC even at home. In a rivalry, things get heated. Dineen needs to learn how to take a check and hockey is a rough sport. Injuries happen. Dineen needs to stop whining.
SIOUXFAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
who’s classless now? I rest my case. #gopher fans are just as guilty.
- hockeyfan
  Ok. And you are probably one of those sioux fans that think blood being tripped by a gopher after the game was over was unprovoked. The sioux are in a classless league of their own. Always have been.
  - Fan Man
    Hahahaha so clueless its not even worth talking to you about….. Oh wait clueless or classless? Maybe, probably both! LOL
    - nogofer
      I wonder if the so-called hockeyfan knows that The Fighting Sioux have less penalty minutes than the gofers or the ‘dogs…
Blinky The Wonder Chimp
Totally impartial observer here. They made the right call with additional discipline. It was a cheap shot to the head. Need to take this out of the game. I hope Mr. Rau thinks long and hard about his behavior.
collegehockeyfan
What about the two UMD checking from behind calls on Friday??? All three were bad this weekend.
- pepbulldog
  Both instances of the UND player being hit in those from behind got up quickly they were just badly positioned and I will admit the second hit was very needless by my team. However hockey is hockey hits happen.
Fan Man
Who are the classless HOSEHEADS now? Gopher Idiots need to shut up or grow up!
Tlevesoor67
I enjoy reading these objective comments. My favorite quote is Lou Holtz, who said “the problem with the refs is they don’t care who wins.”
- Fan Man
  That is a great comment! I definitely agree and give you props on that
JJ Redick
Wisco’s Rammage got called for a hit to the head a week ago against St. Cloud State. SCSU player got caught with his head done. Rammer led with the shoulder and it was a good clean hit, but got a game misconduct. While I applaud the effort to eliminate hits to the head, in Rammage’s case they got it wrong. Rau’s was worth a suspension in my opinion.
North Dakota Who?????
While the hit and it’s result may have resulted in a suspension, the only reason it happened was because that Zucker was injured and did not play on Saturday night. While the result of the play was unfortunate, the hit was not intended to injure anyone. Zucker had just dumped the puck in and Rau was finishing his check. Yes, his hands were up a little high but he was not targeting the head and he never intended to injure him. Just unfortunate circumstances all around. I hope Zucker is better by the time he comes to the Wild!!!! (we need scorers).
There have been way worse hits that have not resulted in suspensions this year. For instance Danny Kristo’s hit against the gophers where he threw a punch to the back of Ben Marshall’s head. If anything deserves a suspension it is an attempt to injure from a blindside haymaker during a check from behind, not to mention the complete insubordination by him towards the referees after he was tossed. The only reason he wasn’t suspended was the fact that Marshall wasn’t injured.
If the WCHA is going to start doling out suspensions like the NHL does for these kinds of hits (not a terrible idea), I don’t think they should limit them to hits that result in injuries only. They need to suspend all injury potential penalties as well.
- nogofer
  You can’t know intention, you can only infer it. All the refs can do is penalize actions they can see.
  I do agree that reviewing plays later for additional sanctions should be employed more often.
  Lastly, for now, it is THE FIGHTING SIOUX!

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