Philadelphia_ The Chris Kunitz hit on Kimmo Timonen was about as clean as it’s going to get as Kunitz caught Timonen with his head down, coming around the net.
The Philadelphia media doesn’t see it that way and it shouldn’t come as any surprise.
Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquire writes the NHL rulings are a joke
Carchidi writes, ‚ÄúNo matter how I say it, it’s going to sound like I’m being a homer. Trust me, I’m not. I’m for fairness. And Colin Campbell, the NHL’s discipline czar, is not being fair with the way he is handing out suspensions.‚Äù
‚ÄúOr, more to the point, NOT handing out suspensions. Campbell should have suspended Pittsburgh’s Chris Kunitz for his violent hit to the head of the Flyers’ Kimmo Timonen in Sunday’s playoff game. Not only wasn’t Kunitz suspended, but as of Monday night, there was never even a hearing scheduled on the matter.‚Äù
Other hockey writers in Philadelphia such as Tim Panaccio, echoed the same statements today that Kunitz should have been suspended.
Kunitz, John Stevens discussed the hit today during the teams optional practices; Plus Practices Notes

Chris Kunitz on “The Hit”
“It’s just kind of the way I play hockey. I go kind of straight lines and I finish checks and go to the net, puck retrieval, these type of things.”
Stevens believes Kunitz has intent to injure
“Someone gets hit hard and players want to fight him, well, he’s not just trying to get the puck there,” Stevens said. “He’s trying to hit him to hurt him, your team should be able to respond. You’re not just trying to get the puck back there, you’re trying to hurt him.”
Practice Notes
A number of players did not participate in the Penguins optional skate. The team went over a video session for about 15 minutes and players spoke to the media, while others decided to skate.
The Penguins three scratches for the series, Miroslav Satan, Philippe Boucher and Eric Godard were among 9 players who skated
Mike Yeo and Giles Meloche were the coaches who ran the optional skate.
The media continued to bring up Petr Sykora’s name today when Dan Bylsma was speaking to reporters and he seems to be getting annoyed
Bylsma continues to insist, Sykora is playing well.
I will have an update on any lineup news (late morning-early afternoon) following the Penguins morning skate.