Tripping and/or Diving?

[Melba S]

In the Caps/Bruins game today Boston's Stuart was penalized for tripping and Washington's Ovechkin was penalized for diving on the same play. I feel that If Stuart really tripped AO then he was tripped and he shouldn't have been called for diving. If AO is called for diving than he wasn't really tripped so Stuart should not have been called for that penalty. I've seen this happen one or two times before. How can both penalties be called in a situation like this?

 

[Melissa G]

Yeah thats like a paradox. Next thing you know some a hole is going to divide by zero and a giant wormhole will suck up the earth.I'm still hung over from last night.

 

[melisa_estlack]

I see it happen ALL THE TIME. It is odd BUT you can be tripped and still embellish it to try to sell it some more. Thus tripping and diving. I do understand the craziness of it all though. Also, with the two ref system, one ref could have it as a trip, the other as a dive.

 

[melcw592]

bob i think its more of your first explanation. basically the tripper is calling cause if his stick wasn't suppose to be there. diving is called because they felt he wouldn't have gone down without the embellishment. I agree some do need to be just the dive called, but way the rules are wrote in most cases its either black or white, meaning if stick here its a penalty. if don't want penalty don't put stick in skates.

 

[melinda s]

I know your pain. I don't like the double call either.The fault rests entirely on the officials. Basically you have referees who want people to be called out for flopping, but they don't have the grapes to make a still controversial call like diving. If the league is serious about taking diving out of the game - and the referees are going to be too timid to call only diving penalties - maybe the NHL should look into suspensions for accumulated diving penalties. Let the refs continue to call a trip and dive combo. For every two or three times you get a diving call, you get suspended for a game.