Carol writes, in part:
>Anyway, it states in the article that the reason Woog thinks the suspension
>wasn't valid was because McAlpine's hands didn't leave his stick. This is a
>new one to me....what difference would it make?
 
   Woog is probably saying that with both hands on the stick, a "punch"
   was not thrown, but a cross-check occurred.  A cross-check carries a
   minor or major penalty (at referee discretion) and a disqualification
   only is the opponent is injured (again at referee discretion).
 
>I'm really confused now. Wouldn't a hit holding the stick be just as bad?
 
   Guess that depends on your definition of bad.  I'd rather get punched
   than cross-checked in the head (ouch on both accounts though!).
   College hockey has said that fighting is BAD, whereas cross-checking
   is Bad.