In a tense playoff opener between the 海角社区官网Sceptres and the Frost, Minnesota’s Britta Curl-Salemme鈥檚 flyby elbow to the head of Renata Fast stood out, even in a close 3-2 game chock-full of thrilling moments.
In the second period, Fast and Curl-Salemme converged on a loose puck just inside the Minnesota zone. Curl-Salemme threw a high elbow and flattened Fast against the boards, drawing the righteous ire of a hopped-up home crowd.
Though Fast was face-down on the ice and slow to get back up, she remained in the game.聽Curl-Salemme was聽given a five-minute major for checking to the head and a game misconduct.聽She has already been suspended twice in her rookie season by the PWHL’s player safety committee, including once against the Sceptres.
Britta Curl has been ejected from the game for this play.
鈥 Jocks In Jills (@JocksInJills)
Minnesota head coach Ken Klee insisted that there was no intent to injure by his player and that the collision was a function of a split-second decision.
鈥淪he鈥檚 not a malicious player or a malicious person who鈥檚 out trying to get someone,鈥 Klee said Thursday morning. 鈥淚t was a quick play and it鈥檚 just one of those things that鈥檚 going to happen.鈥
Though Fast hasn’t spoken to the media, Sceptres head coach Troy Ryan said medical reports after the game and Thursday morning indicated that the 30-year-old blueliner is fine.
鈥淲e鈥檙e good right across the board,鈥 Ryan said.
Ryan said that the Sceptres have to trust the process when asked about supplementary discipline.
“I think it’s best to probably leave it in the hands of the people that make those decisions,” he said. “I just know we’re trying to get those high hits or any contact to the head out of the game. So I’m just glad that they were able to watch it on video and kept it as a major, because my understanding is that probably would be reviewed again today.”聽
Curl-Salemme, a three-time national champion and captain of the Wisconsin Badgers, hasn’t been a stranger to questionable hits in her first year in the PWHL.聽
In January, the native of Bismark, N.D.,聽was suspended one game for . She was then suspended for one game in March for elbowing Sceptres defender Megan Carter in the head. In that same game, Fast was also fined $250 (U.S.) for cross-checking the head of Frost captain Kendall Coyne Schofield.
Curl-Salemme was already a target for boo-birds by Sceptres fans, even before her hit on Fast. She聽finished the regular season with nine goals and six assists in 28 games.
Off the ice, Curl-Salemme was the subject of a string of controversies while still in college when she reposted a video from the conservative news website the Daily Wire聽promoting a controversial movie widely considered to be transphobic and liked a post supporting Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot three men, killing two, during a 2020 protest against police brutality in Wisconsin.
She posted a video apologizing for her social media activity after she was drafted by Minnesota in the second round last year.聽聽
“She plays extremely hard. She’s an asset to our team as she would be to any team,” Klee said. “For me, it’s one of those hockey plays. It’s nothing malicious, it was a stiff penalty that she received and it was tough. But I think she’s trying to learn from it and keep knowing where that line is.”聽
Game 2 is Friday night at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
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