Five-Minute for charging enough for UMD’s Pionk?

Sports – Dakota Student
When there is a championship on the line, it’s safe to say emotions run high and the physicality increases with it.The NCHC championship game against the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs was a prime example of this. The Fighting Hawks visited the penalty box a total of 12 times, while the Bulldogs took 15 trips, including a five-minute major to sophomore defensemen, Neal Pionk.
The officials served Pionk the five-minute major for charging UND’s starting goaltender, Cam Johnson, while in the goaltender’s privileged area shortly after UND jumped on the board 1-0 early in the first period.
Johnson, who was in a vulnerable butterfly stance during the hit, still managed to stop the shot. Even though he was knocked over and disoriented momentarily, he played for the remainder of the game. The hit was deemed dirty by the television broadcast crew almost immediately and the recent lack of attention to player safety was brought into play.
“It was a heated battle out there with two rivals going at it,” head coach Brad Berry of the penalty-filled game said. “You control what you can control and that’s the way you play on the ice. I feel very strongly that our team plays the right way.”
The 2016-2017 NCAA Ice Hockey Rules and Interpretations, Rule 43 (Physical Contact-Charging) states:
“A player shall not charge or otherwise foul a goalkeeper while the goalkeeper is within the crease or privileged area.”
The penalty is served as a  minor or major at the discretion of the referees and a game misconduct or a disqualification can also be served at the discretion of the referees.
Pionk served his five-minute major and UMD killed off the penalty unscathed, but not without a loud eruption from the crowd of UND fans who thought five-minutes just wasn’t enough.
“I thought that Pionk knew what he was ...


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