Aaron Rome regrets little about hit

Vancouver defenseman Aaron Rome wouldn?t change much about the hit on the Bruins [team stats]? Nathan Horton that got him suspended for the rest of the Stanley Cup finals.

Rome spoke yesterday for the first time about his finals-record four-game suspension after skating with the Canucks in practice heading into Game 6 tonight at the Garden.

?I?ve got to play on the edge, and I guess that was a little bit over the edge,? Rome said.

While Rome has sympathy for Horton, who?s out for the series with a concussion, he doesn?t feel he did anything extraordinarily dangerous in their fast, hard-hitting sport when he flattened Horton early in Game 3 last week. Rome said he sent a text message to Horton, but hadn?t heard back.

?It?s a split-second decision,? Rome said. ?There?s no intent to hurt anybody. If I could go back, obviously I?d wish he didn?t get hurt, but I don?t think I?d change the decision on the play.?

Rome delivered his hit after Horton made a pass near the blue line, leaving the Bruins forward unconscious on the ice. Horton left the building on a stretcher, and the B?s rode a wave of emotion to consecutive victories at home.

While Rome was vilified in Boston, his teammates jumped to his defense, claiming a four-game ban was excessive and unprecedented. Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault thought the hit was late, but remained supportive of Rome.

Although Rome?s ban is four times longer than any suspension handed out in finals history, he hasn?t appealed it, hinting that he feels such a move is pointless. Rome said the NHL?s suspension criteria were ?arbitrary,? and he doesn?t understand why the league ended his chance to skate for the Stanley Cup after a hit he believes was barely illegal.

?I?ve got to step up. I?ve got to be physical,? Rome said. ?That?s just part of my game. There has to be some accountability on the part of the player skating with the puck up the middle of the ice, maybe with his head down, not looking. If I had been half a second earlier, a quarter of a second earlier, I probably wouldn?t be in this situation.?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bostonherald/sports/hockey/~3/PaJYCldbzw0/view.bg

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