The problem isn't rough play, but reaction to it

The Tucker incident is particularly troubling here, because if anything, it looked more overtly dangerous even though it was aimed at Peca's knees rather than his skull. Now if McLaren hadn't been rung up for the Zednik hit, one could at least see some sense in letting Tucker walk without so much as a desk appearance ticket.
Umm... what? Mc Laren jutted out his arm at the elbow to impede Zednik. Tucker was going in for a legal hip check that Peca tried to avoid and exposed his knee to the trama.

How could someone write sports and not understand the difference?

Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Chronicle is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.
Ok that explains it... go back to covering the local news pally!