Goon asked me to post this video of the Knight hit on Mike Connolly. The talk over on Sioux Sports is that Connolly suffered a concussion from an "elbow."
For the life of me I don't see Knights elbow come up. It looks like a routine check to me.
I saw the check live and was also surprised that "22" went down like that. I even thought that Knight got more of the boards than the body on that check.
I don't think it was a dirty hit and I hope that Mr. Connolly is back in the lineup soon.
Did he leave his feet as well? Hard to say; his body had a distinctly upward motion.
ReplyDeleteReally RWTD, you don't just get to make up stuff.
ReplyDeleteI posted the video and an honest review of it shows that Knights elbow is down.
Why don't you come back when you grow up.
Grandpa, please. Get out of the kitchen if you can't take the heat.
ReplyDeleteKnight hit him shoulder to shoulder. Careful watching of the video makes that clear.
ReplyDeleteThe video is a bit grainy, but after watching about twenty times, I'm nearly certain I saw Aaron Marvin hit Connelly in the face with a folding chair.
ReplyDeleteLike I care how his name is spelled. All Connelly's and Connolly's are weenies. It's a scientific fact.
ReplyDeleteHow dare you spread false rumors like that? I'll sue you for libel! My mother's name isn't Karen!
ReplyDeleteBlah, that experiment failed.
ReplyDeleteKevin Pates writes in his blog: "The play was made along the side glass in UMD's defensive zone and Connolly hit the glass with the left side of his face, and has a bruise and black eye to show for it."
ReplyDeleteBased on the video, if I had to make a guess, it almost looks as if the damage would be done by one of two scenarios. 1) Helmet-to-helmet contact, causing Connolly's head to slam into the glass. 2) Knight's shoulder causing Connolly's head to slam into the glass.
I honestly don't see how Knight could get his right elbow into the left side of Connolly's face. At the time they make contact, Connolly's body is parallel to the boards and Knight's body is perpendicular to the boards. A bruise to the right side of Connolly's face would make more sense if Knight had thrown his right elbow, which is the one we can't clearly see.
Nor do I see Knight leaving his feet. One of his skates comes up, but that looks as if it's because of Connolly's forward momentum when they make contact.
I think it's just one of those unfortunate hits that unintentionally causes an injury. Knight was anticipating where he thought Connolly would be when Connolly had to turn back toward the boards and reach back for the puck.
Patrick I just watched the video when I got home from work about 15 times and I just can't see an elbow in there, of course the video quality is not very good and grainy, mind you this is on my 40 inch television. I would hope that the quality is better than this when the league office is reviewing game film to make a decision on a suspension.
ReplyDeleteTo me from my perspective it looks like Connolly turns into the wall at the last moment and the shoulder to shoulder check looks like it vaults him into the boards violently, possibly hitting his head on the boards?
I don't know maybe this is a bording or charging called?
In retrospect, I could see calling Knight's hit boarding, but that's only because I can now look at it repeatedly in slow motion. I remember when it happened because, quite honestly, I thought Connolly was diving to draw a penalty. His reaction to the hit looked greater than the magnitude of the hit. Obviously, that wasn't the case.
ReplyDeleteI just don't buy the idea that the damage was done by an elbow. Given their body positions, it would been physically impossible for Knight's right elbow to make contact with the left side of Connolly's face.
I think the correct call should have been charging. He had him lined for for some time and took a pretty good run at him. It was a bad hit. The angle I watched, I could not see an elbow but could see an attempt to hit high.
ReplyDeleteMany see what they want to see. I commend those who objectively agree it was not a good hit.
Um, you might want to check the rule book on what charging actually is.
ReplyDeleteI took a short cut by going to wikipedia rather than search for it in the NCAA PDF, but this definition is pretty standard.
"Taking more than three strides or jumping before hitting an opponent."
Knight didn't do that.
All I can see is maybe a boarding but through these green colored glasses admittedly, it looks like a clean hit that unfortunately caused a penalty.
But in no way is it charging.
This is the definition of charging in the NCAA rule book:
ReplyDelete"A player shall not skate more than two steps or jump into or charge an opponent. Charging is the action of a player, who as a result of distance traveled, checks an opponent violently in any manner from the front or side.
"Note: A fair body check is one in which a player checks an opponent who is in possession of the puck, by using the hip or body from the front or diagonally from the front or straight from the side."
Knight doesn't take two steps before hitting Connolly. In fact, he almost comes to a stop before contact is made. The force of the blow had nothing to do with the distance traveled. The damage was done when Knight went low and came up with his shoulder. It probably would have been a legal hit had it not occurred along the boards.
Boarding would have been the more appropriate call.
"A player shall not body check, cross-check, elbow, charge or trip an opponent from the front or side in such a manner that causes the opponent to be thrown violently into the boards..."
PCM: Couldn't an elbow to the right side of his face slam the left side of his face into the boards? I was assuming that is what the elbow chatter was about...
ReplyDeleteYou can see on the video that Knights arms are down as soon as the bodies separate.
ReplyDeleteHe didn't hit him with his elbow, Certainly not to the head.
I agree with Whistler. Just before Knight makes contact with Connolly, his arms are down. When they break contact, his arms are down. I don't know how anybody who watches this video can claim to see an elbow being thrown.
ReplyDeleteYou can see most of Connolly's helmet for nearly the entire hit. A white jersey sleeve covering an elbow should show up pretty clearly against a maroon-colored helmet and dark background, especially if the arm comes up high enough to deliver a blow to the head.
But as many times as I replay the video, as many times as I stop and start it and as closely as I look at it, I can't see any case for the claim that an elbow to the head was involved in the hit.
I'm not saying there shouldn't have been a penalty on the play. It could have been called boarding or excessive roughness. I just don't see any indication that Knight was headhunting or that he was out to deliberately injure Connolly.
So, as far as I'm concerned, McLeod can suspend Knight if he wants to. If it happens, it'll be interesting to know the reason given. And, sadly, it will be yet another example of WCHA officials blowing a call they should have made on the ice, but somehow missed.
As a hockey player you are taught at a very young age to get your butt up against the boards so that you catch the pass with your skate, then you can see what is coming at you or what you need to do with the puck.
ReplyDeleteThat is not always the reality in this fast moving game but in this situation the hit is clean....
It was Connolly's job to be ready for the hit.... there is checking in hockey for Goon's sake!!
I just rewatched some of the late 90's Canada Cup on the NHL Net. and am old enough to remeber the WCHA back in the 70's and early 80's Playing or Watching hockey is not as much fun as it used to be.. Let alone watching someone attempt to referee it.
You can SEE his arm go up. Holy cow people.
ReplyDeleteI take it that people think that because Marvin was not punished, no one else should be punished. That's crazy. This is the 3rd Bulldog player (Scott Kishel and Chad Huttel are the other two) who have had concussions this year. Kishel and Huttel were knocked unconscious. Thankfully, Mike was not. Ramage was not suspended for knocking Mike out, and Mouillierat was not suspended for knocking Scott out (although Scott's concussion did not come from that hit, it came earlier in the year). That doesn't mean that no one should be. It means that at some point the league has to take a stand.
"It means that at some point the league has to take a stand."
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more. The NCAA says there's supposed to be "zero tolerance" for hits to the head. The WCHA has pretty much ignored that directive. It's too important an issue to ignore.