Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy, I have to say that was a nice hit Volchenkov. I think when you skate up and down the ice taking liberties with the opposition players eventually someone is going to catch you and burry you in the boards with a nice legal stiff check. This video just made my whole day. Daniel Carcillo is one of the biggest hacks in the NHL and nice to see him on the receiving end once in a while. [Stick tap to Puck Daddy]
All I can say is ouch! Looks like a violent but legal hit to me.
Devils defenseman Anssi Salmela was taken off the ice on a stretcher in Philadelphia Monday night after getting hit by the Flyers' Jeff Carter just after scoring a short-handed goal for a 2-0 Devils lead.
Salmela, who came to the Devils in the Ilya Kovalchuk trade, cut around Mike Richards in the right circle and scored from the slot just as Carter delivered a right shoulder to his head.
After remaining facedown on the ice for six minutes in a mostly silent Wachovia Center, Salmela was removed from the ice on a stretcher. No penalty was called on the play.
The goal and it occurred at 1:01 of the second period. As the period ended, the Devils reported that Salmela was walking around the dressing room and was OK. [NJ.COM]
Check out the hit that former C.C. star Mark Stuart puts on Anze Kopitar, it’s text book clean, elbows down, didn’t go for Kopitar’s head. Then you have Wayne Simmonds dropping the gloves because Stuart put a legal hit in his teammate. I have to agree with Bob McKenzie and what he has to say, don't we want legal hitting in the game and I think fighting after a legal hard check is senseless in this case. I would the fighting reserved for violations of the hockey code.
Immediately after the hit, the Kings' very fine forward Wayne Simmonds immediately challenged Stuart to a fight and Stuart obliged by dropping the gloves. As it turned out, Stuart broke his pinky finger in the fight. He will be out a number of weeks now and the Bruins will be without a defenceman who was playing quite well.
And for what? Getting into a fight that was started because of a clean, open-ice hit?
Am I the only one who finds this sensibility odd? We want more hitting in the game. Or at least we don't want to take hitting out of the game. So here's a novel concept. When there is a really good, clean bodycheck, let's make the person who throws the check have a fight. That sounds like a heckuva way to keep hitting in the game. (Actually, it sounds more like a way to keep fighting in the game.)
I must be getting old. I've never fully embraced or understood the concept of not being able to hit a star player on the other team. I mean, isn't that the point? Make the stars earn their ice. Isn't that what makes hockey great - that even the star players have to take some physical abuse to do their job. I am not sure when the game fully changed on this. It was probably in the 1980s when Wayne Gretzky earned special status with the Edmonton Oilers. [Read the rest of the article]
What do you think, I am not for taking fighting out of the game but I don't think there needs to be a fight after a legal hit. If Stuart had charged Kopitar then maybe not for a legal hit.
This is the latest suspension to be handed down by the NHL. Repeat offender Ed Jovanovski tries to take out Islanders star John Tavares head with a vicious elbow to the head. Jovanovski is the same guy that tried to decapitate Wild forward Andrew Ebbett only a month ago. From watching the video it would appear that Jovanovski hasn’t learned his lesson yet and is still head hunting only one moth after is serving a 2 game suspension. If you listen closely to the video you can hear the elbow of Jovanovski hitting Tavares in the head. While the play continues check out the sweet goal by former Gopher Kyle Okposo.
Phoenix Coyotes defenseman Ed Jovanovski has been suspended for two games, without pay, for elbowing New York Islanders center John Tavares in a game Saturday, the NHL announced today.
With 17 seconds remaining in the first period of a game the Islanders would win 5-4, Jovanovski delivered an elbow to Tavares' head area and was assessed a major penalty for elbowing and a game misconduct.
Jovanovski, who was suspended for two games back in December, now is considered a repeat offender under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. He will forfeit $158,536.59 in salary based on the number of games (82) in a season, rather than the number of days (193). The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
Jovanovski will miss Coyotes' games Tuesday against San Jose and Thursday against New Jersey. He will be eligible to return Saturday against Minnesota. [NHL.com]
There has been a lot of discussion head shot the past season and if the NHL decides to change the rules on head shots it, "would prohibit contact with the head - even with a shoulder." I think it would mean that this hit would be ruled to be an illegal. [NHL.COM]
In my opinion this is a legal check and doesn’t appear to be a head shot. The thing that makes it look bad is Daniel Alfredson loses his helmet because it appears that it's not on tight enough. I can see where the ref would probably assume that he Daniel was hit in the head. Hockey is a physical sport and if they enact this rule it's going to cause hockey hitting to decline.
