Quote:
Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814
At full speed, that hit happens instantaneously.
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Backlund was skating in a straight line from his own blue line out, and it appeared to me that Lepistö could see him all the way. Lepistö had time to set up whatever kind of hit he wanted. If he had thrown a hip check instead, it would have been perfectly legal and just as effective at separating Backlund from the puck.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike F
Well, I disagree that there was "incidental contact to the chest afterwards", I thought it was full upper body on upper body.
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Looking at it in slo-mo, it's clear that contact was made with the head first, and Lepistö's arm hit Backlund's chest in the course of the follow-through.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pepper24
Winning teams like LA and Chicago are always stacked at Olympics and now World Cup. Flames to become a legit contender need the same.
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Cart before the horse. The Blackhawks were heavily represented at major tournaments
after they became winners. They didn't become winners because they were heavily represented beforehand.
140 NHL players went to the 2010 Olympics – about 4.7 per team. Chicago had 6 of them, L.A. 5. At that point, Chicago had not won the Stanley Cup since 1961; L.A. never.
In 2014, 151 NHLers went to the Olympics – just over 5 per team. Chicago had 10, L.A. 6.
In 2016, 175 NHLers went to the WCH – 5.8 per team. Chicago had 10, L.A. 5.
Chicago did not send large numbers of players to these major tournaments until they had already won a couple of Stanley Cups. L.A. still hasn't sent more than 6 to any one tournament – only slightly above average.