I agree with Karl that it looks like Sieloff leaves his feet and it even somewhat looks like he deliberately aims high. (He comes in pretty low.) I would call it a dirty hit if I had to make a call. It did take freeze framing to see it though, and the video is pretty crappy, so I'm not going to get on anyone's case for seeing it differently.
I will however say that there's no way you can say that it CLEARLY was NOT a dirty hit based on that crappy video. It's just tough to say either way based on that video. But freeze framing it, I'm very much inclined to say that it was
at the very least borderline dirty.
However, not everyone needs to rely on crappy video to make that judgment. There were players right there when it happened, and they reacted in a way that's not normal for practice games, or even characteristic to some of them. That strongly suggests to me that it was not a clear hit, or even borderline. The reactions from Ottawa player suggest to me that it was a clearly dirty hit.
I'd also like to quote this from the Chiasson thread, as I think it was very well put.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Fonz
Everyone in the NHL knows that Sieloff can hit; we've all known that for 5 years. That isn't the part of his game he should be showcasing in training camp, and certainly not on any veteran player who's role is already cemented on the NHL roster, injury history or not.
He should have been focused on showing the coaching staff he's not a 1-trick pony, and that he can actually think the game at the NHL level. That's what they wanted to see, and he just failed.
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Couldn't agree more. Whether the hit was accidental or not, it was in any case a stupid play. A very important part of being a succesful physical player is self-control and smarts. Hitting as hard as you can anytime you can leads to a lot of unnecessary penalties, and penalties often lose games.