So basically now, all you have to do, is skate around with your head buried in your own crotch, and your immune from taking a hit.
We're probably 5 years from women's rules.
Thing is, Hjalmersson could have easily taken an outside-in route and hit him shoulder-to-shoulder, regardless of where his head was. But he took and inside-out route and put hist shoulder through his head.
I agree with the sentiment, the guy's head has got to be up. But that doesn't mean it wasn't a bad hit.
So basically now, all you have to do, is skate around with your head buried in your own crotch, and your immune from taking a hit.
We're probably 5 years from women's rules.
Drama much? Why not implore us to think of the children while you're at it?
If you're skating around with your head down you're liable to get rocked by a big hit, and rightly so, so long as it's not an illegal hit to the head, hit to the knee, hit from behind, or any other illegal check.
Can't hit a guy in the head anymore. This is a good thing.
I would feel a little more sympathy if the guy ducked immediately before a hit, but even still, it is a penalty.
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From HFBoard oiler fan, in analyzing MacT's management:
O.K. there has been a lot of talk on whether or not MacTavish has actually done a good job for us, most fans on this board are very basic in their analysis and I feel would change their opinion entirely if the team was successful.
Is anyone saying you can't hit a guy with his head down? You just can't hit a guy IN THE HEAD.
Yeeeeah... it's not really that simple at this level. In this case, Hjalmarsson had him lined up and hit him through the body, solid contact, and because his head was down he got him in the head. Now, that's a penalty, because the rules say it's a penalty. And it's probably a suspension, because the standards applied to date indicate it's a suspension.
But saying "he could have just easily hit him another way" is, to me, a lack of understanding of how fast things are moving at the NHL level. It's basically the hockey equivalent of "why didn't the police officer just shoot him in the leg instead of killing him". If Hjalmarsson tries to change his trajectory and hit him from an angle that misses the head, he could easily hurt himself, or more likely, miss or glance off of Rattie, leading to the Blues getting a chance. Now, a veteran player of Hjalmarsson's caliber not going to end up scratched for making that kind of a screw up in a 3-0 pre-season game, but for other guys, that isn't the case. Moreover, for that reason, every instinct that's been trained into the guy for ~20 years playing contact hockey has to be telling him "this guy isn't staying on his feet".
So yeah, I expect a suspension, but I also think that the current standard is pretty harsh on guys who aren't picking the head and are really trying to make a clean hit. Compare that to the Toffoli one - all he gets is Davidson's head. That's a bad hit.
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Yeeeeah... it's not really that simple at this level. In this case, Hjalmarsson had him lined up and hit him through the body, solid contact, and because his head was down he got him in the head. Now, that's a penalty, because the rules say it's a penalty. And it's probably a suspension, because the standards applied to date indicate it's a suspension.
But saying "he could have just easily hit him another way" is, to me, a lack of understanding of how fast things are moving at the NHL level. It's basically the hockey equivalent of "why didn't the police officer just shoot him in the leg instead of killing him". If Hjalmarsson tries to change his trajectory and hit him from an angle that misses the head, he could easily hurt himself, or more likely, miss or glance off of Rattie, leading to the Blues getting a chance. Now, a veteran player of Hjalmarsson's caliber not going to end up scratched for making that kind of a screw up in a 3-0 pre-season game, but for other guys, that isn't the case. Moreover, for that reason, every instinct that's been trained into the guy for ~20 years playing contact hockey has to be telling him "this guy isn't staying on his feet".
So yeah, I expect a suspension, but I also think that the current standard is pretty harsh on guys who aren't picking the head and are really trying to make a clean hit. Compare that to the Toffoli one - all he gets is Davidson's head. That's a bad hit.
Guys will learn eventually if the NHL is serious about protecting players.
Same thing is happening in the NFL and guys are coming around slowly.
They should eliminate counting preseason for suspensions and just say anyone who incurs a suspension during the preseason is out for the rest, plus the appropriate amount of regular season games.
If it's 3 games, it's 3 regular season games plus the preseason.
They should eliminate counting preseason for suspensions and just say anyone who incurs a suspension during the preseason is out for the rest, plus the appropriate amount of regular season games.
If it's 3 games, it's 3 regular season games plus the preseason.
1 game for Hjalmarsson is light. Should be 2-5.
Yeah but then they'd have to enforce serious suspensions and everyone would complain.
Trust me, it's easier this way. Give him a token punishment, hope he doesn't do anything for another 48 games and go from there.
Hits to the head need to go, hopefully it is more than a few regular season games.
Also, this is my reaction whenever I hear comments about how taking out hits to the head is running hockey, turning it into Women's hockey and they won't be watching in a few years.
Spoiler!
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I see this one as shared responsibility. While Hjalmersson most likely didn't start the interaction with the intention of making a dirty hit, the fact that he was lining up such a big hit leaves him open to something happening. With Rattie, he does need to have better awareness and not put himself in that situation.
Honestly, with having no ownness on the player to keep his head up, this isn't going to stop happening by punishing the hitter for making a routine check that he's made a thousand times before. Hjarlmersson isn't going to stop playing his game because he's never played with vicious intent in the first place. Rattie is going to keep playing like a dummie because according to the league he wasn't responsible for this hit to the head.
Rattie is going to keep playing like a dummie because according to the league he wasn't responsible for this hit to the head.
You don't think getting rocked in the head is a teaching moment for Rattie? You think the league needs to say "keep your head up" for him to start thinking, "I should keep my head up"
Hits to the head need to go, hopefully it is more than a few regular season games.
Also, this is my reaction whenever I hear comments about how taking out hits to the head is running hockey, turning it into Women's hockey and they won't be watching in a few years.
Spoiler!
drives me crazy that women's hockey doesn't have hitting.
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
You don't think getting rocked in the head is a teaching moment for Rattie? You think the league needs to say "keep your head up" for him to start thinking, "I should keep my head up"
He's dumb as a pylon, I don't know whats going through his head. He might consider it a win because he drew a penalty.
Or he could be thinking that it's a rare occurrence because of the suspension so he doesn't have to change his game, Niklas is supposed to change his.
