Jujhar Khaira carried off the ice on stretcher

[kevman]

Re-watching the play, if Trouba had let up and caught him with his body instead of leaning in and hitting him shoulder first he would have still separated him from the puck and it would have still led to a turnover.

So I guess it depends if you're definition of a hockey play is sending them to the hospital or creating a turnover.

[neo45]

Everyone wants to see less long term health repercussions for players. Most fans, and the overwhelming majority of players who are actually taking these risks, DO like physicality enough to accept the rare ugly incidents that they can lead to

Hockey at its core is dangerous and the players who accept that are every bit capable of properly assessing the risks themselves

[Winsor_Pilates]

Khaira is looking for the puck in his feet and Trouba sees opportunity to crush him with his head down.
Players need to stop seeing opportunity and start seeing a defenceless guy who will get seriously hurt.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

The only way that's going to happen is by eliminating contact altogether.

If hits on a ‘vulnerable player’ are made illegal, every player will learn to make himself ‘vulnerable’ in any situation where he might be hit. Result: no hitting, ever.

I honestly don't understand why you like any contact sports at all.

Not remotely true. The NFL still has plenty of contact. You simply can no longer hit unsuspecting players whether it be a DB on a defenseless receiver or a blind side block on a return. Those are only recent changes made because we now know that head trauma is incredibly bad for athletes. There are many totally clean hits in the game of hockey unrelated to this type of hit and we are simply discussing removing the ones like this where the player has his head down and does not see it coming.

[FlamesAddiction]

I am sure Trouba was anticipating the pass to Khaira and had him lined up for a completely legal hit. He couldn't predict that it would be an iffy pass and Khaira would have his head down, but he was already committed to make the hit. I think if you want to get rid of hits like that, you need to just make hits illegal completely. I just don't see how there can be any middle ground when there are so many variables outside of the control of the one making the hit. There are also some players that seem to completely clobbered more compared to others because of the their lack of awareness and execution to avoid those situations.

Having said that, maybe it is time to take big hits out of the game completely. I will admit, I love seeing big hits when they happen, but it isn't why I watch. You can literally go several games without seeing a big hit like that and it doesn't stop me from watching. Hockey has been in constant evolution for over 100 years and maybe removing hits are next stage. I am not sure how much I like that, but I know that I hate catastrophic brain injuries more.

[jaydub74]

Originally Posted by kevman

If the NFL can put a defenseless receiver rule into play, why can't the NHL do the same? Both "were part of the game" and one day they won't be.

I tend to agree with this, I enjoy big hits but the likelihood of getting hurt making an open ice hits seems more significant than one along the boards. See the kneeing and knee to the head in the leafs jets game as an example.


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[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Khaira is looking for the puck in his feet and Trouba sees opportunity to crush him with his head down.
Players need to stop seeing opportunity and start seeing a defenceless guy who will get seriously hurt.

Khaira shouldn't have been looking for the puck, he should have had his head up when he didn't receive the pass properly. He made himself defenceless.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Young Guns

Is it a rule in the NHL that all players wear a mouth guard? Or is Tkachuk the only player that doesn't have to wear one? Really off topic here but I tried skating once with mine hanging out of my mouth. I lost it 10 seconds into my shift.
.

I'm gonna say no. Has the NHL or NHLPA really displayed concern for player safety?

I would be really interested in the results of the impact data from mouth guards. I know a few professional rugby clubs have done a 180 in their approach to contact/practice/games through data taken from mouth guards.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

Khaira shouldn't have been looking for the puck, he should have had his head up when he didn't receive the pass properly. He made himself defenceless.

So you’re saying he was in a vulnerable position when he was hit and that is his fault?

[Knightslayer]

Any word if there will be a suspension?

[jaydub74]

Originally Posted by Knightslayer

Any word if there will be a suspension?

Was wondering the same thing, especially considering the Rangers are scheduled to play at 5:00 tonight. Usually, the NHL will announce something even if their only comment is no supplemental discipline. I haven't heard anything.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

I think he had possession of the puck in that is was in coming through his feet and about to come up to his stick. You can see if in this twitter video above.

I think from a technical standpoint he actually doesn't - you have to have control of the thing to have possession (which is why they don't blow down a delayed penalty call if the puck tips off your stick, you need to handle it). If they changed the way they called interference to make it so a player is only eligible to be hit when, or shortly after, he has control of the puck in that strict sense, I'd be okay with that. But they do consider the puck being in the feet or the vicinity "control" for purposes of hitting and by the law of the land, Khaira was eligible to be hit on this play.

I think the initial point of contact is the head, so this bring it into illegal hit territory. The initial point of contact should have been sternum.

This is wrong. There are a lot of people getting this wrong. Whether the head was the "initial" point of contact is completely irrelevant. A hit to the head is only illegal where the hit to the head was the "main" point of contact, and such contact was avoidable. Actual rule:

48.1 Illegal Check to the Head – A hit resulting in contact with an
opponent’s head where the head was the main point of contact and
such contact to the head was avoidable is not permitted.

In determining whether contact with an opponent's head was
avoidable, the circumstances of the hit including the following shall be
considered:

(i) Whether the player attempted to hit squarely through the
opponent’s body and the head was not "picked" as a result of poor
timing, poor angle of approach, or unnecessary extension of the
body upward or outward.
(ii) Whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position by
assuming a posture that made head contact on an otherwise full
body check unavoidable.
(iii) Whether the opponent materially changed the position of his body
or head immediately prior to or simultaneously with the hit in a way
that significantly contributed to the head contact.

In this case, the head was not the "main" point of contact for the hit, even if the head was the first thing that Trouba contacted. Further, Trouba very clearly hit squarely through Khaira's body and the head was not "picked". Khaira of course put himsel in a vulnerable position by having his head down, such that any hit squarely through Khaira's body would inevitably result in head contact. You can argue whether Khaira did that "immediately prior" to the hit or not, but either way, it's not illegal based on the clear wording of rule 48.1.

[Hockey_Ninja]

Glad he’s doing better. It’s scary seeing something like that happen

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by jaydub74

Was wondering the same thing, especially considering the Rangers are scheduled to play at 5:00 tonight. Usually, the NHL will announce something even if their only comment is no supplemental discipline. I haven't heard anything.

This was tweeted out a few hours ago.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1468657711130759173

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

So you’re saying he was in a vulnerable position when he was hit and that is his fault?

Yes. This is a skill taught to every kid through every level of hockey. I was taught this at 10 years old and avoided several potentially big hits by having situational awareness. There is no reason for Trouba to hold back based on the rules, Khaira messed up huge. It's really crappy that he got hurt but I'm glad it sounds like he's OK

[PeteMoss]

Its legal but it won't be someday. Eventually leagues will get to a targeting rule like they have in college football. If you blast someone in the head - you get suspended. The onus will be on the hitter not the guy getting hit.

You don't have to like it, but having guys get knocked senseless isn't good for the sport.

[midniteowl]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Khaira is looking for the puck in his feet and Trouba sees opportunity to crush him with his head down.
Players need to stop seeing opportunity and start seeing a defenceless guy who will get seriously hurt.

I think it is difficult for player to do, us fans watching it in the stand or on TV is easy to say Trouba start seeing a defenceless guy. But when a player is on the ice, in the game is to crush your opponent. Trouba is a physical defenseman, all his life, he's been told, taught to be physical, hit hard. Can't really blame Trouba for the hit, it's completely legal. Can't blame Khaira either, he's expecting a pass and when a pass went errant, it's his first reaction to look for it. If he didn't look for it and be worry about being hit, he'll play timid. I don't think he realized Trouba was there gunning for him until the BOOM!

This is an unfortunate incident, I hate seeing player stretcher off the ice. Don't want to go off topic, but compare this hit to what McDavid did, that's intentional and dirty. McDavid should get the book thrown at him, set an example. If the league outlaw big hit so Khaira's incident don't happen in the future again, they'll have to take all hits out. Because how do you determine what is big and what is small? It'll become a judgment call, and if you leave it up to the refs on ice, they'll screw it up, 100 times out of 100.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

Its legal but it won't be someday. Eventually leagues will get to a targeting rule like they have in college football. If you blast someone in the head - you get suspended. The onus will be on the hitter not the guy getting hit.

You don't have to like it, but having guys get knocked senseless isn't good for the sport.

Agreed. As much as people want to argue how it's "part of the game" or how everyone loves the physicality, they're on the losing side of history here.

I like the big hits. I wouldn't want to see them gone. But I definitely didn't like that one. And I'm not too stupid to see the days are numbered for blowing up defenceless players.

It doesn't matter if Khaira put himself in that situation, Trouba jumped on it. Neither absolves the other.

[TheSquatch]

Rugby is still full of big hits, but they took a bunch of specific, predatory hits out of the game, and if you do them, you leave the field. It's been spectacularly effective and had no detrimental impact on the game.

All Trouba had to do was realize the hit was blind, and let up a bit, but nah, he destroys the guy. Good ole hockey game, the best game you can name.

[burn_this_city]

This isn't the first time Khaira has been knocked unconscious in a hockey game. Worried about the guy's quality of life after the game if he keeps on getting blown up or knocked out in fights.