I do not believe that there was any deliberate or malicious intent on the part of Jannik Hansen to hit Marian Hossa in the head as both players went up for an airborne puck that had been flipped out of the Hawks zone by Jonathan Toews. The resulting contact to the back of Hossa's head was not worthy of anything beyond the minor penalty for roughing that was eventually assessed by the referees; albeit well after play was whistled dead for the Hossa injury.
Both Hansen and Hossa reacted to the approaching puck similar to a jump ball on the Bulls' homecourt in the United Center. Both players went up for the puck and in doing so, Hossa slid his body position to the right while Hansen moved to the left. Their focus and intent was gaining puck possession.
The movement of both players put them on a collision course as Hossa had the lead lane and the advantage to contact the puck first. From the back side position, Hansen would have to extend his reach over and past Hossa if he were to be successful in playing the puck. In real time and from a deficient position, Hansen's follow-through contacted the back of Hossa's head as both players moved toward one another and reached for the puck.
....
Stranger things have happened but I would be surprised if Hansen receives a suspension on this play. I have seen far worse hits that have gone unpunished this season.
I dunno, after watching it again with the benefit of a day in between, it actually looks like he went up for the puck hoping to bat it out of the air, then after Hossa batted it down, decided to hit Hossa. His arm was already up there, so hitting Hossa entailed hitting him in the head with his forearm.
Upon further review and contrary to my initial reaction seeing it at full speed, I would not consider a suspension of a game or two out of line. But it still didn't look like Hossa got hit very hard so I'm still surprised he didn't return and would be more surprised still if he didn't play on Friday.
Location: Chicago Native relocated to the stinking desert of Utah
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Originally Posted by Blaster86
Not even 2 minutes. Toews lobbied for that hard. If that's even one game, Keith should still be suspended.
Blaster...If Keith should still be suspended, what should Daniel have gotten for THIS cheap shot? Daniel dished it out to start with, and Canuck fans are STILL complaining when the inevitable retaliation came?
If the refs make a call here, for the roughing, interference, whatever, then the situation may get defused BEFORE a player has to take matters into their own hands.
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Blaster...If Keith should still be suspended, what should Daniel have gotten for THIS cheap shot?
A 2 minute penalty for roughing or arguably a 5 minute penalty for targeting the head.
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Daniel dished it out to start with, and Canuck fans are STILL complaining when the inevitable retaliation came?
Yes, because Daniel hit a guy. He hit him high, but he hit him. If that shoulder is 6 inches lower it's a good hit. Keith put an elbow through a guy's jaw. That bears no resemblance to anything legal.
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If the refs make a call here, for the roughing, interference, whatever, then the situation may get defused
100% agree. Refs were useless in that game. Didn't penalize Sedin, and didn't kick Keith out either when he did what he did.
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BEFORE a player has to take matters into their own hands.
100% disagree. Taking matters into his own hands does not involve suckering a guy in the face and putting him out for 10 games.
None of this is relevant to the Hansen thing except that the same two teams were involved.
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Blaster...If Keith should still be suspended, what should Daniel have gotten for THIS cheap shot?
Wasn't that less than a second after the puck left his stick? Maybe Keith shouldn't admire his pass. Hit was fine, notice no elbow sticking out.
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Originally Posted by thefoss1957
Daniel dished it out to start with, and Canuck fans are STILL complaining when the inevitable retaliation came?
So, clean hit on a D man who thought a pass he just mad was so pretty he needed to watch it vs blatantly sticking the elbow out and aiming for the head? Yeah, those are totally the same. Keith relatiated because a player he deems to be not as tough as him hit him clean and made him look silly, so he tried to end his season. Not complaining, just saying that Keith's was blatantly deliberate, where as Hansen was going for the puck.
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Originally Posted by thefoss1957
If the refs make a call here, for the roughing, interference, whatever, then the situation may get defused BEFORE a player has to take matters into their own hands.
2 minutes for hitting a player for admiring a pass. Good call.
It is amazing (well, not really) that Vancouver Canuck fans can look at that Sedin clip and, in one case, deny it was a hit to the head of a defenceless player, and, in another case, rationalize it by saying that if the hit had been a bit lower, it wouldn't have been a hit to the head.
If I'd picked the correct numbers in the last 6-49, I'd be a gazillionaire. But I didn't.
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Blaster...If Keith should still be suspended, what should Daniel have gotten for THIS cheap shot? Daniel dished it out to start with, and Canuck fans are STILL complaining when the inevitable retaliation came?
If the refs make a call here, for the roughing, interference, whatever, then the situation may get defused BEFORE a player has to take matters into their own hands.
Not that it is related to this at all but to consider that to be on the same level as an elbow to the face is a joke. Sedin hit him high, could be two minutes for roughing, if Keith didn't go fully moronic and elbow Sedin in the face later in the game no one would even remember that hit because it happens every game.
Are you saying that Keith was justified in taking a run at Sedin with his elbow because Sedin didn't get a two minute penalty before? Keith didn't have to elbow someone in the head and for all intents and purposes knock him out for the year, he made the stupid choice to do so.
By the way I don't think that the Sedin hit on Keith was as bad as people here make it out to be.
It is amazing (well, not really) that Vancouver Canuck fans can look at that Sedin clip and, in one case, deny it was a hit to the head of a defenceless player, and, in another case, rationalize it by saying that if the hit had been a bit lower, it wouldn't have been a hit to the head.
If I'd picked the correct numbers in the last 6-49, I'd be a gazillionaire. But I didn't.
I differentiate between penalties and cheap shot plays based on whether the play resembled a hockey play that was either badly or recklessly executed. The closer it is, the more sympathy I have for the fact that it's a fast game and being off by a couple of inches or tenths of a second is attributable to error rather than malicious intent. You get a penalty for those. In cases that look more reckless, a fine or short suspension.
On the opposite side, some plays look nothing like anything you'd do in hockey - that is what the phrase "doesn't belong in our game" should be reserved for, because it literally isn't hockey. Kneeing a guy, cross checking him from behind into the glass, elbowing him in the face, stomping on his foot with your skate... garbage like that.
Daniel's high hit resembled a hockey play, but wasn't executed properly - his shoulder should have been lower. Keiths looks nothing like a hockey play. At no point in hockey do you stick your elbow straight out at a guy's face. There was no minor adjustment that could've been made there to make that look like a legal check.
It's for the same reason that I never thought that Torres hit that caused Hossa's concussion symptoms in the first place was a particularly dirty play. I would prefer to see the big suspensions handed out for plays like this which are clearly intentional and have nothing to do with the game:
or this:
or this:
Last edited by AR_Six; 02-20-2013 at 04:10 PM.
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If the refs make a call here, for the roughing, interference, whatever, then the situation may get defused BEFORE a player has to take matters into their own hands.
Maybe they didn't see it? That doesn't give players license to run around throwing flying elbows at other players' heads.
Sedin could've been called on that hit, but it wouldn't have been interference since Keith had just played the puck. I could see a roughing call or maybe a minor for a hit contacting the head. But trying to turn a missed call on what would've been a 2 minute penalty into a justification for a head shot that garnered a 5 game suspension for a first time offender is pretty far out there.
But whatever, the real issue in all this is Hossa's health. Hopefully him leaving the game was simply precautionary because if he got another concussion from a nothing play like that then it doesn't bode well for him long term which would be a real shame because he's a fantastic player
