Paul Byron suspended 3 games for hit on Weegar

[Geeoff]

Byron did hit him right in the chin. I'll be honest, Byron never struck me as the kind of guy that would ever get suspended.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

I don't see how that is a suspendable hit.

Elbow a guy in the head? No problem.

Clean body check, not in the back, but the guy gets hurt? Suspension.

He leaves his feet (charging), primary contact point is the head (hit to the head) whether intentional or not.

Not sure what's missing for you. Charging has always been illegal, and I guess for some there is still a debate on whether primary contact point being the head SHOULD make a check illegal, but the fact of the matter is, right now in the NHL (and I'm glad) primary contact point being the head does make it illegal.

I get we all like Byron, he's the Flame that got away, but that was an illegal check.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by Cleveland Steam Whistle

He leaves his feet (charging), primary contact point is the head (hit to the head) whether intentional or not.

Not sure what's missing for you. Charging has always been illegal, and I guess for some there is still a debate on whether primary contact point being the head SHOULD make a check illegal, but the fact of the matter is, right now in the NHL (and I'm glad) primary contact point being the head does make it illegal.

I get we all like Byron, he's the Flame that got away, but that was an illegal check.

Just to clarify, primary contact with the head isn’t always illegal. The check has to meet certain criteria to determine if it was head contact was avoidable, as laid out in the NHL rulebook:

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.

You can argue (ii) and (iii) on this hit if you like, but he checks (i) off as well as charging. Pretty easy call.

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

Definitely a head shot. Thought he’d get a game or two, three is a bit surprising but I have no problem with it.

Understandable why people are still miffed at the Kunitz elbow, a clear head shot that was missed, or ignored, by the league. They really whiffed on that one.

I missed this also. Who did he hit? Video of it?

[AC]

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

I missed this also. Who did he hit? Video of it?

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by AC

See, now THAT is primary contact to the head. As well as being a blatant elbow.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

See, now THAT is primary contact to the head. As well as being a blatant elbow.

And Byron was primary contact to head. As well as being a blatant charge.

[Karl]

Yeah. 3 games is a very fair suspension for that shoulder hit to the head where the head was totally & completely primary point of contact. Not to mention also how Byron clearly jumped off the ice and into Weegar to nail him as well.

Can't understand how anyone can argue that was not a dirty hit.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

And Byron was primary contact to head. As well as being a blatant charge.

He coasts in, so I don't see it as a blatant charge. And he makes contact from his waist all the way up to his shoulder.

I want to see more suspensions than we are seeing from the league, but this isn't even close to as egregious as many that have been (recently) ignored.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

He coasts in, so I don't see it as a blatant charge. And he makes contact from his waist all the way up to his shoulder.

I want to see more suspensions than we are seeing from the league, but this isn't even close to as egregious as many that have been (recently) ignored.

The charge here is leaving his feet. Leaving your feet is also charging.

[Karl]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

He coasts in, so I don't see it as a blatant charge. And he makes contact from his waist all the way up to his shoulder.

I want to see more suspensions than we are seeing from the league, but this isn't even close to as egregious as many that have been (recently) ignored.

It's a clear and absolute hit to the head with the head being primary contact point. Byron jumps up off the ice and into Weegar and totally nails Weegar in the head with his shoulder by doing that.

It's just not a clean hit regardless of the fact that there have been some hits that have clearly been worse than that that have gone unpunished.

[Samonadreau]

Looked pretty clean to me. Maybe a charging penalty at most.

[Karl]

Originally Posted by Samonadreau

Looked pretty clean to me. Maybe a charging penalty at most.

You can't be serious.

[ckendall]

I think Byron was seeing red for a second there thanks to the Panther #16 (I think) at the blue line who was running some interference. Looks like that guy got his elbow up. Byron reacts poorly, definite charging and he jumped, and since there was head contact, suspendable.

There’s no reason to hit like that except to hurt the other guy. It’s not to separate him from the puck, the puck is on its way along the boards. Not saying that Byron hit was late. Just saying the only reason to hit someone like that is to hurt the guy (or ‘wear the defence’ out as it’s often said in hockey talk). Tried to hurt him, did hurt him in the head, suspension.

Totally agree that there’s lots of other hits to the head that should be suspensions as well. NHL needs to be more on the ball and consistent to get this stuff out of the game.

[Nage Waza]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

I don't know how to load pics on here, but freeze the vid right before contact (any camera angle), he has him lined up with the shoulder to Weegar's chest. Then moves laterally into him.

I think what happens is that Weegar pulls back a bit to avoid the hit and Byron goes right under his shoulder. As a result, he then makes contact with the head because Weegar is bent forward (but only because Byron's shoulder went right under Weegar's chest.

There are more egregious checks almost every night. This one is just unfortunate contact.

The point is that the players are responsible for the hit. They should slow down enough so that they can adjust and make the hit clean. Byron was going way too fast to make any adjustments. He played that on the edge and is now suspended.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Listen, when a guy as small as Paul Byron manages to hit the head first during a "body" check, you had better believe that he elevated unnecessarily and left his feet. The guy is what, 5'7"? Weegar is 6 feet.

It's a clean check a few years ago, but with the intense focus on head contact, you have to punish plays like that. Byron had body position. All he had to do was angle him off and Weegar would be pinned against the boards. Instead he knocks a guy out with a concussion on an unnecessarily excessive hit.

But I agree with Dissentowner...there will be something 10x worse next week that doesn't get a suspension. The league still needs to work on consistency but these are the types of plays that need to go away.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

It's a clean check a few years ago

No it isn’t. It’s charging.

The call on the ice was charging.

Man did I get blocked by everyone or what??

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

No it isn’t. It’s charging.

The call on the ice was charging.

Man did I get blocked by everyone or what??

I mean, yes, by the letter of the rule it's charging, but that kind of hit wasn't called ever just a few years ago. That was sort of my point.

[81MC]

Originally Posted by AC

Honestly it looks a lot to me like Hamonic skating into the elbow of someone playing the puck

[AC]

Originally Posted by 81MC

Honestly it looks a lot to me like Hamonic skating into the elbow of someone playing the puck

No way, his elbow explodes upwards.