Doc Brown

May 5th, 2013 at 8:08 PM ^

WRONG!!!!! The NHL at the beginning of the suspended season sent a memo to every player as part of the agreement of from NHLPA from Shanahan to make an effort to prevent head injuries. It stated that the onus will now be on the attacker to take into account the position of the player being checked. 

Kronwall is a dirty player as well. I love that he is on the wings, but he is a dirty player. 

I swear this is board is the most ignorant collection of hockey fans I have ever encountered. 

justingoblue

May 5th, 2013 at 8:16 PM ^

that the onus has changed from targeting the head of a vulnerable player to hitting a vulnerable player in the head (I'm about 99% sure that's the "change" you're talking about) being completely illegal, you were absolutely incorrect above.

As far as ignorace about officiating, I'll say that I'm quite confident in my ability to evaluate a hockey game and the on and off ice officials. Whether that confidence is warranted is a matter of opinion, but I don't think I've ever posted anything that would imply I'm ignorant about any of those aspects of hockey.

Doc Brown

May 5th, 2013 at 8:27 PM ^

 Abs left his feet in every replay I have watched. I am not seeing where Abs feet was on the ice. It was a Kronwall style dirty hit. 

I played hockey at the MHSAA level. I attempted college hockey but didn't have the talent. 

Here is a memo from the prior head of officiating, I am not finding the memo that Shanahan sent to teams at the beginning of this season, stating the league is going put more responsibility of the attacking player than the vunerable player. 

http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/78045-nhl-warns-headhunters

justingoblue

May 5th, 2013 at 8:31 PM ^

not hitting the head as part of an otherwise legal check. The onus is not on the checking player to avoid head contact in the NHL (as it is in USA Hockey and the NCAA), it's just illegal to target a vulnerable player's head, as it has been for some time.

I don't really care about resumes, just addressing your comment. Shanahan has a better player resume than just about every hockey fan and I don't think he does a good job as an off ice official.

justingoblue

May 5th, 2013 at 8:45 PM ^

because that's a matter of opinion. It's straight fact that, in the NHL, the onus is not on the checking player to avoid (non targeted) contact to the head. That's what the rulebook says, it's how the game is called, and it's an important criteria for Shanahan when determining suspensions.

Doc Brown

May 5th, 2013 at 8:51 PM ^

however, rule 42 does allow for interpretation of hits on an individual basis, especially for shots to the head. Abs was out of control last night. 

42.5 Game Misconduct Penalty - When a major penalty is imposed under this rule for a foul resulting in an injury to the face or head of an opponent, a game misconduct shall be imposed.

I support every effort to clean up the game from head hits. 

MGoBlue96

May 5th, 2013 at 8:04 PM ^

would seem to imply he left his feet before the hit, he clearly didn't his feet were still on the ice on initial contact.

And don't give me that bullshit about protecting the head area, when Zetterberg had his head slammed into the boards last year and nothing happened. Shanahan can't pick and choose when to protect player's head area, anybody defending his lack of consistency is an idiot.

MGoBlue96

May 5th, 2013 at 8:20 PM ^

with both skates on the ice at first contact. They showed that at least five different times on replays during the game. And yes it does matter whether his feet were on the ice at first contact, if you think otherwise, you are the delusional one since the rule specifically uses language about the hitter jumping into the other player. Feet leaving the ice after contact is completely different than feet leaving the ice prior to the hit. Most big hits end with a players skates not being completely on the ice.

And you seem to think this is just about this particular instance, the officating league wide has been piss poor all year long, and Shanahan's rulings have been widely inconsistent league wide.

Doc Brown

May 5th, 2013 at 8:12 PM ^

that is definitely a statement I have seen posted from the conspiracy theories on BWI....It is also a statement that I know was said previously by James Harrison 

Nothing is being tarnished. The NHL is attempting to protect their own players from head injuries, similar to the current effort underway by the NFL. 

Support the player, not the hit. 

Michael From TC

May 6th, 2013 at 1:26 AM ^

If the league gave 2 shits about player safety they would strip some of the body armor off of the shoulder pads and dare them do continue checking as hard as they do now.

 

The players feel so safe throwing thier bodies all around THAT is why they hit so hard. If you take a layer of plastic out of the shoulder pads, you wouldnt see these hits from across the ice because the hitter would also risk getting injured in the process.

 

 

exmtroj

May 5th, 2013 at 8:22 PM ^

Conspiracy theory?  Look me in the (virtual, I guess) eye and tell me the NHL isn't the worst of the major American sports leagues.  MLS might even be better; it's certainly more trendy right now.  How many examples of pure and utter incompetence from the leauge offices can we point to?  The loss of a season in '04 and the joke of a labor deal that paved the way for another labor dispute shortly after should be all we need to prove Bettman's worthlessness.  The NHL suspension flowchart posted above is intended as a joke, but it's so close to reality that it loses almost all of its humor. 

exmtroj

May 5th, 2013 at 8:47 PM ^

The NFL may go overboard at times, but they do it fairly evenly across the board.  The NHL is an absolute hot mess when it comes to any sort of standard for a suspension.  Additionally, I wasn't just talking about suspensions, I meant just being the worst league overall in every category.  To sum it up, the NHL just plain sucks.

MGoBlue96

May 5th, 2013 at 8:36 PM ^

after the fact does.  And last I checked one poster made a joking reference to a Bettman conspiracy theory, most rational people wouldn't think that. Still doesn't mean that Bettman isn't an incompetent fool who knows jack about hockey and  has presided over three different work stoppages. If you honestly don't think the league has been tarnished since he took over, than you are flat out delusional.

OMG Shirtless

May 5th, 2013 at 8:13 PM ^

Man, we've been getting along lately, but you're really making it hard not to dig into the MGoHOF and pull out your Red Wings meltdowns.  Just let it go.  I agree that the suspension was probably the right call, but there's no point to this argument.  You're not going to change anyone's mind.

Doc Brown

May 5th, 2013 at 8:42 PM ^

so posting anti-Bettman conspiracy theories and being generally butthurt over Abs is not trolling...

Supporting Abs suspension is trolling...got yeah. Nice to see group think is alive and well on here.

School 4 the Gifted

May 5th, 2013 at 8:16 PM ^

So, off the bat, I'm a Caps fan.  Big one.  From my time in Ann Arbor though, I came to really appreciate Hockeytown and the Wings (except the year they beat the Caps in the Cup final....damn you Esa Tikkanen and a wide open net!).

Anyway, I think the suspension was justified especially since Lydman is out with migraines and may be out longer.  It looked like Abdelkader left  his feet a split second before contact, came a long way at a high rate of speed, and hit Lydman shortly after he turned his head to see the hit coming.  He was basically defenseless.  I think Abdelkader left his feet anticipating contact and misjudged when to explode into Lydman so I don't think he intended malice (at least illegal malice). However, this is exactly the type of hit the NHL is trying to target.

That said, this kind of hit happens EVERY game. Ovechkin is a big perpetrator of the long range skate to exploding into impact (leaving his feet sometimes before, mostly after contact) and doesn't get called a lot.  It just so happens that Lydman got hurt which took this from a 2 minute charging call that the refs probably didn't get a great look at to a 5 minute major to a suspension.

Real bad luck.  Good luck to the Wings the rest of the playoffs...if I had a #2 team, they'd be it.

MGoBlue96

May 5th, 2013 at 8:27 PM ^

post, but you're flat out wrong saying he left his feet before the hit. FSN showed at least 5 different replays where they stopped the replay at the point  of initial contact, and both his skates were clearly still on the ice. That is a fact that was shown on the replays FSN showed, regardless of what you think of the rest of hit, his skates were still on the ice at initial contact.

BlueRecruitFan

May 5th, 2013 at 8:32 PM ^

Ok... if that is true, why did he leave his feet afterwards?  It's not like he just decided to do a little "hop of happiness" because he made a nice check.  It shows that, at least, his momentum and propulsion were projected in an upwards motion during the hit.  Now, if we want to get into the legal technicalities of how "leaving the feet" is defined in the rulebook, that's fine.  But to me, it at least shows that he had a similar intent as if he had left his feet before the hit.  I don't think the league is specifically saying that a player leaving his feet before a hit makes the hit more dangerous... it is showing that, by leaving his feet, the player is demostrating his intent to not just hit, but to damage the other player.  Perhaps the "after hit hop" and extension of his arms after the hit demostrate this mal-intent.

justingoblue

May 5th, 2013 at 8:36 PM ^

I certainly wouldn't argue with that, and I said the same thing about Trouba deserving a penalty this season for pretty much the same reason, but I don't believe the charging call was correct. I said this above, but I'll repeat, calling an illegal check to the head would make more sense, though I still believe it would be the wrong call.

MGoBlue96

May 5th, 2013 at 8:50 PM ^

is that players leaving their feet after the hit happens all the time. Clearly the refs, have made a differentiation between leaving your feet prior to the hit and after the hit, based on how the game has been called. If the NHL wants to take the route of not leaving your feet period, before or after contact fine, but when I see 10 other instances of the same thing during the game I have a problem with it.

get-on-my-lawn

May 5th, 2013 at 8:21 PM ^

View point:



After seeing that hit, my thought is this: any time a player is more focused on injuring a man than the actual objective of the sport itself, (with the exception being boxing and ufc obviously since that is the point of the sport) which in this case is scoring goals or defending your goal, than you do not deserve to be playing the sport. You probably don't even deserve respect as a human being.



This is a man that probably has kids and a family, and where getting injured is a risk you take and expect, it should never come from somebody purposefully trying to go out of his way and try to hurt you let alone with a cheap shot.



This guy is patetic and there DOES need to be some integreity in every sport.

M_Jason_M

May 5th, 2013 at 8:31 PM ^

And I imagine you never played hockey either right? Well, yeah the point is to score, and one of the first things to do is to do a breakout, which is what the ducks were doing. To stop a breakout (aka defend your goal) you have to get the puck either by taking it, intercepting a pass, or hitting. In this case hitting was the obvious choice and the right play. You calling Abdelkader names for it just shows how ignorant you are on the subject, which you also showed by saying you're not an NHL fan. Really, you have no room to comment like that on this.

get-on-my-lawn

May 5th, 2013 at 8:40 PM ^

I don't? Because I think that I do. This is a University Michigan sport blog primarily, not a Red Wings blog, nor an NHL blog. I don't need to be an expert on this topic to give my opinion.



Fact of the matter is, he didn't try to "hit" the player so that he could just get the puck, he speared the fuck out of him. There is a difference. No, i don't know shit about kockey. It bores the hell out of me. That doesn't mean that I can't tell when something is on the dirty side. Hockey is trying to get rid of the bad reputation of being a 3 hour long show of guys beating eachother like rag dolls, and trying to get back to the happy medium of that and actually , uh, hockey.

justingoblue

May 5th, 2013 at 8:50 PM ^

the intent of the hit doesn't matter when assessing whether a penalty was committed or not. The controversy revolves around what specific rule Abdelkader violated. An official can't call a penalty because he thinks a play was "on the dirty side", he has to make a call based on what he saw occur. If (I stress if) you accept that Abdelkader didn't leave his feet and didn't target an opposing player's head, you cannot call a penalty on him. If you're going to make a call, you need to justify it by stating what specifically was wrong with the hit (as Shanahan does on his video).

Blueisgood

May 5th, 2013 at 8:57 PM ^

Haha, stick to the stuff you know. The only thing they could get him for there was maybe charging. A spear? Really? Looked like shoulder to shoulder first which drove through the shoulder into the head. This was far from dirty. Not near the boards. Every hockey player knows that if you play with your head down your gonna get smoked. If they don't want it to happen, or if you don't want to see it, play or watch roller. Hitting isn't allowed there and everyone plays with there heads down. NHL is getting to be like the nfl.

BornInAA

May 5th, 2013 at 8:26 PM ^

 I am a huge life-long fan but this team is a rebuild project.

All I know is the wings have given up 12 goals in 3 games. Sorry, this is a losing recipe no matter what happened with Abdelkader.

They remind me of the early 90s wings - with Steve Y not yet mature and a lot of young potential.

bronxblue

May 5th, 2013 at 8:33 PM ^

I'll admit to not knowing all of the nuances of penalties in hockey, but on review the hit looked close but definitely not worth a suspension.  Give him a 2-minute penalty in the game if you want to send a message but just because the guy doesn't have his head on a swivel isn't the other player's responsibility.  It definitely wasn't launched at his head like other hits I've seen. Just seems like a harsh penalty for a borderline situation.  Same with the Senator play - guy puts his head down a bit and gets clocked on a bad pass; it's hockey forgodsake!