Silverpig, I have discussed this with a few of my friends. I am the only Ducks fan among my friends, some of them are even Canucks fans. We all agree that this is not a suspendable offense. Hamius saw Getz coming and turned away just as Getzlaf hit him. Also, watch the video with no sound. The reason I say that is because they make a point of Getz jumping at him. It is clear in the video that he led with his forearm (which has been stated as being legal), and he hit with an upward angle but did not jump. He left the ground after contact which, again, is legal.
Is it a hard hit? Yes. Is it unfortunate Hamius got injured so seriously? Yes. However, given what I can see in the video, the injury and the hardness of the hit were a matter of happenstance (due to Hamius turning within a second of getting hit). Read the comments in the video. I understand you're a Canucks fan and it sucks losing players to injury.
Bottom line... lets face it, this season there have been worse hits that were not called on or off the ice, and there were "better" albeit illegal hits which resulted in penalties and suspensions; but Getzlaf's hit on Hamius was a good hit which the refs and league took the correct action on.
They are just disinterested. They'll wake up at playoff time, however I'm not sure that their forwards are as defensibly sounds as in past years. They seem to not be as instinctual with their coverage in front of their own net. Too many times when they were playing at the top of their game this year there were too many defensive breakdowns.
The wings will live and die by their ability to control the puck and by not letting the other team get a sniff at their net. They can do this when the game is being played at a full gallop, not this trotting around. This is where they shine, when plays are made without being given much time to think, but if they hang Howard out to dry they won't be hoisting any cup.
I wasn't disputing that. Getzlaf's hit was ruled legal. People should watch it and the Torres hit and re-think their 8 game suspension pitches.
"I think he kept his elbow in but he hit the head first," added Seabrook. "As far as I'm concerned, that's the first thing I felt and the rest of my body is feeling it today. The way it looks to me, the head was hit first. Whether he was targeting it or not, he made contact with the head first.
...
I remember feeling a guy on my back and I didn't even know he was there," he added.
...
If he hits me in the chest, I'm all for that and it's a hockey play."
Duncan Keith:
"We're not going to get into that," said the Blackhawks defenceman. "We need a win. Our season is on the line. We're not going to get caught up in getting back at Torres. There's always a time and place for everything and things usually come around full circle.
"I don't know what's he's thinking. It seems like he just got off a suspension on a hit that's similar. The guy doesn't have possession of the puck and he takes a blatant run at his head. You definitely use that as motivation when your teammate is taking a cheap shot like that. Most guys would have been laying on the ice and needing help to get up."
Hamhuis saw him coming and had time to defend himself, Seabrook didn't. It's that simple. Torres skated to his left to get even more speed to hit someone not looking.
Look, when Don Cherry (and other reputed analysts like Roenick) are saying that the hit was "blindside" and "IF Seabrook had laid there like a twit and was carried off on a stretcher...", implying that had Seabrook been hurt the result would have been different.
That's coming from a guy who said last week that they're wussifying the NHL, yet even he thought it was over the top.
Seabrook even said his head was hit first:
Bottom line, Campbell had marching orders from the GM's to not suspend him so blame the GMs who still want these cheapshots in the game.
It doesn't matter what Don Cherry says. Don Cherry thinks all Russians are pinko commies. He's openly racist against the French-Canadians. He thinks all players who wear visors are babies. He doesn't know the rules, he just professes what he thinks they should be, and that changes from game to game. He's a textbook idiot.
It WASN'T a blindside hit. Seabrook was skating straight into it. Blindside refers to the position of the body, not of the player's head.
Torres glided in from the faceoff circle. There's no "gaining extra speed" there at all. It was interference (just barely), wasn't blindside, wasn't illegal, wasn't a charge, wasn't boarding, and wasn't an elbow. With Seabrook in that position, leading with his head down, you have two choices: Either put your shoulder low and get him in the chest, making contact with the head on your way in, or stick your knee out and take the knee first, avoiding the head. The second option is 100% illegal and will end careers.
"It was 100 per cent my definition of a blindside hit," Primeau said in a telephone interview with CBC News. "Not a blindside hit to the head but still a blindside hit to a player in a very vulnerable position."
"In my opinion he [Seabrook] suffered a concussion."
And that, Primeau says, exposes a second grey area in the league rules.
"He should not have returned to play. It's extremely dangerous. He's going to need time to recover."
Primeau whose own career ended after multiple concussions and who is still suffering from post-concussion syndrome five years later says it was difficult to watch.
"I was watching the highlights and I saw the hit and my head just dropped because it was so upsetting. And then to see him get hit again it was just so frustrating," he says.
"You can't trust the player to say he's OK. He's not OK, trust me. It was the same as [NHL superstar Sidney] Crosby, the same as [Toronto forward Mikhail] Grabovski. It takes far less contact to get hurt the second time."
48.1 Illegal Check to the Head A lateral or blind side hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principal point of contact is not permitted.
The GM's gave marching orders to Campbell not to suspend Torres, I'm going to guess because they know it'd be longer than 4 games since he's a repeat offender. And of course the best team in the league can't lose their enforcer for their Cup run.
It doesn't matter what Don Cherry says. Don Cherry thinks all Russians are pinko commies. He's openly racist against the French-Canadians. He thinks all players who wear visors are babies. He doesn't know the rules, he just professes what he thinks they should be, and that changes from game to game. He's a textbook idiot.
It WASN'T a blindside hit. Seabrook was skating straight into it. Blindside refers to the position of the body, not of the player's head.
Torres glided in from the faceoff circle. There's no "gaining extra speed" there at all. It was interference (just barely), wasn't blindside, wasn't illegal, wasn't a charge, wasn't boarding, and wasn't an elbow. With Seabrook in that position, leading with his head down, you have two choices: Either put your shoulder low and get him in the chest, making contact with the head on your way in, or stick your knee out and take the knee first, avoiding the head. The second option is 100% illegal and will end careers.
Cool, so if someone doesn't have the puck and is looking back over their shoulder, you can rail them in the head and it's just two minutes?
Amazing.
Same with Max Patch: no puck, Chara tosses him into a stantion, league has no problem with it.
"When Rule 48 (Illegal Check to the Head) was unanimously adopted by the General Managers in March 2010, there was no intention to make this type of shoulder hit to the head illegal.
Seabrook out tonight, Bolland in.
Campbell clarifies on the ruling:
Headshots are to the head are legal, just use your shoulder. And make sure they aren't looking so you can end their career.
Colon Campbell strikes again.1 game each for Downie and Kuntz FTLulz!!! open season on heads!
gut-check time for the Blackhawks.......
predictions anyone?