Lighting reaction to hit on Hedman completely embarrassing

[WaitingForThatCab]

Nikita Kucherov and being a pissy slimeball: Two great tastes that have tasted great together on many occasions.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

The culture around hitting in the NHL is strange.

Fans love to brag about how tough and ruthless the sport is, but when players throw clean hits, you often see this kind of overreaction.

There's some massive hits in the NFL, and yet for the most part, players just get up and get ready for the next play after getting rocked. They accept that taking a hit is part of the game.

Facts.

Looks to me like Davies was concussed, which is f***ing ridiculous. He threw a clean hit, that’s within the rules of the game. He then gets jumped twice, but it’s fine because head injuries aren’t a known problem. Forcing a player to endure them just for playing the game correctly is no big deal, surely the NHL wouldn’t endanger their players’ safety.

And that’s just thug shit, criminal shit. It’s not part of the game, yes it’s been allowed for the longest time but it shouldn’t be. The nhl wants mass appeal, but meanwhile they’re stuck appealing to some minority knuckle dragging dinosaurs with this stuff.

 

[Sanderson]

I've been watching games since the early 80s and seen more than my fair share of game tape from the 70s. Guys weren't chased around the ice after a clean hit back then. You'd take a number and hit back. The only exception would have been Semenko protecting Gretzky.

It crept in after 94 lockout, but didn't become standard operating procedure for teams until the last 20 years.

Um, you very much had reactions to hits like that. And yes, this very much existed way before the 94 lockout.

What you seem to be missing, is that there isnt some sort of standard. Player didn't adhere to one set of guidelines and then magically transformed and behaved completely different all of a sudden. Throughout times, sometimes players reacted to clean hits by defending their teammate and jumping the opponent, and sometimes by acknowledging that it was a clean hit and nothing needed to be done except perhaps dishing back some hits in turn. This has not changed one bit. Different people acted differently under different circumstances. Thats how it was in the 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s or the 20s. Players didn't have a magical understanding of a whole situation in the 70s, they were just as prone to judge any scene based on what they think they saw, and they reacted based on that. The main difference is that there were far fewer games on tv, and those that were, didn't have fans get ten replays from five different angles, meaning they had far less of a way to judge the scene as it actually played out.

As has been mentioned before, players don't have instant replay and slo-mo either. They react on instinct, not based on what is right or logical. What matters to them is how they perceive a situation to have played out. That, and only that, is what matters to them. And that is very much why reactions like from Kucherov (not so much the one from Geekie, those happened but have always been rare) have always existed. Players have always had limited view of what actually transpired, just like they have always been told to stick up for their teammates.

There was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary with what Kucherov did. Geekie, yes, but an immediate reaction to a hit, no, that has always been around. In hindsight, it may have been unnecessary, because the hit was clean, but Kucherov wasn't given hindsight, he was given his view of the incident, and a response based on emotion. Just like other players in thousands of cases over decades.

It's funny how we can have goal-reviews because no one was actually sure whether the puck went in or not, but god forbid a player reacts on how he perceived a hit. No, he must have perfect understanding of everything that happens on the ice at all times. It seems like some fans really have lost their touch in regard to understanding players and refs thanks to all the visual information they get, which is not available to those on the ice. It is completely impossible for players to always have the right idea about what happened close by, which is why you always have and always will see players show a reaction like Kucherov, even if having the full information shows it isn't warranted.

That doesn't excuse Geekie doing what he did a bit later on. Which is why he got a ton of penalties for it (see, the instigator at work, just as it was intended) and may get a fine or suspension on top of that.

 

[JFleegs]

Davies was running around all night. Geekie kicked the kids ass.

 

[Laus723]

Clean hit or not, if you have some scrub going around taking shots at star players in a preseason game, I don't have a problem with players going after him.

I don't either, especially when said scrub had the Lightning unglued and having them feel the need to take 8 PIM because he's legally hitting guys. If he makes the Cats someday and be that effective against other teams, pretty incredible job. I get it, I wouldn't want Barkov, Tkachuk, etc hit hard clean or not by a guy like Davies, but the kid was still super effective.

Nothing to see here.

Relatively unknown guy hits a hall of famer in the preseason where a lot of guys have gotten injuries. Another hall of famer grabs him to let him know to relax and doesn’t even throw a punch.

Seems more like an embarrassing thread to make than anything.

A nothing to see, embarrassing thread on a guy getting a hearing? There's threads about this stuff all the time, but ooook.

 

[Grinner]

Meh! Usually it's the Panthers pulling this crap. I'm sure that played into the SoFlo rivalry

Davies was running around all night. Geekie kicked the kids ass.

Jumped him from behind. Nothing to brag about

 

[Laus723]

Davies was running around all night. Geekie kicked the kids ass.

And earned himself a walk to the principal's office. He came back and hit Kuch in the corner, but it seems like Tampa couldn't take the heat in this instance.

 

[Il Stugotz]

Honestly both Davies and the Lightning are fine here. Davies ran around all night and irritated the Lightning into taking penalties and a suspension. The Lightning showed each other that they have each others' backs. No one got hurt

 

[admiralcadillac]

Nah good on Kucherov.

There have been too many plugs going after stars this preseason. Open ice hits from blindside angles are not acceptable in general, nevermind the preseason.

 

[Il Stugotz]

Open ice hits from blindside angles are not acceptable in general

wut

 

[Beau Knows]

Davies was running around all night. Geekie kicked the kids ass.

Running around, throwing hits? Why is that bad?

 

[MOGlLNY]

I don't either, especially when said scrub had the Lightning unglued and having them feel the need to take 8 PIM because he's legally hitting guys. If he makes the Cats someday and be that effective against other teams, pretty incredible job. I get it, I wouldn't want Barkov, Tkachuk, etc hit hard clean or not by a guy like Davies, but the kid was still super effective.




A nothing to see, embarrassing thread on a guy getting a hearing? There's threads about this stuff all the time, but ooook.

There's a hearing because a rookie trying to prove himself to the organization that just traded for him hopped over the boards . Not because of anything involving the original play or reaction.

 

[Chainshot]

The crosscheck -

https://x.com/i/web/status/1841644082134646836

 

[JianYang]

Meh. I think even in a "normal" preseason (without all these injuries and dirty stuff) this would've been the reaction because it's the preseason. It's an unwritten rule that you are not supposed to hurt other players (especially star players) in these games.

You want to get rid of these overreactions to big clean hits? Let's get rid of fighting, and stop players policing themselves.

That unwritten rule is even more pronounced when a non established player goes after an established nhler in the preseason.

There's been at least a couple high profile cases of it this year, and I hope that's not the start of a trend.

 

[Bizz]

Hit on Hedman was clean. Tampa's just mad because they aren't the darlings of Florida anymore.

 

[robertmac43]

Any open iced in this day and age will get this kind of reaction.

 

[Laus723]

There's a hearing because a rookie trying to prove himself to the organization that just traded for him hopped over the boards . Not because of anything involving the original play or reaction.

Him jumping over the boards is a reaction

 

[Master P]

“I miss old time hockey”
….

“No not like that”

 

[The Hockey Tonk Man]

Geekie gonna have to square up & drop the gloves with someone next time these guys play.

One of the cleanest hits caused that much chaos eh?

 

[HugeInTheShire]

Obviously there is absolutely nothing wrong with the hit, beautiful and clean, noting wrong with Kucherov's response to the hit either. It doesn't matter that it's clean in the slightest, you've still got to send the message that taking liberties on our players will not be tolerated.

Geekie on the other hand came flying out of his tiny car wearing a rainbow wig and red nose. This was already settled, zero reason to rehash it. He 100% earned his incoming suspension.

 

[TBF1972]

Hedman receives the cleanest open ice hit in the history of hockey and Kucherov and
Geekie respond like it was the dirtiest hit ever

f***ing embarrassing from the Lighting

https://x.com/i/web/status/1841636395246617005

https://x.com/i/web/status/1841632918684217772

personal foul and 15 yards for horse collar tackle

 

[kirby11]

Hate how often clean open ice hits in today's game get answered by someone jumping the guy who threw the initial check. Just take his number and get him back with a hit of your own later.

 

[A1LeafNation]

If you know you aren't getting suspended, this is an appropriate response.

 

[Cup or Bust]

I don't think the issue was the hit. The issue was a player Tampa considers to be a nobody hits their best defenseman hard in a preseason game, that is likely what bothered them the most. Personally I think it's a great hit, but the situation likely angered them more then the hit itself.

 

[The Professional]

It's stunning how far apart hockey fans on the internet actually are in their understanding of the game from actual, professionnal hockey players.

This is "completely embarrassing" for the Lightning? Lmao in what universe? You guys are out to lunch. Kucherov and Geekie were probably getting high fives in the lockerroom.

You see your captain get hit open ice by some AHL plug, in a meaningless pre-season game no less, during a pre-season where star players have gotten seriously injured left and right, you don't have the luxury of instant replays and 30 different angles: you respond immediately. Huge props to Kuch. Nothing dirty about the hit, but the Lightning was not going to let a dirty team like Florida take runs at their captain during pre season.

When I clicked on this thread I honestly thought this would be about Hedman getting hit and no one on TBL responding given the title. Boy oh boy have hockey fans gotten soft lmao