Whitecloud hit on Knies | Knies did not return to the game.

Moist ReadOnly

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Jun 7, 2024
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Definitely looks like the head is the main point of contact. It's not the worst hit I've seen lately, but it's not exactly clean either. I'm mostly just baffled by how the Leafs were somehow the ones to end up on the penalty kill as a result of this ... View attachment 933406
The league is attempting to appease ancient mindsets like the one quoted in my post above and keep a semblance of old hockey; removing defending players on bad hits is a way to do that

Theyll either die or stop watching and then the league can move on
 
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Bottomshelf

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Sep 16, 2019
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Eh, I don't see it. The big question to determine whether this hit was an illegal check to the head is whether Whitecloud's upward momentum through the hit was unnecessary. Trouba had little to no upward extension through the hit, that was just Barron acting as if hitting was illegal.
I get that, I was more referring to the head contact in general for the player being in a crouched posture (obviously Barron was reaching much more). I definitely see what you’re talking about with the upwards momentum vs Trouba staying relatively level.
 
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Romang67

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I get that, I was more referring to the head contact in general for the player being in a crouched posture (obviously Barron was reaching much more). I definitely see what you’re talking about with the upwards momentum vs Trouba staying relatively level.
Yeah, the Trouba hit, as much as people dislike Trouba, is a good example of where head contact is unavoidable and therefore permitted (as opposed to the Reaves hit, which is a ridiculous comparison to... well, really anything short of literal headhunting).
 

Moist ReadOnly

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Jun 7, 2024
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Something that says you can't hit people in the freaking head. I am totally fine with punishing people for accidents, like they do in the NFL. The players will adjust. The NHL needs to protect players' heads.
Dont bother. The same types of fans argued until the sun went down that it was impossible to remove most football hits to the head and driving the quarterback into the ground

Whats funniest is its usually those who havent a single athletic gene in their body trying to tell others what the competitive 1% of world's athletes are capable of
 

ManofSteel55

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Aug 15, 2013
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I agree this should be looked at, but everyone saying he jumped needs to look at it in slower motion, or frame by frame. His skates are on the ice when contact is made. The force of the hit is what caused Whitecloud to leave his feet, not a jump.
 
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notsocommonsense

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Apr 24, 2013
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I agree this should be looked at, but everyone saying he jumped needs to look at it in slower motion, or frame by frame. His skates are on the ice when contact is made. The force of the hit is what caused Whitecloud to leave his feet, not a jump.
He didn’t jump. But he did explode upward into the hit which I believe the league is trying to curtail (doing a poor job of it though)
 
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Romang67

BitterSwede
Jan 2, 2011
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Something that says you can't hit people in the freaking head. I am totally fine with punishing people for accidents, like they do in the NFL. The players will adjust. The NHL needs to protect players' heads.
Outlawing incidental contact to the head would essentially outlaw hitting on crouched down players skating north-south. Is that something you're okay with? It would outlaw hits like this one, but it would also outlaw Trouba's hit on Barron, where he stood up Barron on the blue line, but Barron was crouched down enough that contact with the head was unavoidable.

I'm not taking a stance here, it's a genuine question.
Same as the Reaves hit, no difference. Good hockey hit right.
It's in no way comparable to the Reaves hit.
 
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TooManyHumans

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May 4, 2018
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Outlawing incidental contact to the head would essentially outlaw hitting on crouched down players skating north-south. Is that something you're okay with? It would outlaw hits like this one, but it would also outlaw Trouba's hit on Barron, where he stood up Barron on the blue line, but Barron was crouched down enough that contact with the head was unavoidable.
They could say something about a player crouching into the hit. Whatever. I don't really care how they do it, but the hit in the video in this thread should not be ok. It is predatory and dangerous as hell no matter what the rules say. I do not like following a sport that does not put a priority on protecting the brains of the players and it is clear that the NHL puts no priority on that.
 

Vukotal Recall

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Jan 30, 2010
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Interesting video

I agree with this perspective. I also think this type of check is actually more upsetting than more overtly targeted headhunting in a way, since it was perfectly primed to be beautiful (violent) without targeting the head, but Whitecloud couldn't leave well enough alone. I would recommend a longer suspension though in order to send the message that these hits are not acceptable.
 

Deviled

Registered User
Oct 10, 2024
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...Screenshotting frames after the collision to try to prove that a player jumped into the collision is a "first week watching hockey" kind of move.

By the way, the physics of the collision is an easy way to understand...
So someone must be new to hockey or not understand physics if they feel differently?
 

Number8

Registered User
Oct 31, 2007
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Definitely looks like the head is the main point of contact. It's not the worst hit I've seen lately, but it's not exactly clean either. I'm mostly just baffled by how the Leafs were somehow the ones to end up on the penalty kill as a result of this ... View attachment 933406
Might as well make him off limits in this case then. Looking at this still you posted, it's hard to see how he could hit him and NOT hit his head. I guess he could have submarined him?

Seriously, not trying to be a jerk. I just don't see how you deliver a hit here and not include the head. And if he can't be hit in this instance, then can't have hitting at all.
 

Romang67

BitterSwede
Jan 2, 2011
31,402
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Evanston, IL
They could say something about a player crouching into the hit. Whatever. I don't really care how they do it, but the hit in the video in this thread should not be ok. It is predatory and dangerous as hell no matter what the rules say. I do not like following a sport that does not put a priority on protecting the brains of the players and it is clear that the NHL puts no priority on that.
Again, I think this hit MIGHT be illegal based on whether the DoPS considers this an unnecessary extension upward. They also might consider standing up into the hit to be a regular hitting motion (which it arguably is). The issue with this hit is exactly that Knies is crouched really low. Whitecloud extends upward, but to completely avoid head contact, Whitecloud would have needed to have his chin at the level of the board, which would basically force him to have a hip check stance.

Trouba did that against Barron, so it's not impossible, but people were still really angry over that hit.

But yeah, overall, the NHL and the DoPS have made it abundantly clear that they don't care about player safety in general, and head trauma in particular.
 
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