The only way to describe this hit was WOW. You see some collisions during the preseason but this was just a bit unusual. Time to lower the boom on this one and thankfully according to Okposo’s Dad…he is going to be just fine. Video maestro please.
This was some hit….BUT……
As always there are factors to the hit. Since the YouTube page is loaded with comments on this one. Let’s give these people the floor.
GoIsles: He DID have his head up, until dion’s teammate bumped him from behind into his skating line, purposefully throwing him off balance and setting him up immediately before the hit. This tactic is a BIG no-no, one that even Scott Stevens admitted he used with his linemates and said he was wrong for. Of course, nothing will come of it from the NHL, since Bettman and Campbell only suspend players who aren’t stars and let anyone who is an all-star do what ever the **** they want, regardless of injury.
Abandonedcause: Well at least now he’ll keep his head up at all time. or his team will learn to communicate,. you could see that hit coming a mile away, not only that but he DID NOT have his head up for all you people saying he did. he’ll be fine, and i agree phaneuf shouldnt be playing that hard in preseason, but to teach is to learn and to learn is to change.
Dukehollywood: Show me where in the rules it says what Phaneuf did was illegal. Until the NHL and NHLPA step in and say that “hitting a player in a vulnerable position” is against the rules, then you have to base what’s clean and what isn’t from the rule book.
Do I like seeing this happen? No. I didn’t like it when something similar happened to Havlat either. But until it’s written in the rule book, there shouldn’t be any sort of punishment for the hitter.
This is just a small sampling of comments. When you hit a player like that in the preseason…it does send a message. Was what Phaneuf did illegal? Certainly not. Was it a bit cheap? Maybe in the sense that Okposo was already prone and reaching partly from a bump but partly because Okposo was just being tenacious on the play. I will not make it a secret that I love violent collisions but anytime a player ends up on a stretcher is never good. However it is a part of the game. There are inherent risks.
Before anyone sits there and says what do you know about it? I was on both sides of a great hit. Yes I dished them out but I also took a really bad one and you know what I knew I had my head down. I was also pushed but maybe I should have let up a bit. Not letting up was what got me crowned by a 6’6″ guy who weighed 245. I still remember my head spinning on the ice but little else. Thankfully I came to quickly.
Some people will always feel disdain toward these kind of hits but until the league does something about it not much can be done. The reality is, like it or not, there was a fight afterward. That fight helps police the game. An Islanders player correctly took Phaneuf to task for the hit and that is the way it is. I am sure the next time Kyle Okposo goes up the ice like that…he will think twice. The final question I leave for everyone is this.
Would you cross a busy street with your head down? I did not think so.
