Mike Richards' hit on David Booth

There's a lot of buzz today around Mike Richards' hit on David Booth and whether or not the league should've suspended Richards (they didn't). Broad Street Hockey says the league got it right while Empty Netters says the NHL is a joke. Take a look at this hit and judge for yourself.

over 2 years ago FrankD 16 comments 0 recs |

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Of course flyers fans think it’s the correct call.

A player could pull a knife & stab another player & they would think it was ok.
They wouldn’t know what a clean hit was in the first place.

Could you imagine the crying & whining those same fans would be doing if Booth took out Richards like that?

Way to go NHL, you prove once again that you’re a joke by protecting the goon teams

All Penguins, All The Time!

by GhostWalker40 on Oct 25, 2009 4:39 PM EDT reply actions

I stood up for Chris Kunitz for a similar hit on Kimmo Timonen in the playoffs last year.

http://www.broadstreethockey.com/2009/4/21/846747/kunitzs-hit-was-philadelphian

Broad Street Hockey - SB Nation's Philadelphia Flyers Blog. Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Travis Hughes on Oct 25, 2009 4:41 PM EDT up reply actions

That hit was chest to chest, not even close to a blind side head shot like last night. Apples & oranges…

All Penguins, All The Time!

by GhostWalker40 on Oct 25, 2009 4:46 PM EDT up reply actions

That’s just not true, but I’m not going to sit here and debate it with you because frankly I just don’t care. Enjoy your Kool-Aid.

Broad Street Hockey - SB Nation's Philadelphia Flyers Blog. Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Travis Hughes on Oct 25, 2009 4:47 PM EDT up reply actions

If you don’t want to debate it, then don’t try to justify a cheap shot. Seems rather simple…

All Penguins, All The Time!

by GhostWalker40 on Oct 25, 2009 4:52 PM EDT up reply actions

By the rule book, it is not suspension-worthy. He didn’t leave his feet, he stayed low, he used his shoulder, and it was a split second after Booth got rid of the puck. I understand the no suspension call.

However, I do feel he isolated Booth’s head. Richards saw Booth’s head in a prone position, and attacked it. He could’ve made shoulder on shoulder contact, and still gotten a pretty good shot in. Instead, he just went for the bigger shot by just making contact with Booth’s head.

by Link_Gaetz on Oct 25, 2009 4:59 PM EDT up reply actions

AGREED

The two were very similar hits and neither of the hits were even in the realm of Kasparitis or Stevens hitting Lindross (which most of us cherish fondly as brilliant hits)!! The main difference is that the puck was passed shortly before the hit, which I believe is irrelevant.

KEEP YOUR HEAD UP!! THIS IS A CONTACT SPORT!

by Ulf Murphy on Oct 26, 2009 11:32 AM EDT up reply actions

EN got it right
http://community.post-gazette.com/blogs/emptynetters/archive/2009/10/25/nhl-joke-10-25-09.aspx

All Penguins, All The Time!

by GhostWalker40 on Oct 25, 2009 5:25 PM EDT reply actions

I don’t know how can he not be suspended for that one… a clear shoulder-to-head hit… and here it’s not about the “book” and the “didn’t leave his feet” bodycheck… it’s about a possible career-ending hit… or worse life-ending… I hope we don’t have to get to the situation when a player lays motionless on the ice and never moves again…

it’s not so difficult to make the difference… the head is not a shoulder, not a leg, not an arm… head injuries can have severe impact on players’ careers and/or lives… so those kind of hits should ALWAYS be subject to suspention… it doesn’t matter if it’s Richards or Ovechkin or Crosby or whoever…

You have to see it for yourself...

by Bla Razor on Oct 25, 2009 5:44 PM EDT reply actions

bottom line is

that unless its one of the big 3 getting the hit, there wont be a suspension. you really shouldnt be suprised. richard went right for the guys mellon and to travis:

kunitz hit was right in what we ol military folk call “the 10 ring”. kunitz drilled him in the center of the chest at full speed and kimmo went flying. this is an entirely different hit. kunitz was not out to hurt kimmo, however when you line a guys head up and blind side him, its hard to agrue that there was no intent to injure.

" Lord Stanley, scratch thier names on your fabled cup" Mike Lange june 12, 2009

by oldtimehockey09 on Oct 25, 2009 10:09 PM EDT up reply actions

I see Richard’s intention to make contact with his shoulder, but I can’t see the intent to strike the head. It just happened. I am no fan of Richard’s, but I stand by the fact that no rules were broken in this instance.

by Ulf Murphy on Oct 26, 2009 11:41 AM EDT up reply actions

Obviously I’m in the minority here, but to me the hit is legit. Keep your head up. Let’s not ruin hockey like they did football and start putting a skirt on the puck carrier.

by PensFan024 on Oct 26, 2009 9:05 AM EDT reply actions

Nice, blame the guy that got hospitalized for the head shot. Hmmmm

All Penguins, All The Time!

by GhostWalker40 on Oct 26, 2009 9:31 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

There’s a world of difference between protecting players on a basic level and “putting a skirt on the puck carrier”.

by David Getz on Oct 26, 2009 10:05 AM EDT up reply actions

Well, what was wrong with the hit then? He didn’t leave his feet and he kept his elbows down. That is legal plain and simple. what do you propose, that you can’t hit a player that’s not looking. If that was the case Lindros would still have a job. It is a shame that it happened, but these things will happen and players need to protect themselves from hits like those.

by PensFan024 on Oct 26, 2009 11:23 AM EDT up reply actions

Well,

This was an upgraded shot like the one given to my boy Jonathan Toews last week. Where I can see both arguments, I would say, at the least, you should fine a player for taking liberties on a player who’s head is down, and you pop in in the head. Toews’ shot was in the chest, and it knocked him loopy. Booth was out cold from the head shot, that’s head shot as in he was belted in the head and neck area causing him to lose consciousness, before his head and face met the ice.

Clean? According to the rules perhaps, but I look at this as a guy zooming in from the moment he had the puck, to the moment he passed it, to the second he looked ahead and still decided the give him a shoulder and arm into the head at full bore. Whether it’s legal or not, you’ve got to do something about cheap head shots like that in the league. I’m all in favor of jumbo hits and fighting, but it’s gray areas like these head shots that make the NHL still seem a bit crass.

PensBurgh penalty - Lavender - 2 Minutes for Excessive Stanley Cup Raising.

by Lavender on Oct 26, 2009 12:12 PM EDT reply actions