OT: 2023-2024 News Around The NHL Thread

[FinlandPanther]

I know we had high hopes for Borgstrom when we drafted him. Headed back to the SHL.

https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/washington-capitals/news/washington-capitals-henrik-borgstrom-swedish-league

Skill was never the issue with him. His drive is garbage.

 

[WaitingForThatCab]

Borgstrom is a classic case of 'everybody want to be a bodybuilder, but nobody want to lift this HEAVY ASS WEIGHT'

 

[zeroG]

This is 100% and absolut okay Hit. Why the Heck is Meier lower his Body and goes Head first.
The first thing you learn, keep your Head up.
This was a clean hit, if Meier would skate normal, so for me is this also a no call.
Meier was near cornered by the Players so his only Way is into Trouba, by the Way very smart play.

And about Meiers real weird Body position, his lower back and Neck, snap back. But that impact hit and energy no wonder.
Why did nobody respond from the Devils, cause it was a f***ing clean Hit and you lead 2:0 in Game 7. Bad for Meiers but next Round is far more important, then giving Rangers to much PP opportunitis.

I dont understand you Headhunt comment, Meiers lowers his body, move his head down and front.
Sorry for bad skating in Hockey Game your opponent cant get 2 Minutes or a Major.

I agree with @Jean Luc Discard, this is in Hockey a clean Hit. Panther Player get also caught Head down, bad Body position. People jumped in and Hockey Fans asked why, about a bad decision made by the puckcarrier or skateing Player.

he DOES NOT lower his body. his posture remains exactly the same throughout that rush. he's not hunched over. it's a fairly normal posture for someone handling the puck. the height of his head never changes.

i think he missed trouba coming off the bench, or that happened just after he scanned the left side of the ice and so he was completely unaware.

this seems to be the 22-23 version of rule 48.

Rule 48 – Illegal Check to the Head
48.1 Illegal Check to the Head – A hit resulting in contact with an opponent’s head where the head was the main point of contact and such contact to the head was avoidable is not permitted.
In determining whether contact with an opponent's head was avoidable, the circumstances of the hit including the following shall be considered:

(i) Whether the player attempted to hit squarely through the opponent’s body and the head was not "picked" as a result of poor timing, poor angle of approach, or unnecessary extension of the body upward or outward.
(ii) Whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position by assuming a posture that made head contact on an otherwise full body check unavoidable.
(iii) Whether the opponent materially changed the position of his body or head immediately prior to or simultaneously with the hit in a way that significantly contributed to the head contact.

i guess the consensus is that (i) applies here? meier absolutely did not do anything to change his position or assume a vulnerable position or posture. as i said above, if you follow his skating throughout the play, his posture, head height, etc. does not change.

trouba, also doesn't change his approach - he hops off the bench and immediately targets meier, zeroing in with his shoulder. his shoulder clearly makes contact with meier's face. it was clearly avoidable.

so it must be (i)? i don't agree - trouba has about 2 seconds to assess his angle and where he would hit meier. that's an absolute eternity. he knows he's going to plant his shoulder into meier's face for 2 seconds. the head was "picked".

if people are justifying this hit as legal based on (i), i call bullshit.

 

[zeroG]

But then that would lead to every player taking the routes and positions where they are most vulnerable for getting hit and that would take away hitting from the game. And the game is already pretty difficult when making a judgement call whether to make a hit or not within a timespan of a few seconds.

i think that's a stretch.

i've seen plays where you can legitimately say it was an accident but this wasn't one of them. we know trouba has a history of headhunting. and 2-3 seconds is more than enough time, especially in this case where player angles and postures were static leading up to the hit.

this appears to me an egregious case of targeting the head.

 

[GermanPanther]

he DOES NOT lower his body. his posture remains exactly the same throughout that rush. he's not hunched over. it's a fairly normal posture for someone handling the puck. the height of his head never changes.

i think he missed trouba coming off the bench, or that happened just after he scanned the left side of the ice and so he was completely unaware.

this seems to be the 22-23 version of rule 48.



i guess the consensus is that (i) applies here? meier absolutely did not do anything to change his position or assume a vulnerable position or posture. as i said above, if you follow his skating throughout the play, his posture, head height, etc. does not change.

trouba, also doesn't change his approach - he hops off the bench and immediately targets meier, zeroing in with his shoulder. his shoulder clearly makes contact with meier's face. it was clearly avoidable.

so it must be (i)? i don't agree - trouba has about 2 seconds to assess his angle and where he would hit meier. that's an absolute eternity. he knows he's going to plant his shoulder into meier's face for 2 seconds. the head was "picked".

if people are justifying this hit as legal based on (i), i call bullshit.

And i followed his skating one moment please. I made it fast and quick sorry for the bad picture but pause from replay sometimes pixel up.

Picture 1 show the Beginning and lets start from here and i hope real picture hope for understanding. Everyone in this 4x4 Square procedur is leaning forward.
That means every Upper Body is leaning forward, that mean ass out shoulder in front. To maximum his reach. So Meier and Trouba are leaning forward. Not a single player in the whole sequenze in a near upper Body position, or smaller leaning forward.
That is to see how the NJ Player in the back are standing.

Picture 2 shows you that trouba also leaning forward to get into the same height as Meier is current. That has nothing to do he aim for the Head. The Problem here is from the Beginning. AlL Players move Head first forward.
With the Movement Meier decided to skate to handle the Puck he brings himself into a dangerous Position and Situation. Trouba who has aslo clear in arm on his body and only shoulder, would normally Hit, Meier in the Upper Body position. But both are leaning forward to lower the contact Zone.

Whats happens from here on. is simple human reaction and energetic Physic. Meier see Trouba, stops to not crush into a wall, in the movement of a stop you always leaning back means upwards in his Situation. But Trouba is still moveing. In the Impact into Meier, Let his Head and Backbone snap back. Cause G(negativ) in the Movement, you always goes the opponent way of the impact.

So no Penalty, no suspension, no Major, no hit to the Head. Because Meier already lowered his Body as decidec Move to make. No Icehockey play will knock on the Knees, to hit the Body, when a forward thinks leaning forward avoids contacts.

 

[zeroG]

And i followed his skating one moment please. I made it fast and quick sorry for the bad picture but pause from replay sometimes pixel up.

Picture 1 show the Beginning and lets start from here and i hope real picture hope for understanding. Everyone in this 4x4 Square procedur is leaning forward.
That means every Upper Body is leaning forward, that mean ass out shoulder in front. To maximum his reach. So Meier and Trouba are leaning forward. Not a single player in the whole sequenze in a near upper Body position, or smaller leaning forward.
That is to see how the NJ Player in the back are standing.

Picture 2 shows you that trouba also leaning forward to get into the same height as Meier is current. That has nothing to do he aim for the Head. The Problem here is from the Beginning. AlL Players move Head first forward.
With the Movement Meier decided to skate to handle the Puck he brings himself into a dangerous Position and Situation. Trouba who has aslo clear in arm on his body and only shoulder, would normally Hit, Meier in the Upper Body position. But both are leaning forward to lower the contact Zone.

Whats happens from here on. is simple human reaction and energetic Physic. Meier see Trouba, stops to not crush into a wall, in the movement of a stop you always leaning back means upwards in his Situation. But Trouba is still moveing. In the Impact into Meier, Let his Head and Backbone snap back. Cause G(negativ) in the Movement, you always goes the opponent way of the impact.

So no Penalty, no suspension, no Major, no hit to the Head. Because Meier already lowered his Body as decidec Move to make. No Icehockey play will knock on the Knees, to hit the Body, when a forward thinks leaning forward avoids contacts.

i don't think meier see's trouba at all until his shoulder pad is destroying his nose. trouba's shoulder was on a collision course with meier's nose for at least 2 full seconds.

what is clear is that the head was the principal point of contact. so we have to look at the clauses used to judge whether the hit was illegal. it's my contention that meier did nothing wrong here. how is skating in a normal posture with no sudden movements putting oneself in a vulnerable position?

trouba does indeed try to hit squarely through the body. this, i think is why everyone is claiming it was a clean hit? however, it seems clear that meier's head will be the contact point based on the angle of approach. there's no other possible outcome given both players' postures and angle of approach.

i guess upon further reading of the clauses, maybe (ii) is the justification, as meier does assume "a posture that made head contact on an otherwise full body check unavoidable." i just think it was completely avoidable. there's no question trouba knew what he was doing and could've aborted the check/head hit. i don't want to see guys getting killed like this on a technicality and it seems that's what happened here.

i know i'm alone on this. what i'm trying to explain here is why i think cases like this should be handled differently. it may require further tweaking of the rules, which will probably only happen when someone like matthews gets railroaded like this.

 

[GermanPanther]

We can this Discuss, 20 more times.
You say bad hit, trouba aiming for head.
I say Meier move and skating, instigate the bad contact about bad skating and body position.
My Point is clear, if a Player brings himself into a bad position and dangerous Situation, then it's a clean Hit.


I saw a 6"4 player hit a 5"11 Player, both standing, or far more straight then Meier was in this whole sequence, arm leaned on Body bit height difference leads to shoulder to head.

So even it was a clear Hit, was called hit to the Head.

 

[austropanther]

We can this Discuss, 20 more times.
You say bad hit, trouba aiming for head.
I say Meier move and skating, instigate the bad contact about bad skating and body position.
My Point is clear, if a Player brings himself into a bad position and dangerous Situation, then it's a clean Hit.


I saw a 6"4 player hit a 5"11 Player, both standing, or far more straight then Meier was in this whole sequence, arm leaned on Body bit height difference leads to shoulder to head.

So even it was a clear Hit, was called hit to the Head.

I am so with you. I have a guy in my hockey team who is actually the most skilled and fastest, but not the smartest. He is very bulky but not the tallest, about 175 cm tall - I am at 187 cm. He has the tendency to regularly try to go through the middle against C and the 2 Dmen. Two of us engage him, funnel him to reduce his space and focus on the stick, and the 3rd guy just closes down the hole between the two where I often end up. I absolutely have to be there as a Dman. He takes the risk of getting blown up - we don't go for the knock-out hits in our league, but nevertheless dangerous situations happen. There is absolutely no reason for me to back off or let up just to save him if he decides to take the head on risk.

The smart play by Meier would have been to chip the puck into the zone, get an upright position to brace for the hit and try to get around the Dmen - without having to worry about the puck!

 

[zeroG]

I am so with you. I have a guy in my hockey team who is actually the most skilled and fastest, but not the smartest. He is very bulky but not the tallest, about 175 cm tall - I am at 187 cm. He has the tendency to regularly try to go through the middle against C and the 2 Dmen. Two of us engage him, funnel him to reduce his space and focus on the stick, and the 3rd guy just closes down the hole between the two where I often end up. I absolutely have to be there as a Dman. He takes the risk of getting blown up - we don't go for the knock-out hits in our league, but nevertheless dangerous situations happen. There is absolutely no reason for me to back off or let up just to save him if he decides to take the head on risk.

The smart play by Meier would have been to chip the puck into the zone, get an upright position to brace for the hit and try to get around the Dmen - without having to worry about the puck!

of course! but meier didn't see trouba at all. the way the play developed, meier was skating across the neutral zone diagonally and one minute, that area in front of the bench was clear, the next trouba popped off the bench and was making a beeline to him.

which brings up an important point - meier would not have seen any movement in his peripheral vision because trouba came off the bench and was basically cruising right at him.

does meier have a history of getting railroaded like this? i don't think so. correct me if i'm wrong but i don't think he has the reputation of a lindros.

which leads me my last point and then i'll let it go. there are many situations where a guy could misread a potentially dangerous situation and i don't think his life or career should be put in jeopardy as a result. i think the rule needs to be adjusted so that players like trouba, who have a history of displaying intent to injure, can justify a violent hit like that. though i used to jump out of my seat when those hits occured 20 years ago, we're older and wiser now and understand just what kind of damage is done. i don't think the game needs that.

 

[austropanther]

of course! but meier didn't see trouba at all. the way the play developed, meier was skating across the neutral zone diagonally and one minute, that area in front of the bench was clear, the next trouba popped off the bench and was making a beeline to him.

which brings up an important point - meier would not have seen any movement in his peripheral vision because trouba came off the bench and was basically cruising right at him.

does meier have a history of getting railroaded like this? i don't think so. correct me if i'm wrong but i don't think he has the reputation of a lindros.

which leads me my last point and then i'll let it go. there are many situations where a guy could misread a potentially dangerous situation and i don't think his life or career should be put in jeopardy as a result. i think the rule needs to be adjusted so that players like trouba, who have a history of displaying intent to injure, can justify a violent hit like that. though i used to jump out of my seat when those hits occured 20 years ago, we're older and wiser now and understand just what kind of damage is done. i don't think the game needs that.

Disagree 100%. It does not matter if Trouba just hopped on or not, or Meier did not look beyond the first PK forward. He tried to split through the middle between the two forwards of the PK team. Naturally there will be the LR or RD to close that hole! If you watch closely even Mikkola could have closed it off, but he saw his RD partner Trouba come on to do just that, so he could drift further towards his left. It was 100% Meier's fault.

I agree with you that the game should be safe as possible. But we are getting back to the discussion if the puck carrying player has a responsibility to stay out of dangerous situations or not. Yes he does. Or we can just start applying basketball rules where you are only allowed to man-mark each player. When that day comes I'll stop watching hockey.

 

[PSLguy]

 

[5 Hole]

Looks like Nashville is going for the Bruno experiment. Should be interesting.

 

[FinlandPanther]

Nice of the Leafs to circumvent that cap with two shitters in Murray and Klingberg.

 

[FinlandPanther]

Maybe we can put all the players we don’t like on LTIR next season with an injury since you can just put healthy players there.

 

[Cats2TheCup]

For fun: McDavid looks so depressed. 2 years left on his contract. Do you think when he imagines what it would be like playing for another franchise, that living in Florida, a club in the midst of their prime organizationally under Zito, tickles his fancy more than most?

If so, do you think he would rather get paid $10+ to play in Fla, rather than $14+ to play in Edmonton? The man looks so frickin depressed I don’t think he, like Matthew Tkachuk, would chase money over winning at this point in his career.

 

[FinlandPanther]

For fun: McDavid looks so depressed. 2 years left on his contract. Do you think when he imagines what it would be like playing for another franchise, that living in Florida, a club in the midst of their prime organizationally under Zito, tickles his fancy more than most?

If so, do you think he would rather get paid $10+ to play in Fla, rather than $14+ to play in Edmonton? The man looks so frickin depressed I don’t think he, like Matthew Tkachuk, would chase money over winning at this point in his career.

If Mcdavid wants to come here you do whatever the f*** you can to get him.

 

[TotalHomer]

For fun: McDavid looks so depressed. 2 years left on his contract. Do you think when he imagines what it would be like playing for another franchise, that living in Florida, a club in the midst of their prime organizationally under Zito, tickles his fancy more than most?

If so, do you think he would rather get paid $10+ to play in Fla, rather than $14+ to play in Edmonton? The man looks so frickin depressed I don’t think he, like Matthew Tkachuk, would chase money over winning at this point in his career.

He looks like a 40 year old bum nowadays. A man full of regret watching his career go down the drain. I agree, he needs some Florida sun.

 

[KW]

He looks like a 40 year old bum nowadays. A man full of regret watching his career go down the drain. I agree, he needs some Florida sun.

Definitely - vitamin D deficiency leads to depression, he needs natural vitamin D activation for his own health!

 

[TotalHomer]

Definitely - vitamin D deficiency leads to depression, he needs natural vitamin D activation for his own health!

 

[Prominence Problem]

Mega announcement I'm just seeing this morning;

NHL has agreed to let players participate in the winter Olympics for 2026 and 2030!

 

[Ghoste]

They’re leaving Bob out to dry.

 

[BeezKnees]

Arizona Coyotes players told team is moving to Utah

The Arizona Coyotes' move to Utah is inching closer to becoming official.

www.sportsnet.ca

 

[Prominence Problem]

Arizona Coyotes players told team is moving to Utah

The Arizona Coyotes' move to Utah is inching closer to becoming official.

www.sportsnet.ca

One more game left in the desert.

@violaswallet allet But you are glad you went in January.

 

[violaswallet]

One more game left in the desert.

@violaswallet allet But you are glad you went in January.

Bro yeah heart broken though

I was definitely viewing Phoenix as a possible next step for me given the team and some other stuff.

Those fans don’t deserve this. Reminds me so much of when I lost the thrashers

 

[KW]

Where in Utah are they gonna play, Salt Lake? Will you need to be “sponsored” for $20 to have a beer at the arena? (If you’ve ever gone to a bar in salt lake you know what I mean.)