McNabb headshot on Kopitar

[N o o d l e s]

Any threads started on questionable plays should be locked if there’s no hearing by DPS. All these threads do is turn into an unneeded shitshow between the fans of both teams.

 

[Kale Hulls]

Anybody who thinks that this is a two min penalty and Doughty's hit was a deserved suspension want to tell me what the difference here was? I think we can all agree that the head was the principal point of contact on both hits.

 

[mooncalf]

Anybody who thinks that this is a two min penalty and Doughty's hit was a deserved suspension want to tell me what the difference here was? I think we can all agree that the head was the principal point of contact on both hits.

Doughty's hit took place at a much faster speed, thus creating an imminent risk of harm that is not present to nearly the same degree in the McNabb hit. p = m * v

 

[Jesus Take the Wheel]

Looks like there was minimal contact to the head, two minute interference call yes but nothing more

 

[SFKingshomer]

happened behind the play and the Kings didn't whine about it or fake injury

 

[Moses Doughty]

Doughty's hit took place at a much faster speed, thus creating an imminent risk of harm that is not present to nearly the same degree in the McNabb hit. p = m * v

And the fact one was interference and one was on the puck

 

[mooncalf]

And the fact one was interference and one was on the puck

TBH, I'm kinda torn on the Doughty suspension. On the one hand, I think it was a dangerous hit and he needs to be more careful there. I would like all such hits to be out of the game as much as possible. On the other hand, the suspension seems extremely severe given it is the playoffs and Doughty has no history. Neither does the suspension seem in line with similar hits given in the recent past.

Still, the Doughty hit is in no way comparable to the McNabb hit here. Nobody would even be talking about McNabb if Doughty hadn't been suspended, and it's quite a reach.

 

[Kale Hulls]

Doughty's hit took place at a much faster speed, thus creating an imminent risk of harm that is not present to nearly the same degree in the McNabb hit. p = m * v

This is the response I was expecting. You really can't track speed from watching a video tho..

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

TBH, I'm kinda torn on the Doughty suspension. On the one hand, I think it was a dangerous hit and he needs to be more careful there. I would like all such hits to be out of the game as much as possible. On the other hand, the suspension seems extremely severe given it is the playoffs and Doughty has no history. Neither does the suspension seem in line with similar hits given in the recent past.

Still, the Doughty hit is in no way comparable to the McNabb hit here. Nobody would even be talking about McNabb if Doughty hadn't been suspended, and it's quite a reach.

That's exactly my point, though.

We've established within this series that you can't contact the head for any reason, even with the plausible deniability of a hockey play.

Why is it okay for McNabb to go high on Kopitar 5 seconds after the puck is gone in a total non hockey play where the purpose is only to wreck a star's melon?

If we're using the same lens, this deserves a look. If we're not--and it looks like we're not--just highlighting the godawful inconsistency of the DoPS.

Also makes it pretty clear that a lot of people were mad at the other one simply because it was Doughty and the Vegas organization and blogosphere cried to the high heavens about it, since this one is getting dismissed with "LOL come on."

 

[hector morrison]

Can't have it both ways!
Firstly,was there contact with the head? yes.
2nd was it intentional? yes.
3rd, did Kopitar have the puck? no.
Conclusion....suspension! For consistency sake.
I care for neither team,but if the league is serious, then headshots can't be a judgement call! Other than say, when there is incidental contact that is very obvious.

 

[Moses Doughty]

TBH, I'm kinda torn on the Doughty suspension. On the one hand, I think it was a dangerous hit and he needs to be more careful there. I would like all such hits to be out of the game as much as possible. On the other hand, the suspension seems extremely severe given it is the playoffs and Doughty has no history. Neither does the suspension seem in line with similar hits given in the recent past.

Still, the Doughty hit is in no way comparable to the McNabb hit here. Nobody would even be talking about McNabb if Doughty hadn't been suspended, and it's quite a reach.

The problem is that there were worse hits that went unpunished in the regular season which makes even worse. And the only reason the McNabb hit is getting so much talk (as was the RyJo hit and maybe the Wilson/Anderson hits) is because the suspension in the first place. The Doughty hit should've set the standard for what will get suspended this postseason, but the NHL/DOPS has already failed that

Maybe it's the teams, maybe it's because the Kings didn't go complain about it post-game, who knows.

 

[Dicdonya]

Can't have it both ways!
Firstly,was there contact with the head? yes.
2nd was it intentional? yes.
3rd, did Kopitar have the puck? no.
Conclusion....suspension! For consistency sake.
I care for neither team,but if the league is serious, then headshots can't be a judgement call! Other than say, when there is incidental contact that is very obvious.

This is all it should boil down to. I don't even care about head shots per se, but the league supposedly does, yet there is zero consistency in the rulings and a ton of "head contact" plays that go 100% unpunished. It looks really horrible on the league being that flippant about player safety while pretending they actually do want to stop it.

The league should do as you said, but I also think punishment should be a specific amount each time as well. Stop with the completely random games suspended, and just make it a chart. So maybe 1 game for first offense. 5 games for 2nd offense, 20 games for 3rd offense. Obviously how many tiers, games etc can all be negotiated.

However if the league isn't serious about head shots, then what they are doing works just fine to continue to allow them to occur regularly.

As for being on topic to this thread. That was a cheap, very late hit, but absolutely tiny in terms of force. Kopitar had about zero chance of being injured by that hit, I've been hit harder by a strong breeze than that hit. So to me it was at most an interference call, for clearly interfering with Kopitar about a mile away from the puck. I also understand however based on the leagues supposed policy about head shots, why LA fans, and maybe some others, want to see a suspension for that hit despite its non-severity.

 

[Osprey]

It looks like a clear penalty to me. Was it called? If not, a fine might be appropriate, but not a suspension. This was more like Johansen's hit on Barrie (which did not receive a suspension) than Doughty's hit on Carrier, IMO.

 

[Phillybean]

Can't have it both ways!
Firstly,was there contact with the head? yes.
2nd was it intentional? yes.
3rd, did Kopitar have the puck? no.
Conclusion....suspension! For consistency sake.
I care for neither team,but if the league is serious, then headshots can't be a judgement call! Other than say, when there is incidental contact that is very obvious.

I feel that suspensions should be for a play that either did or had a high likelihood of resulting in an injury or concussion. A slow moving stiff arm to the head like McNabb isn't going to injure Kopitar. Won't be a concussion. Won't keep him out of the game or pull him for concussion protocol. Doughty made a higher speed, dangerous check that resulted in hard head contact. That just isn't allowed any more.

 

[Anisimovs AK]

How soon some of us for get Crosby and Steckel. That was far more accidental as well.

So the question becomes is an intentional elbow to the head predatory? We've see what can be dangerous.

Oh, and I'll answer that one as well. The Pronger elbow and suspension says yes.

Any pronger related suspension is atleast 8 years old. So maybe provide some more context/evidence than a passing mention

 

[ShonSaunders]

Can't have it both ways!
Firstly,was there contact with the head? yes.
2nd was it intentional? yes.
3rd, did Kopitar have the puck? no.
Conclusion....suspension! For consistency sake.
I care for neither team,but if the league is serious, then headshots can't be a judgement call! Other than say, when there is incidental contact that is very obvious.

I think this sums it up. Consistency.

 

[mouser]

That's exactly my point, though.

We've established within this series that you can't contact the head for any reason, even with the plausible deniability of a hockey play.

Why is it okay for McNabb to go high on Kopitar 5 seconds after the puck is gone in a total non hockey play where the purpose is only to wreck a star's melon?

If we're using the same lens, this deserves a look. If we're not--and it looks like we're not--just highlighting the godawful inconsistency of the DoPS.

Also makes it pretty clear that a lot of people were mad at the other one simply because it was Doughty and the Vegas organization and blogosphere cried to the high heavens about it, since this one is getting dismissed with "LOL come on."

I don’t think we’ve established that at all. They’re different situations and hits.

I was surprised Doughty got a suspension, not because the check was clean but rather due to him being a star without a track record of dirty play. In a vacuum any random anonymous NHL player has a good probability of drawing a suspension for that check. The NHL has been cracking down on checks to the head, and by the rulebook the Doughty/Carrier check clearly fit into what the NHL has been trying to do.

The McNabb/Kopitar incident is a different situation, not okay by any means and I’m disappointed a penalty wasn’t called. But I disagree with the assessment it was only to “wreck a star’s melon”. The force to the head simply isn’t there.

 

[ShonSaunders]

I feel that suspensions should be for a play that either did or had a high likelihood of resulting in an injury or concussion. A slow moving stiff arm to the head like McNabb isn't going to injure Kopitar. Won't be a concussion. Won't keep him out of the game or pull him for concussion protocol. Doughty made a higher speed, dangerous check that resulted in hard head contact. That just isn't allowed any more.

Giving a guy an unexpected elbow or forearm to his jaw could potentially injure him, regardless of the force. The speed of Kopitar along with the force of McNabb’s arm had the potential to injure. Th real issue though, is McNabb intentionally hit him in front of the ref, and the rule book became a non factor.

 

[Anisimovs AK]

This is the response I was expecting. You really can't track speed from watching a video tho..

Yes you can. Especially considering both players had taken less than 3 strides after being at a standstill...

 

[tny760]

how is this any different than a gloved punch?

that got lucic suspended for a game right?

 

[valet]

there's no arguing that he hit him in the head but this isn't the type of headshot the league is going to do anything about cause it wasn't a dangerous check at high speeds

The precedent has been set, otherwise we'd have suspensions after every fight or minor scrum in front of the net

basically what I'm saying is that he didn't really hit him hard, it was more like a bop on the nose that a high impact collision

 

[Bandit]

You know there is a line between something deserving of a penalty, and something deserving of a suspension?

Someone should tell Parros.

 

[Armourboy]

Yes you can. Especially considering both players had taken less than 3 strides after being at a standstill...

You can also tell by the reaction of the blow. If either player had been going at close to full speed when he hit he would have been laying on his back possible bleeding like heck.

 

[Canuck Luck]

Nothing more than a 2 min penalty either for roughing or unsportsmanlike conduct. Ref definitely let it slide when it should have been called but as the old schoolers would say, that’s playoff hockey letting the behind the scenes stuff like that go

 

[Montecristo]

mcnabb set a moving screen and kopitar ran into it. Mcnabb may have caught his head but kopitar initiated the contact by running into mcnabb. Could have called mcnabb for the moving screen but headshots are when players launch into other players heads. Mcnabb wasn’t even skating at kopitar there