Nick Jensen stretchered off - reported to be conscious and alert

[HTFN]

"defenseless opponent"..."dangerously"...."shall be at the discretion of the Referee". Nothing ambiguous there.....

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Unfortunate outcome, not a penalty

When you start that hit there and follow through so hard you make your opponent hit the wall with no ice in between you still boarded them. Finish them down, no problem. Decide to blow them straight into the wall? Boarding.

This is what that rule should reflect 100% of the time. There are countless ways to still win that contact without putting somebody in the fencing position. If we're to the point where we can say the onus is on the hitter to make sure they get shoulder contact and avoid the head in the open ice in fractions of seconds, we can say that players should calculate the follow through of their hits enough that nobody is smacking their head into the wall either.

 

[Rschmitz]

When you start that hit there and follow through so hard you make your opponent hit the wall with no ice in between you still boarded them. Finish them down, no problem. Decide to blow them straight into the wall? Boarding.

This is what that rule should reflect 100% of the time. There are countless ways to still win that contact without putting somebody in the fencing position. If we're to the point where we can say the onus is on the hitter to make sure they get shoulder contact and avoid the head in the open ice in fractions of seconds, we can say that players should calculate the follow through of their hits enough that nobody is smacking their head into the wall either.

Jensen went flying because he stared at his dump in and was off balance, it's not like 180lb soaking wet Eyssimont has the ability to check a guy like that without some help.

A normal boarding penalty you see clear intent to check into the boards, it's unreasonable to think Eyssimont should have expected that to happen with the angle he took and where he checked him, Jensens butt even touches the ice for a fraction of a second before his upper torso swings back into the boards. I'd call it boarding if it was clear Jensen was defenseless, but it's not, and that is why the refs even with the benefit of replay review said it wasn't a penalty.

 

[HTFN]

Jensen went flying because he stared at his dump in and was off balance, it was his own speed and momentum that sent him flying, it's not like 180lb soaking wet Eyssimont has the ability to check a guy like that without some help.

A normal boarding penalty you see clear intent to check into the boards, it's unreasonable to think Eyssimont should have expected that to happen with the angle he took and where he checked him, Jensens butt even touches the ice for a fraction of a second before his upper torso swings back into the boards, and that is why the refs even with the benefit of replay review said it wasn't a penalty.

That's a clown take, top to bottom. Pick a lane, if he was staring at a dump in it was probably late, nobody should be chasing down a check on a dump at the blue line like this if they can see the defenseman "staring" at it. If it's an on-time check, there are still issues.

Jensen isn't eating mad shit into the boards by himself. Off balance is also this thing known as "defenseless", so... let's round it all off by saying touching the ice by a fraction of a second is still just colliding violently with the boards. That time bought nothing and nothing in the rule says "player colliding violently with the boards first and foremost, before anything else, and contact with the ice should negate any penalty".

Eyssimont, by his own actions through the check, caused a player to violently impact the boards first and foremost to the point that said player was instantly knocked unconscious.

If that's not boarding, again, what the f*** are we doing here because it's written right into the language of the rule. Referee's discretion, yes, but it's that discretion that has to change because this happens a few times a year and it's avoidable and stupid every single time.

 

[Rschmitz]

That's a clown take, top to bottom.

Jensen isn't eating mad shit into the boards by himself. Off balance is also this thing known as "defenseless", so... let's round it all off by saying touching the ice by a fraction of a second is not at all avoiding colliding violently with the boards.

Eyssimont, by his own actions through the check, caused a player to violently impact the boards first and foremost to the point that said player was instantly knocked unconscious.

If that's not boarding, again, what the f*** are we doing here because it's written right into the language of the rule. Referee's discretion, yes, but it's that discretion that has to change because this happens a few times a year and it's avoidable and stupid every single time.

That's not what I said, you're cherry picking out of context. Continue being intellectually dishonest with what boarding a defenseless player means.

 

[YippieKaey]

Nah, it was a perfecty good, legitimate hit. Jensen walked out of the rink just fine right? Was probably faking it just like "tough guy" Wilson went down like a rag doll when Nick Nasty elbowed him in the face. This is ice hockey not ice skating, suck it up buttercup!

What would you know about it, you're like 16 and never played the game for a second.

 

[HTFN]

That's not what I said, you're literally cherry picking out of context. Continue being intellectually dishonest with what boarding a defenseless player means.

I'm not cherry picking anything, I'm taking the rule and applying it to situations where a player is defenseless but not necessarily showing numbers.

Those exist. This is one of them. Eyssimont's follow through is the reason Jensen hit the boards hard enough to be unconscious.

You tell me what part I'm actually misunderstanding instead of playing games. If he's hit while off balance he's defenseless. If he's defenseless and hits the boards like that it's boarding. What am I missing? You don't think it's reasonable for Eyssimont to think that if he hits a guy who has already got board-facing momentum hard and follow through, said player is going into the boards there?

You even gave screenshots of where the hit actually took place. For him to be thrown all the way into the boards screams that Eyssimont could have done less and prevented the situation, didn't, and now here we are.

 

[CanadienShark]

Jensen should've gotten treatment. If you're completely out after slamming your head against the boards, the smart thing would be to take care of yourself, at least not refuse to stay overnight to check and see for complications. I really hope he's truly okay.

At the same time, though...I don't know what Eyssimont is supposed to do. He finished a hard check, and it was an unfortunate result. Wasn't a headshot, wasn't egregiously late, just...aside from Jensen hitting his head on the boards, it would've been a solid check.

I'd have given him two minutes. I don't get the non-call myself. But I don't view this as a malicious or reckless hit; just finishing a legal check with an unfortunate result.

I'm not sure how you can justify giving two minutes when you think it's a legal hit. You punish for illegal actions, not unfortunate results. I haven't seen the hit myself, so I'm not commenting on the legality of it specifically.

 

[Neil Racki]

Hit was fine just unfortunate result being off balance and location to the boards imo

Glad Nick went home last night

 

[WhatTheDuck]

My son is 11 and I didn't really like him seeing Jensen lay on the ice completely motionless for quite some time. Scary to watch.

I will never forget that time Marchment ran into the open penalty box door. My dad jumped up to cover my eyes because he was sure the guy was dying.

These incidents come along a few times per year and they are never any easier to watch. Fingers crossed for Jensen to make a full and swift recovery.

 

[BB79]

Dowd fought Eyssimont later on.

Looked more like Dowd was fighting and Eyssimont was turtling

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

If you can’t throw that hit, we might as well not even hockey anymore.

Thankfully player showing positive signs.

Kudos to Tampa player(s) preventing Caps from stepping/landing on their prone teammate.

 

[Bruinswillwin77]

My initial thought was no penalty.

 

[General Fanager]

Yea thats not a penalty.....unfortunate result though.....

 

[Summer Rose]

I thought it was a minor for boarding at first glance. Just an unfortunate result. However, after watching the replay, it could go either way.

That said, while game management is unpopular, I feel like the officials would have done well to either call it, or at the very least skew any calls in the resulting scrum to award Washington with a power play, in an effort to keep the game under control.

 

[hatterson]

Definition of Major and Game Misconduct for Boarding. Insane, but just add it the law suit that will bury the NHL


Literally can’t be called a minor by the rules Requires Major and GM by the rules.

It absolutely could have been called a minor.

By rule, the difference between minor, major, and match penalty are entirely up to referee discretion.

*If* the referees chose to apply a major penalty *and* there is a head/face injury, then a game misconduct is required. But a head/face injury does not require a major penalty and doesn’t require a game misconduct if a minor is called.

In practice almost all boarding calls that result in a head/face injury are violent enough to warrant a misconduct, so you’d rarely see a minor called, but it is technically possible.

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

I thought it was a minor for boarding at first glance. Just an unfortunate result. However, after watching the replay, it could go either way.

That said, while game management is unpopular, I feel like the officials would have done well to either call it, or at the very least skew any calls in the resulting scrum to award Washington with a power play, in an effort to keep the game under control.

THIS type of game management is exactly what the officials exist for. To prevent things getting out of hand. The most egregious incidents usually come because officials didn’t make calls and control the game. The game management people despise is where they intentionally try to control the score.

 

[Summer Rose]

THIS type of game management is exactly what the officials exist for. To prevent things getting out of hand. The most egregious incidents usually come because officials didn’t make calls and control the game. The game management people despise is where they intentionally try to control the score.

I'm admittedly guilty as charged, if I assume what you mean correctly, from my time as an official, but it was only in blowout games. If the score started to get out of hand, I would begin to apply a stricter standard of enforcement to the leading team and loosen up on the trailing team for restraining fouls (hooking, holding, etc.), however I would crack down hard on aggressive fouls (roughing, slashing, cross checking, etc.) on both teams. Granted, this was only in blowout games, not close games.

Edit: it wasn't an effort to control the score, it was also just an effort to keep things from getting out of hand.

 

[bleedgreen]

Of course he fell awkwardly because he was pushed! It drives me nuts to how many ppl don't play ice hockey or don't understand the physics of it! Whether you shoot left-handed or right-handed, when your follow through with your stick on puck, you will have slight shift of weight to one side or another. When another player comes in skating motion towards you and even the slightest contact against the player on the follow through, that player is gonna fall off balance awkwardly because they had not even a slit sec to embrace the side impact.

Doesn’t make it a bad hit. It was obviously a bad result but there wasn’t anything vicious about the hit itself. The hit wasn’t blindside, there wasn’t any elbow or cross check. Like you said he lost his balance quickly. That isn’t a moment in the rules where you can’t be touched, the moment you shift your momentum as you release the puck. He took a hit to make a play, as they say. You’re only left with calling this possibly a boarding depending on how far away from the boards you think he is at impact, though more often than not that’s from behind. I don’t think there was anything about Jensen that made it illegal to hit him.

 

[Leksand]

Does anyone know if it’s possible to read the NHL rule book online? There are lots of assertions here that’s a clean hit, but I don’t think so based on other ice hockey rules I’ve read in detail from original source. Seen quite similar incidents and hearing assertions “that’s a clean hit” with all kinds confident explanations of why that is no then when you actually look into it - those explanations have no bearing in the rule book and there are aspects explicitly in the rule that many either don’t know or ignore.

Maybe that’s clean by the NHL rule book, I don’t know and would like to read the NHL rule book. Couldn’t find that easily.

 

[hatterson]

Does anyone know if it’s possible to read the NHL rule book online? There are lots of assertions here that’s a clean hit, but I don’t think so based on other ice hockey rules I’ve read in detail from original source. Seen quite similar incidents and hearing assertions “that’s a clean hit” with all kinds confident explanations of why that is no then when you actually look into it - those explanations have no bearing in the rule book and there are aspects explicitly in the rule that many either don’t know or ignore.

Maybe that’s clean by the NHL rule book, I don’t know and would like to read the NHL rule book. Couldn’t find that easily.

https://media.nhl.com/site/asset/public/ext/2023-24/2023-24Rulebook.pdf

 

[TheUnusedCrayon]

Guy gets stretchered off and no video?

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

No problem with finishing the check, but clearly boarding…

 

[flying squirrel]

Glad he's OK, was scary when it took place. On the side of Jensen should've gotten more thoroughly checked out afterwards. Lightnign have had some scary events latley.....

Eyssimont hit was OK and not dirty. Was routine center-ice hit done when dumping puck down. Game had intensity, playoff vibes, and everyone was finishing checks. Thank goodness neither Jensen or Eyssimont got hurt from unusual results from a routine hit.

 

[Chainshot]

Of course he fell awkwardly because he was pushed! It drives me nuts to how many ppl don't play ice hockey or don't understand the physics of it! Whether you shoot left-handed or right-handed, when your follow through with your stick on puck, you will have slight shift of weight to one side or another. When another player comes in skating motion towards you and even the slightest contact against the player on the follow through, that player is gonna fall off balance awkwardly because they had not even a slit sec to embrace the side impact.

Yes, and it is a contact sport. Nothing that was done to Jensen was outside the norms of the physical aspects of the game. Eyssimont didn't hit Jensen from behind, he didn't target Jensen's head with any part of his body, he didn't punch him, elbow him. strike him with his stick or even kick him in the nuts. He gave him a push that resulted in a Jensen falling awkwardly into the boards and hitting his head. That play is bad luck. It could be a boarding penalty due to the outcome sure, but it wasn't something other than a normal part of the game.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Guy gets stretchered off and no video?