GDT: Burning players from Calgary vs Choke Artists from Carolina

Sens1Canes2

Registered User
May 13, 2007
10,666
8,292
He clearly catches Aho's head...no debate.

The league and most everyone wants to see this type of contact out of the game...no debate.

However, given the circumstances of the hit, I do not believe it was a deliberate head target...more of a deliberate play-the-body attempt in a very fast play with a bad outcome.

In other words, it's manslaughter and not 1st degree murder.

Giordano is standing up. So is Aho. I’m not exactly sure, if they come together, if it’s possible that someone’s head DOESN’T get contacted.

It’s an unfortunate reality of the game, much like football. You can’t eliminate head shots entirely. And I’m not sure in the Giordano-Aho situation that if Giordano plays the body (which most defensemen would), Aho’s head doesn’t get hit 95% of the time.
 

Boom Boom Apathy

I am the Professor. Deal with it!
Sep 6, 2006
48,174
97,101
Yeah, that's how I see it too. I'll be a bit surprised if there is a suspension there, unless they deem the knee on knee was intentional. He kept his elbow in, he didn't leave his feet, the main point of contact was his body even though he also caught his head, he didn't take a bad angle, and Aho put himself in a vulnerable spot. Giordano had to play the body there and given how Aho shifted lanes to try to go around him.

Our season, which is hanging by threads as it is, is completely toast if Aho is either out for an extended period or isn't the same when he comes back. Calgary's plan was to be physical with Aho, and hit him often though, you could see that from the start. Bennett was repeatedly cross checking him in the 1st period, then the took a run at him (legally) near the bench, etc.. Can't say I blame them on that strategy.
 

AhoLottaLove

Registered User
Jun 30, 2010
2,050
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It's a hit to the head sure. But what's Gio supposed to do there? Aho was going cross ice with his head down right toward the net. I don't see how Gio could have made contact without hitting his head given Aho's body position and the size differential. The alternative is to not hit him and give up the scoring chance. Is that the way we want hockey played?

Hate to see Aho go down but that play was 100% his fault. He's been making high risky plays like that for the last five games or so. Not unlike how Skinner played his second season. It was only a matter of time before someone knocked him out.
 

GoldiFox

Registered User
Apr 21, 2014
13,287
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It's a hit to the head sure. But what's Gio supposed to do there? Aho was going cross ice with his head down right toward the net. I don't see how Gio could have made contact without hitting his head given Aho's body position and the size differential. The alternative is to not hit him and give up the scoring chance. Is that the way we want hockey played?

Hate to see Aho go down but that play was 100% his fault. He's been making high risky plays like that for the last five games or so. Not unlike how Skinner played his second season. It was only a matter of time before someone knocked him out.

An offensive player forces a situation where the defenceman's only options are to 1) Give him the scoring chance or 2) injure him. The way I want hockey played is to eliminate dangerous plays and increase skill plays. I agree that Aho has been getting ballsy lately and he should not have put himself in that position. However, Gio made a decision to headhunt/kneehunt as Aho was streaking down the ice. The Flames had been playing Aho that way all game. It ended in a young NHL star getting severely injured. That isn't the way I want the game to be played.

It is the exact same concept as cracking down on headhunting WRs in NFL/NCAAF. High skill guys make a living putting themselves in risky situations. Just because the hit is there doesn't mean that it is right to take it. On top of that, targeting knees is something that needs to be policed with very high scrutiny.
 

Svechhammer

THIS is hockey?
Jun 8, 2017
23,436
85,956
Everyone do yourself a favor and avoid the thread on the main board about the hit.

It’s going something like this:


I mean it's pretty typical. Bunch of keyboard jocks thinking a player deserves to be injured because they had the audacity to look at the puck. Happens every time someone gets concussed. Every time.

I wish the NHL would adopt a zero tolerance policy on shots to the head. Make contact to the head, and it's an automatic 5 minute major with a 2 minute targeting minor tacked on. Then enforce an automatic 2 game suspension for first time offense and scale up for every successive shot. Put the onus on the guy making the hit. These players have to take accountability for this kind of reckless play, and I'm sick of blaming the ones who end up in the hospital.
 

Chrispy

Salakuljettaja's Blues
Feb 25, 2009
8,196
26,226
Cary, NC
I mean it's pretty typical. Bunch of keyboard jocks thinking a player deserves to be injured because they had the audacity to look at the puck. Happens every time someone gets concussed. Every time.

I wish the NHL would adopt a zero tolerance policy on shots to the head. Make contact to the head, and it's an automatic 5 minute major with a 2 minute targeting minor tacked on. Then enforce an automatic 2 game suspension for first time offense and scale up for every successive shot. Put the onus on the guy making the hit. These players have to take accountability for this kind of reckless play, and I'm sick of blaming the ones who end up in the hospital.

I half expect to read "Maybe Aho shouldn't have dressed so provocatively."
 

Boom Boom Apathy

I am the Professor. Deal with it!
Sep 6, 2006
48,174
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Where am I missing this "body was primary point of contact" angle? Someone have video?

It's tough to see for sure in the video, as many of these types of hits are. One of the guys in the main board thread grabbed the best still he could at the point of impact. While the head was hit, it wasn't a case of a guy just coming by and picking the head. He got a lot of Aho's body with that hit and it's hard for me to say he targeted his head.

guism43.png
 
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RodTheBawd

Registered User
Oct 16, 2013
5,529
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I'm on the fence here. I don't think Gio was head hunting, but the head was absolutely the principle point of contact (as well as the knee). What I can't tell is whether or not Aho moving his right arm is what resulted in Gio hitting the head vs. shoulder. Had Aho not toe dragged, his right shoulder would be more square to Gio. He still would have caught the head, but it would have been after the shoulder contact. I'm down to giving him 1 game at this point.

^Not buying " a lot of body" contact. He hits his head, knee, and left arm/shoulder. If he actually caught the body heavy, Aho wouldn't have gone down the way he did. (btw, inserting quotes to an edit f***ing blows on the new site).
 
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Boom Boom Apathy

I am the Professor. Deal with it!
Sep 6, 2006
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I watched it a dozen times and it looks to me like he caught his chin as he delivered a check into his shoulder (and caught his knee as well). If by "principle" you mean first contact, then yes, he looks to have caught his chin first, but if by "principle" you mean where the main hit was centered, then I'm not so sure. I'm on the fence as well though as the views I saw make it hard to tell with certainty.
 
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Unsustainable

Bunch of Jerks
Apr 14, 2012
37,229
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It's tough to see for sure in the video, as many of these types of hits are. One of the guys in the main board thread grabbed the best still he could at the point of impact. While the head was hit, it wasn't a case of a guy just coming by and picking the head. He got a lot of Aho's body with that hit and it's hard for me to say he targeted his head.

guism43.png

That was my screen short
 

Unsustainable

Bunch of Jerks
Apr 14, 2012
37,229
102,282
Charlotte, NC
I watched it a dozen times and it looks to me like he caught his chin as he delivered a check into his shoulder (and caught his knee as well). If by "principle" you mean first contact, then yes, he looks to have caught his chin first, but if by "principle" you mean where the main hit was centered, then I'm not so sure. I'm on the fence as well though as the views I saw make it hard to tell with certainty.

Rewatch how he turns his knee.

Either he was targeting him with a cheap kneeing, or he was targeting the head.

This cop out of saying he has to keep his head up, players have to respect the other players and not pull this.
 

Johniac

Registered User
Jul 18, 2011
244
465
North Carolina
Aho has taken some tough hits before and bounced up, but this doesn't look good. I hope he has some of that Sami Kapanen ability to get bludgeoned and avoid serious injury. While I do think some of the hit is a result of their respective height differentials, it is still the obligation of the hitter to avoid the other player's head. Get well Sebastian!
 
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CandyCanes

Caniac turned Jerkiac
Jan 8, 2015
7,159
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The thing that caught my eye and made me initially think it was a bad hit is Gio's feet left the ice while making the hit. It wasn't very apparent until they showed an angle from what seemed like ice level and behind Aho.
 

Boom Boom Apathy

I am the Professor. Deal with it!
Sep 6, 2006
48,174
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His feet didn't leave the ice before the hit though, did they? I thought they only left the ice after impact, which happens quite often. Not sure I've seen that view you mention though so am not sure on this point.
 
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Svechhammer

THIS is hockey?
Jun 8, 2017
23,436
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The NHL didn't even deem the hit worthy of asking Giordano to explain himself.

Until this team stands up for itself, this is the kind of treatment we'll get. Run our players, who gives a shit. We won't make you pay on the ice and the NHL won't make you pay with discipline. Had this happened to a player on Toronto, Montreal, Pittsburgh, Chicago, etc, this would have been front page controversy all night. But because it's just the Canes, nobody bats a f'n eye.
 

ONO94

Registered User
Jan 18, 2010
819
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My biggest problem with this hit and most that result in head or knee shots is that they just don't need to happen. Giordano saw aho coming in and rather than just set up and take the puck, he looked to take the body. That's not a bad thing--but at that speed and angle his was going to blow up aho if aho kept his angle and if aho changes direction--giordano's only choice is to extend his body out to still make the hit or get beat. So even if the hit becomes dangerous, he still has to make it. So when aho predictably moves to avoid the hit---giordano has to stand up, swing his leg up for leverage and stick his shoulder out. Again and predictably--a good body shot becomes a bad hit based on the choice of the defender to go for the big hit instead of playing the puck. Which I thought the intent of the new head shot rules was to change that choice--but I guess not.
 

NotOpie

"Puck don't lie"
Jun 12, 2006
9,218
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North Carolina
It's tough to see for sure in the video, as many of these types of hits are. One of the guys in the main board thread grabbed the best still he could at the point of impact. While the head was hit, it wasn't a case of a guy just coming by and picking the head. He got a lot of Aho's body with that hit and it's hard for me to say he targeted his head.

guism43.png
From what I saw at the game and from the video replays I've seen, Giordano launches from a bit of a crouch, making contact with his shoulder/elbow to Aho's head. He stays in the crouch he likely misses the head and maybe even the knee. This doesn't look that close. He was trying to hurt the guy, not just play the body.
 

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