He clearly saw the hit coming and turned his back. According to the rulebook it is not a hit frombehind if the player turns his back knowing he is going to be hit. The checking from behind rule has made players put themselves into terrible positions. Before the rule you would not put yourself into position to be hit like that. He has no one to blame but himself
I know the kind of situation you're describing, but I just don't see it here.
When Max comes into the zone his left shoulder is towards Stoner, who is not yet in a position to deliver a hit.
He then curls towards the boards and looks to pass to the trailer, and as he does pass the puck he turns his shoulders even more at the last second so Stoner makes contact with his right shoulder.
People saying Pacioretty turned at the last second and that's what caused it to be a borderline hit aren't seeing what I'm seeing. Stoner is looking at his numbers on the way in, and as Pacioretty executes his pass he turns a bit more and that's the only reason it isn't directly from behind.
I agree that Max should be more intelligent/aware, and not put himself in this position, but it doesn't change the fact that this was, imo, an illegal hit worthy of a 2min penalty.
If a pedestrian has the right of way, crosses a street without looking, and gets hit by a car, they aren't at fault, but they still could have avoided the situation.
The person driving the car that hit them shouldn't be off the hook, same as Stoner shouldn't have been in this situation in my opinion.
