Johnny Gaudreau pulled from game after hit to the head

[Sol]

Seems clean to me. Dudes a migit, arms down, shoulders tucked in, doesn't explode up into the head. Seems like height difference is what makes this look bad. I don't like either team btw. No suspension, not even a penalty imo.

 

[Sol]

I don't think that is a suspension but McAvoy should be getting a warning. Absolutely did not play the puck on that play, that was a bit ridiculous.

He has a choice to either play the puck or take out the player with the puck. Both are legal.

 

[snag]

There is no way this is a suspension. Gaudreau is still spinning while somewhat hunched over (which puts his head at about 4' off the ice ) when he gets hit and he puts himself in a position to get hit in the head as a result by essentially spinning straight into the hit.

 

[snag]

Puck was not going the other way, nor was it late. This issue here is the headshot, not the timeliness of the hit.

The "head shot" was ultimately of Johnny's own doing by spinning into the hit...

 

[ijuka]

Looked like a clean hit to me. Gaudreau just is like 5'3" so it hit him in the head. Gaudreau also altered his position at the last second.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

The penalty was enough there should be no suspension it's a shame there was an injury but if that hit is a suspension then you may as well take hitting out and make it women's hockey.

 

[PBandJ]

I have a hard time agreeing with a suspension. It's definitely interference, so a two minute penalty, but Gaudreau is already difficult to hit cleanly at his height, leaning over and keeping his head down makes it damn near impossible.

 

[tiburon12]

The "head shot" was ultimately of Johnny's own doing by spinning into the hit...

I posted something on the page before.

Gaudreau is haunched and has his head down, which makes it really hard to avoid head contact with someone of his size. McAvoy has every right to hit him too.

Tough play all around. If McAvoy wants to play the body there, no way he does it without hitting Gaurdreau in the head, unless he drops to his knees. his forearm was level with his own chest, so it isnt like he came up high.

Will be interesting to see the end result

 

[crazyfisherman]

I have a hard time agreeing with a suspension. It's definitely interference, so a two minute penalty, but Gaudreau is already difficult to hit cleanly at his height, leaning over and keeping his head down makes it damn near impossible.

If a clean hit cant be made, perhaps he he should either play the puck or not lay the guy out like he did. Its just a bad decision to run JG like that, but i dont think its suspension worthy

 

[EdwardSharpe]

Never fun to see a player get hit high but I think it's similar to this play. Just take the number and retaliate like McAvoy did with Hornqvist.

 

[Lunatik]

Gaudreau is haunched and has his head down, which makes it really hard to avoid head contact with someone of his size. McAvoy has every right to hit him too.

Tough play all around. If McAvoy wants to play the body there, no way he does it without hitting Gaurdreau in the head, unless he drops to his knees. his forearm was level with his own chest, so it isnt like he came up high.

Will be interesting to see the end result

None of this is at all relevant. It was a late hit. The puck was gone. The hit wouldn't be an issue if Gaudreau was actually eligible to be hit.

I have a hard time agreeing with a suspension. It's definitely interference, so a two minute penalty, but Gaudreau is already difficult to hit cleanly at his height, leaning over and keeping his head down makes it damn near impossible.

So, you admit it's interference.... whether or not the hit would have been legal if he was eligible to be hit is pretty irrelevant, because as you indicated by calling it interference, Gaudreau was not eligible to be hit.

 

[tiburon12]

None of this is at all relevant. It was a late hit. The puck was gone. The hit wouldn't be an issue if Gaudreau was actually eligible to be hit.

I don't think it is interference. Puck is loose in front of the net, McAvoy has every right to move Gaudreau out of the way, as Gaudreau is still in possession according to the rules. It's not even that forceful of a hit. It looks a lot worse because Johnny is small, leading to head contact, and was off balance.

At the point of contact, both McAvoy and Gaudreau could easily play the puck, as the puck was within a stick's length for both of them. Not interference.

 

[Warden of the North]

Looks like a hit that happens every game but is worse off because of Gaudreaus stature

I dont see the suspension

 

[Lunatik]

I don't think it is interference. Puck is loose in front of the net, McAvoy has every right to move Gaudreau out of the way, as Gaudreau is still in possession according to the rules. It's not even that forceful of a hit. It looks a lot worse because Johnny is small, leading to head contact, and was off balance.

At the point of contact, both McAvoy and Gaudreau could easily play the puck, as the puck was within a stick's length for both of them. Not interference.

At the point of contact, the puck was nearing the edge of the faceoff circle. Maybe McAvoy with his reach could have played it, but there was zero chance Gaudreau could play it. It was very clearly interference. In many ways this is similar to what happened with Matheson. Defenseman gets burned, after the ineligible is ineligible to be hit, the defenseman gets revenge out of frustration.

 

[madmike77]

I don’t think it’s a huge deal. It was interference. He got called.

Gaudreau was pulled by the league spotters as a precaution so there’s a decent chance there’s nothing wrong.

 

[al secord]

I didn't see a penalty, let alone a suspension. Hopefully it was just precautionary for Johnny.

 

[madmike77]

I didn't see a penalty, let alone a suspension. Hopefully it was just precautionary for Johnny.

It wasn’t the team that pulled him. It was the league. So my guess is he’s ok.

 

[Taluss]

Coming in to this thread I figured I’d be cussing Marchand again. Wow not today

 

[tiburon12]

At the point of contact, the puck was nearing the edge of the faceoff circle. Maybe McAvoy with his reach could have played it, but there was zero chance Gaudreau could play it. It was very clearly interference. In many ways this is similar to what happened with Matheson. Defenseman gets burned, after the ineligible is ineligible to be hit, the defenseman gets revenge out of frustration.

Not at all like Matheson. that's a false equivalency you are using to try and justify a suspension.



That is the point of contact, you are going to tell me Gaudreau couldnt play the puck if McAvoy wasnt there??



Here is a few frames later, more into the hit. Gaudreau could still easily play the puck. in both instances, the puck is within stick length away from Gaudreau.

I understand being angry your star player got hurt on a hit, but this is not a case of interference as dictated by the rules. The only question is the contact to the head, which many have outlined is an unfortunate circumstance as Gaudreau changed his position immediately prior to the hit and because Gaudreau is "5'9"

 

[tucker3434]

I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often. He’s shoulder level with defenders in the 6-2+ range. Those guys have to make a conscious effort not to hit him straight in the head. I would expect more guys to hit high, but he does do a pretty good job of avoiding them.

 

[4thline]

Right call on ice, leave it alone.

Clean hit made interference by a slight timing issue, the puck squirted away as McAvoy committed to the check. But hitting a player that just made a play on the net and *appears* to be gathering the rebound for another is just good defense.

 

[Tuggy]

Does McAvoy have a dog?

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

For consistency has to be a suspension but we'll see

 

[spintheblackcircle]

That's a suspension

not even....close

 

[rfournier103]

I’ll bet Gritty told McAvoy to to it...

All kidding aside, I hope Gaudreau is okay.

Does McAvoy have a dog?

What in the world does that have to do with anything? Serious question.