Matheson punches Pettersson in the head from behind, body slams him to the ice. Pettersson concussed

[613Leafer]

Check was fine and perfectly legal.

Follow-up slam to the ground though is intent to injure IMO. It's simply not a hockey play, Pettersson was already going down and removed from the play by the check, so it served zero purpose other than trying to hurt the player.

 

[5 Minute Major]

The hit was as clean as they come. The “extra” was dirty and the league should take action.

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

Also the NHL is a very incompetent league anyways and the authority frequently doesn't get things right.

Also the Canucks are very incompetent on deciding whether their 150lbs rook should play in the NHL or not i.e. thinking that they'll be treated with silk gloves by the opponents. Jimbo didn't get things right this time around, yet again.

 

[Legionnaire]

I watched it 20 times and I'm not seeing the slew foot. I see a board. I see a slam, but I've also seen that move 100's if not 1000's of times but most of the time they don't hit the ice that hard or even budge. Peterson's size and strength were definitely a factor and I hope he's okay.

I do agree that the lack of response was pathetic. All hell should have rained down because you shouldn't let a kid, who is your best player, be treated like that.

 

[LaymanX]

Where's the suspension if it was a dirty play?

I think it's being reviewed by the league

 

[Holymakinaw]

clean hit.
unnecessary throw down.

also matheson isn't a plug. i'm actually surprised he was able to throw a player down like that, if pettersson wasn't 90 pounds this play wouldn't even have happened.

if it has to be a suspension i'd say 1 game to send a message, no need to toss a kid like that

This is the risk, in bringing such a young guy into the league. He's a 19 year old kid. Unless he shows up built like a tank, there's a very good chance some grown man who's been working out hard the last 10 years is going to smoke him. Unfortunate but it happens.

 

[The Kessel Run]

It's awful that he's hurt - he's such an amazing player - but I don't think it was that out of the ordinary as a play. Maybe a bit over-zealous on Matheson's part. Of course, the result is going to get people up in arms, and I can understand that.

 

[Josepho]

Also the Canucks are very incompetent on deciding whether their 150lbs rook should play in the NHL or not i.e. thinking that they'll be treated with silk gloves by the opponents. Jimbo didn't get things right this time around, yet again.

You're only 25 pounds off. He's basically the same size as Loui Eriksson.

 

[SML2]

I can match your 5 decades and more and if you ask me that was cowards play

You must have listened to the games on the radio then, because this is nothing compared to the stuff of the past. The hit was not a penalty. The throw, I don't even think there's a charge in the rule book for grabbing a player and yanking him off his feet to the ice because really, NHL players generally don't get choke slammed like a 5th grader. I'm sorry the kid got hurt. He's a great talent, but NHL players, even the not so good ones, aren't going to let this kid make them look foolish and then let it slide when they get a chance to put a body on him. Maybe he can petition the league to let him wear one of those non contact jerseys they give to guys during practice when they a rehabbing an injury.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

Those battles happen every game mulitple times. I was expecting to see something disgusting but i have to say i have no problem with it.

I wanted to hate this cause i am a massive fan of Elias but honestly i dont have anything bad to say.

Horrible to see him get hurt but this is the NHL and there are bigger and stronger players. Gotta expect battles like this

There will be no suspension id imagine

 

[Chimpradamus]

Thread title is garbage.

“Pettersson injured in routine hockey play” probably more accurate.

A routine play doesn't end up with a pretty much guaranteed concussion.

I do agree the thread title is bad though, it has nothing to with some punch. Title should be "Matheson slewfoots Pettersson and throws him into the ice."

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

I can match your 5 decades and more and if you ask me that was cowards play

You undress a guy he's going to be embarrassed and come back hard, happens all the time, it's a one armed shove that ended badly

There's no hit from behind, no slew foot, no body slam, just a mis-match in strength

 

[SML2]

Idiotic comment! What if that was Gretzky coming in to the league?, the Candians here would have gotten the hizzy fits.. And Im sure Gretzkys neck wasnt a log at that age or ever either.

Google Dave Semenko. Back when you could still fight, he made sure Wayne's neck left the arena in the same condition it was when it got there, and if it wasn't in good shape, whoever was responsible would have their neck in worse shape.

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

A routine play doesn't end up with a pretty much guaranteed concussion.

I do agree the thread title is bad though, it has nothing to with some punch. Title should be "Matheson slewfoots Pettersson and throws him into the ice."

Is there a different angle that shows a slew foot? There's nothing in any video I've seen, not even close

 

[inthewings]

At first glance, it looked like a normal hockey hit.

After taking a closer look, the Florida player who body checked Pettersson did it for the most part legally, but then the Florida player uses his upper body strength to follow through with force in bringing him to the ground.

This is the classical "let me body check you to show you up" rather then body check you to get the puck.

He clearly wants to out muscle the much smaller Elias Petterrson to show his physical dominance as an intimidation factor. The psychology behind it is you want to take every physical advantage you can, and if you can put fear into the other teams, you should do it. Especially a skilled player.

If hockey is a physical sport and you are less skilled, why wouldn't you use every possible advantage you could and take advantage of the rules?

So then the conversation becomes do we want this stuff in our game?

In my opinion this should be a 2 minute roughing call (based on the current rules of the game) but now we have a skilled player with a concussion.

Concussions are a big deal. They can be minor to life altering events; as you can experience minor to serious brain trauma as you age. That's the health side.

From the hockey and business side; Vancouver is going to lose a very skilled player. This is awful for Canucks fans as they won't get to watch there new favourite and star player if he's hurt.

I personally don't like the play.

If he had been hurt on the hit I’d say that it was an unfortunate injury on a legal hockey play and that nothing can be done about it.

But grabbing a guy by the shoulders and effectively body slamming him to the ice back first when he’s already off balance from the check is decidedly not part of the game, and it’s on this play that Pettersson got hurt.

I don’t watch combat sports, and I have no interest in seeing people suffer brain injuries. I watch hockey for the skill on display, and the NHL should crack down when skill is removed from the lineup by an illegal and dangerous play made by a comparatively unskilled player. The body slam serves no purpose other than to intimidate/injure: Matheson had legally used his size/strength advantage to take Pettersson out of the play. Nothing after that should be in the game.

 

[Kiekura]

I think Subbans punch to Aho was dirtier and he got nothing from it

 

[Montecristo]

Only looks bad because it looks like a full grown man burying a little kid. But both are nhlers, so it is what it is. Maybe 2 minutes for boarding?

 

[inthewings]

The Canucks bench probably didn't have a clue what the commotion summoned by the press was about until someone showed the replay and, thus, no Canucks player didn't respond to the so called incident. Yeah, it's a bad outcome for the kid but that stuff happens almost every round of NHL hockey, especially in the playoffs. The Cats players like Barkov and Ekblad have gotten their share of the same treatment but much of it can be attributed that they can't protect themselves so they had to bulk up and not rely on the illusion that other teams go easy on your better players. This is just a media fabrication that a Canadian market hockey prospect whose got couple of goals under his name got his head jolted a bit. If this league starts to cater for every 150lbs scrawny kid out there then this league might as well cover their players in bubblewrap.

He’s 176 pounds. You really want to watch a league where one of the most skilled players on the planet can’t participate at 176 pounds because it’s considered a hockey play to hit them, then while they’re still off balance from the hit, body slam them to the ice back first?

 

[JackSlater]

Should have been a roughing penalty, other than that it's almost a freak injury. Not that big of a deal but an unfortunate result.

 

[Chimpradamus]

Only looks bad because it looks like a full grown man burying a little kid. But both are nhlers, so it is what it is. Maybe 2 minutes for boarding?

Awesome. Only getting 2 minutes at most for an almost guaranteed concussion on a star player will be a very nice weapon to use in the playoffs. The size of the player you cheap shot isn't that important. You just check them into the boards, sweep them off their skates and body slams them head first into the ice. If you get really good at it you might even break the opponent's neck. That would result in some easy playoff series, leaving Crosby and Malkin on stretchers. Extra lucky if the opponent looses the helmet.

 

[Lilou]

Ahhh now I've seen the full replay. Its obvious matheson was pissed Pettersson dangled him. Pettersson broke his ankles and he gets up to mouth off and jabs him. Then the slam happens later. He's one salty MF to do that.

 

[ScottishCanuck]

has there been any info on Petterson's condition?

I love how "playing the game" is the ultimate criteria for being right on these boards half the time.

You can have played the game extensively and still not be a good judge of what constitutes a hockey play or consequently a suspension. Hell, Tom Wilson plays professionally and evidently still thinks it is alright to blindside guys and hit the head.

What Matheson did was not a hockey play.

 

[Snauen]

Google Dave Semenko. Back when you could still fight, he made sure Wayne's neck left the arena in the same condition it was when it got there, and if it wasn't in good shape, whoever was responsible would have their neck in worse shape.

I know who Semenko was (He has passed away now). He sacrifced his brains and life for Gretzkys well beeing on the ice. The times have changed. There are other non strong yet skilled players like Gaudreau and Kane and noone is complaing on them to "get stronger, to weak" if they get hit dirty.

 

[Curufinwe]

I hope the kid is OK.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

The initial hit was fine, the extra slam at the end was pure garbage. I don’t know if it’s enough for a suspension but I think a fine would be in order.