Cam Janssen Hits Tomas Kaberle
March 3, 2007 by Tyler
Filed under Hockey Videos, NHL Players
Below is the video of Cam Janssen’s hit on Tomas Kaberle. I’ll let you be the judge and decide whether or not Janssen intended to cheapshot Kaberle, or if he was simply following through on his check.
Kaberle was carted off on a stretcher and taken to hospital for observation. He was alert and awake when leaving the ice.
The hit was blatently late and I’m not the only one who can’t believe there wasn’t a penalty called on the play!
Feed readers click here for the video
PB on Sat, 3rd Mar 2007 12:17 pm
There is no question – That hit was late.
If the league did not have the Instigator Penalty, those hits would stop quickly.
There should have been a penalty and I’m surprised that Kaberle wasn’t seriously hurt.
In my mind, I would include that hit in a long list of dirty hits that I have seen so far. The league needs to wake up and address it.
Thanks for linking the video.
bLiNdLuCk on Sat, 3rd Mar 2007 12:32 pm
If you watched (or listened to in my case) the game last night you would have noticed that a great deal of Devil’s infractions were simply not called last night.
This is the Drury hit all over again.
I think we need a rule in the NHL for players who hit to injure, call it the Injurator and make it work like the Instigator rule (5 infractions in one season is an automatic 2 game suspension).
What do you think? Shall we ‘instigate’ an injurator rule?
Tyler on Sat, 3rd Mar 2007 12:50 pm
PB,
I’m always glad to link to great videos and content. I am very surprised that Kaberle was alert after that hit!
Blind,
I’ve never been a big fan of the instigator penalty. In fact, I think that abolishing the instigator penalty could help reduce situations like this.
I think the ‘injurator’ as you call it is subject to even more interpretation that the instigator penalty and may leave more questions that answers.
However, I do think that the league needs to enforce harsh punishments on those who blatently injure their fellow players.
rio on Sat, 3rd Mar 2007 2:59 pm
To me, it looked like an awkward ugly targeted hit meant to do harm to a non-aggressive player who is absolutely vital to his team’s function. It made me sick to look at it. Personally, Janssen’s assertions of a clean hit offend me.
bLiNdLuCk on Sat, 3rd Mar 2007 4:17 pm
Hey Tyler.
I agree with your comments about the instigator penalty, it is subject to too much interpretation. I also don’t think that the instigator penalty has anything to do with hits like this. And the lack of an instigator penalty wouldn’t remove these hits, it would just limit them to guys who are willing to fight afterwards (i.e. Brad May wouldn’t be throwing as many hits).
The Injurator penalty as I see it would be automatic, any intentional contact which results in an injury that puts a player out for 1 full game would result in an infraction. This makes it impartial as much as possible. Oh, and on ice officials do not assess this infraction, the League does.
The point of the penalty as I see it is to not distinguish at all between intent and incidental injuries but to punish both in an effort to reduce dangerous hits.
bLiNdLuCk on Sat, 3rd Mar 2007 4:21 pm
Oh, btw, the NHL suspended Janssen 3 games for the hit.
Jon on Sat, 3rd Mar 2007 8:23 pm
Hypocrites.
Teams only say anything when it’s their player. Never when they do the hitting. The Leafs have perpetrated more than their fair share over the last few years. Was it a cheap shot? Maybe, but it was also karma.
bLiNdLuCk on Mon, 5th Mar 2007 1:06 am
Kaberle is a Leaf and that is my team, but this discussion started with the hit on Drury, and the Sabres are definitely NOT my team.
Every team has perpetrated a few cheapshots over the years, I seem to remember one delivered by Tucker on a certain Michael Peca that caused a bit of a stir.
brad on Tue, 6th Mar 2007 10:02 am
I beleive that cam janssen is a fighter and goon. He is a healthy scratch sometimes so i dont see why he shouldent get any less games than ten.
I know that fighting is part of the game but theres no way that he should get away with a three game suspension. If you put a stop to these goons these dirty hits wont happen.
Wade Belak Fights Cam Janssen | National Hockey League Digest on Wed, 21st Mar 2007 1:43 pm
[...] We all knew that a special welcome would be waiting at Maple Leaf Gardens when Cam Janssen returned after his vicious hit on Tomas Kaberle. I’m sure that most people thought Wade Belak would be the one to tune Janssen in and that is exactly what happened! However, I’m not sure that people suspected Belak to punish Janssen for well over a minute, landing 16 punches before Janssen even tried to fight back. [...]
A Devil Of A Day! | National Hockey League Digest on Wed, 25th Jul 2007 8:38 am
[...] Cam Janssen, the most noteworthy of the bunch, racked up 114 penalty minutes for the club last season. He is likely best remembered as the player who was suspended for 3 games last March for his hit on Tomas Kaberle. [...]