Video: Ole Kristian Tollefsen Hits Lubos Bartecko

In one of the scariest moments in hockey since Clint Malarchuk’s throat was cut by a skate, Slovakia’s Lubos Bartecko lost his helmet and struck his head on the ice following a vicious elbow from Norway’s Tollefsen.  A massive amount of blood began leaking from the back of Bartecko’s head as training staff rushed onto the ice to treat him. A frightening moment in what has been a rather exciting Olympic hockey tournamanet thus far.

The good news is that Bartecko is said to be recovering and not suffering from any major injuries, but did suffer a concussion on the play and is not supposed to be in the lineup on Wednesday.

The bad news is that the barrage of checks to the head continues from NHL players this season (Tollefsen is property of the Detroit Red Wings).

I think Puck Daddy wrapped it up best here:

Tollefsen received 25 minutes in penalties, including a match penalty for “Checking to the Head and Neck Area” and a five-minute major during which Michal Handzus(notes) and Marian Gaborik(notes) scored for Slovakia. It was a reprehensible head shot from the recent Detroit Red Wings acquisition.

Jeff Carter Hits Anssi Salmela

The barrage of head injuries continues in the National Hockey League this season.  The latest victim of a headshot is New Jersey Devils forward Anssi Salmela, who was caught high by a shoulder from Philadelphia’s Jeff Carter after scoring a goal on Michael Leighton.

After watching the replays from different angles (as shown in the video below) I believe that Carter hit Salmela with a clean shoulder that appears (as of the second replay angle @ 4:30-4:31) to hit Salmela in his shoulder before following through to high and extending his elbow post contact.

This hit was obviously not elbowing, and certainly not charging as you can clearly see Carter coasting through the slot and then taking one stride as he angles toward Salmela who was leaning forward, with his head and shoulder extended, driving to the net. The hit was not extremely late – we can see Carter leaning in to hit Salmela as the shot was taken.

If the fact that Salmela being knocked unconscious is ignored, then my belief is that there should be no supplementary discipline on this play.  However, sometimes the league can punish the outcome and not the action.

Have a look at the video – particularly the slow motion replay at the 4:30 mark and drop your thoughts in the comments!

Colton Orr Fights Matt Carkner

In last night’s game Toronto’s Colton Orr and Ottawa’s Matt Carkner fought for the third time this season.  A head injury was incurred during this fight and the fight was clearly staged.
Read on to watch the video and please comment with your thoughts and opinions of this fight versus head shots from a body check.

A Staged Fight, No Doubt

This is one of those hockey fights that the NHL is supposedly trying to get rid of – the staged fight.

Here is an excerpt  on the matter from the NHL meeting last year:

“The presentation (Monday) on our stats, the history of fighting, where we are at today, injuries, was very extensive,” NHL Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell said. “We tried to categorize staged fights, fights that were responding to legal and illegal hits, a lot of things. The idea was to understand where fighting is at today and what the League has done about fighting over the years when they thought fighting had became unfair and where and if fighting belonged in the game.”

There was no doubt going into the game that these two were going to fight. Orr and Carkner had each gotten the better of the other in one of the two previous fights this season.

This time, it was Colton Orr that sent Carkner to the ice with a series of 3-4 solid right hands. The last of which had Carkner seeing stars.

Video of the Orr vs. Carkner  fight

Assessing A Head Injury

As the announcers in the video mention, it was good work by the officials and the trainers to get Carkner off of the ice and into the locker room for examination.  However, Carkner was back on the bench several minutes later and resumed regular shifts for the balance of the game.

There is no doubt that this fight resulted in at least some measure of head trauma for Carkner, and we can applaud the staff for taking precautions by getting him examined. As a non-medical professional, I cannot question the decision to let Carkner return to the game, but I do wonder what the true extend of the injury might be.

Supplemental Discipline For This “Head Shot”?

It is interesting that this fight resulted in a head injury and that these types of “staged fights” that the NHL is trying to avoid go unpunished.  It is extremely disturbing to me as a hockey fan to see bodychecks to the head, during the heat of the play (intentional or not – which is a different matter) receive lengthy suspensions, while staged fights like this one that serve no purpose to the game but results in similar injury, go unpunished.

I mean, if any fight was predetermined/staged, it was this fight between Orr and Carkner. The game was 1-0 and it was the first period. No reason to fight for either team to “shift momentum” etc. It happened right off of a faceoff where neither player was lined up directly opposite to the other. Completely unnecessary.

Don’t get me wrong, I like a good tilt just as much as the next guy, but to me an unnecessary fight causing a head injury needs more policing from the league than the currently legal hits (with shoulder/not charging) to the head that happen in the heat of the moment.

Yes, there are two willing combatants that know what they are getting themselves into. But, if the NHL really wants to deter these so-called staged fights, then they have to act accordingly. That said, I’m not so sure that it’s not just lip service from the league at this point.

What do you think?

The Hockey Fight That Never Was

With the recent news of Georges Laraque being told by the Montreal Canadiens that they no longer needed his services (4 fights in 28 games this season), it prompted us to look back in the files for some “fighters” who well… just didn’t fight.

While conducting that research, it sparked a memory from the recent past. Two players, who nobody would mistake for highly skilled talent, dropped the gloves at center ice to square off for what looked like it should be a good fight.

It was April 6, 2006 at ScotiaBank Place in Ottawa with 7:13 remaining in the second period of a game between the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Canadiens when the fight that never was broke out.

They’re Gonna Go…Or Are They?

Brad Norton of the Ottawa Senators and Aaron Downey of the Montreal Canadiens squared off.  They adjusted their jersey sleeves and elbow pads (Downey tripped over the faceoff circle), danced around in circles sizing each other up, made a quick lunge at each other… but backed off.  After a minute of this charade the officials stepped in. Both players were issued 10 min. misconduct penalties.

Brad Norton went on to play just 8 more games in the NHL, racking up an impressive 39 penalty minutes. Aaron Downey went on to split the next couple of seasons between the AHL and NHL, managing to get 2 more NHL goals in that time.

Video: Ryan Wilson Hits Patrik Elias

Of all of the hits this season that were clean, but may have been questioned, this hit by Colorado’s Ryan Wilson on Patrik Elias is as clean as they come.  The outcome of the hit is awful as Elias was removed on a stretcher. However, it was later determined that he would be OK and would travel with the team.

Elias was streaking down the board in front of the benches and Wilson simply took a terrific angle on him ( Matt Duchene pressured Elias toward the boards) and laid a shoulder into the chin of Elias.

Elias’ head snapped back and the CBC announcers who reviewed the replay said he was unconscious before he hit the ice. This may be why the stretcher was immediately called to the scene.

Take a look at the video of the hit.

Now, in this instance, there is no penalty that could be called on the play and yet the player was still injured.  Hockey is a contact sport and this type of thing will happen.  As I have stated before, the NHL has rules in place to protect from headshots via illegal hits … if they choose to use them.

This was a legal hit. How can the league protect its players from this type of injury?  The only real solution, in my mind, is to address the construction of shoulder pads.  With advances in today’s technology there is bound to be company that could produce a shoulder pad that both protects the player’s shoulder and would reduce the force of impact in a collision.

Update:

Even though this was a clean hit, Wilson was challenged to a fight. And, to his credit, didn’t back down.

Video: Rick Rypien Fights Brandon Prust Twice!

Rick Rypien and Brandon Prust are two of the best middle-weight fighters in the National Hockey League and they went toe-to-toe twice during this game.  Both have fought NHL heavyweights and held their own, so when they squared off against each other, there was no doubt hockey fans were in for a great tilt.

Round 1: Rypien vs. Prust

The first of the two of the two was what appeared to be a “staged fight”, the ones that the NHL is trying to get rid of.  Both Rypien and Prust looked to be asking each other to fight as they lined up at the faceoff.  While I might agree that staged fights are mostly pointless, this turned out to be a very entertaining bout with both players landing some heavy blows.

Round 2: Rypien vs. Prust

The second fight between Prust and Rypien happened later on in the game, in the second period. This fight was more of a wrestling match, but was evidence of their passion and animosity for each other. Only  a few punches were thrown, but you can hear the Vancouver fans chanting “Rypien, Rypien” in the background… and they want to take fighting out of the game? Please.

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