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.

Joe Sakic Top 10 Moments Video

Given Sakic’s retirement last Thursday, it is only appropriate to show a video of the top 10 Joe Sakic Moments as produced by The Sports Network.

Sakic is truly a classy individual and one of the most revered and respected player to play in the National Hockey League. Often referred to by the media as “Quoteless Joe”, he said all he needed to on the ice. [Faceoff.com]

He was “Quoteless Joe,” as Sakic jokingly called himself over and over at his retirement Thursday. He let his play do the talking for him for two decades, and arguably nobody ever had the combination of speed and hands. Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, big Jean Beliveau and Steve Yzerman had the hands. Mark Messier had the speed, but Sakic’s patented play where he would roar down the right side, a left-handed shooter, and effortlessly slide around a flailing defenceman, then whip that wrister under the crossbar, was a thing of beauty.

Enjoy the video!

Is Patrick Roy A Coaching Candidate For Colorado?

Shane Giroux presents his thoughts:

The speculation began even before Quenneville was let go. With Patrick Roy having begun a coaching career, everyone wondered if Roy would ever coach the Colorado Avalanche.

Now that Quenneville is gone, the speculationstartsin earnest as the two most common names being bandied about are renowned 3-time Jack Adams award winning and Stanley Cup winning coach Pat Burns along with one of the most famous – or infamous – goaltenders of all time, Patrick Roy.

Intensity or Illness?

But not only did St. Patrick grow infamous as a goaltender with a penchant for the dramatic and the ability to get in players heads, he has grown infamous behind the bench of the Quebec Remparts.

In his first year coaching the Remparts, Roy led the team to a Memorial Cup championship. It was only the 7th time that a rookie coach has won the Memorial Cup. I was in Quebec the day the team paraded down the streets and you could feel a sense of aura around the team and Patrick. It’s an aura that seems to follow him around like a shadow.

However that aura quickly turned dark the following year as Roy was involved in two incidents which reminded everyone of his quick and fiery temper. Following a game against rival Chicoutimi, a group of Chicoutimi fans swarmed the Remparts bus. Roy got out and in the scuffle was alleged to have struck Chicoutimi co-owner Pierre Cardinal.

Engage The Rage!

Roy stayed on as coach, the media firestorm subsided and the Remparts marched on to the playoffs. Then during a 10-1 beat down at the hands of Chicoutimi, a brawl broke out which saw goaltender Jonathon Roy, Patrick’s son, fly down the ice and attack Chicoutimi’s goaltender, who was not even close to a willing participant. Shortly after the scuffle was broken up, Jonathon flipped off the Chicoutimi crowd.

Why does this reflect poorly on Patrick? Well, it would appear he urged his son on. Watch closely after the ref initially restrains Roy and you’ll see Patrick make a gesture to the effect of “Get the F@*& down there!” The result was a 5-game suspension for the elder Roy and 7 games for junior.

Roy May Be Too Hot To Handle!

Francois Giguere has gone on the record stating the next coach for the Avalanche must be willing to play a high-tempo, puck possession game. It will also need to be someone who will hold players accountable for mistakes and not be so easy-going.*

He has said nothing to the effect of wanting a hot-tempered coach that will need to be handled with kid gloves lest he destroy another office.

*That last part was stated on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada last night and I couldn’t find a clip to share.

What do you think?  Should Patrick Roy be considered for coaching positions  in the National Hockey? League

Avalanche and Wild in OT Thriller!

Shane Giroux reports from Colorado Avalanche Talk: 

Wow. If that’s how the entire series is going to be, I don’t think I can watch any more games. That was Intense. It was hard-hitting, fast-paced and had about 100 times as much emotion as their last game against each other.

In other words, this was playoff hockey!

Recap
The game started off with both teams hitting anything that moved. And that mindset never let up for the full 71:11 tonight.

The Avalanche got on the board first on a Kurt Sauer marker. No, that’s not a typo. Kurt Sauer scored his second playoff goal – his previous was in Minnesota as well – off of a beauty Joe Sakic setup early in the 2nd.

Ryan Smyth followed that one up with a powerplay goal late in the second. Yes, the Avalanche were 50% on the PP tonight. It must be a full moon tonight or something.

The Wild never shut down though and they came out hard in the third. They were rewarded early as Mikko Koivu got a puck past the previously impenetrable Jose Theodore. He got that puck past Theodore thanks to an unfortunate redirection off of Jeff Finger’s skate. But we still love Finger.

Then just 3 minutes later the Wild tied it up on a powerplay of their own as Todd Fedoruk found himself all alone in front of the net and got it past Theodore. Who was supposed to be covering Fedoruk? And why didn’t Foote get that puck out of the zone?

So it was off to OT while I tried to calm my beating heart.

You know who was already calm? Joe Sakic. You know who decided the game had gone on too long? Joe Sakic. Elevent minutes in, he gobbled up a rebound off a Ruslan Salei point shot and slid it underneath a sprawling Backstrom. And you know what? The usually reserved Mr. Sakic was caught on camera giving a giant “Whooo!” after he scored. I love it!

OT Superhero
We can talk all we want about Chris “Clutch” Drury but let’s never forget what Joe Sakic has done for this team when it matters most. This was Joe’s 8th career OT playoff goal and he is magic when the game is on the line.

His composure in these situations keeps the entire team relaxed and focused so they can do their jobs. Heck, tonight Joe was even laying the body out a bit to help lead by example.

That’s one other thing to not forget. Joe is a strong, tough player. He comes from “the Dub” and that league is not for the faint of heart. If you survive in that league, you’re going to come out the other side with a rough-and-tumble exterior.

Goaltending
Wow. Kudos to both goaltenders for putting on a show. Nik Backstrom didn’t need to get going until about midway through the game as the Avalanche didn’t put much rubber on him but once they did, he was up to the task. He made at least 3 snazzy glove saves and looked cool as a cucumber in net.

At the other end, Jose Theodore looked sensational. If it wasn’t for Theodore, the Avalanche would be hanging their heads after a 5-1 defeat.

Early on the Wild were pressing hard but Theodore stood tall – and quick – in the net and kept his team in the game. When the Wild finally got their first goal, the shots were 22-9 in favor of the Wild. Enough said.

Refereeing
Ok, look back through pretty much every post I’ve ever made and you’ll notice one thing; I don’t bitch about refs.

Tonight was different. There was a stretch in the second period where the refs looked to actively have their heads shoved somewhere they shouldn’t be. There were quite a few interference calls that were missed including the blatantly obvious one by Rolston on Hannan. In that same shift, the Wild got their first goal. So yes, the refs directly led to the Avalanche first goal.

And then, they had the audacity to try to “make up for it” by not calling the most obvious trip in the game. Milan Hejduk was all but in the penalty box after he tripped a Wild forward but both refs inexplicably held their arms down. Oh wait, it wasn’t inexplicable. It was a gesture of incompetence to try and appease the Colorado bench.

Terrible effort by the refs.

Smyth, Wolski and the Forse
Ryan Smyth had a tremendous game. This was the Ryan Smyth I was stoked about last summer. He played an in-your-face style, charged the net hard, kept his feet moving and was an overall menace. If only he’d been able to convert on his penalty shot opportunity! But hey, he did managed to score the Avs second goal so we’ll forgive him.

Wojtek Wolski also had a whale of a game. He had 2 assists on the night including setting up the game winning goal with some nice, composed moves up high. He was forechecking, backchecking and hitting and that’s what I want to see out of Wolski. If he does those 3 things each game, the points will come just like they did tonight.

And Peter Forsberg. What can be said about this guy. I’ll have to echo Pierre McGuire’s comment – albeit less enthusiastically and high-pitched – and say “This guy is spectacular!”

I don’t know Forsberg keeps the puck on his stick the way he does but it’s magical. And the respect he garners opens up so much ice for his teammates that it’s unreal. Please, please, please stay healthy, Foppa.

Props all around
I singled out Ryan Smyth, Wojtek Wolski and Peter Forsberg but really, the whole lineup deserves kudos tonight. The checking line of Guite, Laperriere and McLeod worked hard, the defense played a solid game and there really was no scapegoat tonight.

Of course winning helps deter the need for a scapegoat. But I’m still looking at you, Arnason.

The “Boogeyman”
This dude scares the crap out of me. However he appears to do no such thing to the members of the Avalanche. He absolutely flattened Ben Guite and David Jones at different points in the game and they both got right back up and kept on ticking.

There were a couple times that Guite directly went after Boogaard even after Boogaard had flattened him. He also whiffed on an open cage during a powerplay opportunity when something with hands – not fists – would likely have buried it.

And it certainly didn’t stop the Avs from knocking Marian Gaborik down multiple times.

So much for the “Boogeyman” effect.

Next game
The next game is at 9:00 EDT on Friday which should leave the West coast fans plenty of time to hit the bars to celebrate a 2-0 series lead. Or did I just jinx it?