"Hi, I'm Brendan Shanahan, Vice President of the NHL's Player Safety Division. It has recently come to my attention that none of the fans want to see a game of WNBA basketball on the ice surfaces of the NHL. Therefore I have decided to stop all this nonsense and shinanigans and issue a simple warning to the numbskulls skating around with their heads down out there like they're in a skills competition: KEEP YOUR HEAD UP AND LOOK OUT. Please disregard my previous comments about Scott Stevens being suspended from Hall of Fame induction until the year 2143. As it turns out, the forwards playing against him during his time in the NHL should have kept their heads up and looked out, as well."
Funny how many of the announcer's comments after those hits revolve around "clean" and "the player never saw it coming" and the like. The attacking player has the responsibility to avoid getting hit. If he puts his head in the way, that's his fault.
The issue along the boards is a much tougher one to call. That line is a lot finer. I've seen plenty of players cranked into the glass when they shouldn't have been, but I've also seen plenty of players bend over at the last minute and get their heads slammed into the boards when it just would have been their body if they had stayed upright. I think the NHL should be looking at these situations a lot more carefully instead of the ones where the offensive player creates the problem.
Watch Smith's hit again in slow motion. If you notice, he makes shoulder to shoulder contact FIRST before his shoulder rubs off of Ben Smith's shoulder and moves to his head. For this reason, I believe there is NO intent to injure on this play, and a 5 minute major for elbowing should have been the only call.
