Ilya Kovalchuk Injures Knee

[up2here 41]

even if he was telling him how good his mother was the other night, there is no reason for a cheap shot. Drop the gloves, sit in the box and be done with it.

Like I said in an earlier post,I dont condone Ruutu's actions but when you point at the opposing teams bench after scoring a goal you gotta expect youre going to piss someone off.

[Opie 308]

Toby,

not trying to argue with you about what your eyes saw(BTW I hate people that do that, no you saw this!), just stating I have a different opinion.

As you watch the second replay, about 49-54 second mark of the video, I saw his knee turn out then he glides into Kovie.

Now could it have been him skating and trying to balance, turn, whatever sure, but given his reputation and the fact that the elbow went out at about the same time, I tend to believe he had intent there.

[Opie 308]

Like I said in an earlier post,I dont condone Ruutu's actions but when you point at the opposing teams bench after scoring a goal you gotta expect youre going to piss someone off.

100% agreed, you will piss someone off and you should have to deal with getting punched in the mug a couple of times.

But if some one just owned you, or you are losing 5-1(not sure the score at the time of the hit this is an example), you should also expect to have some one rub it in your face. If you don't like it square off with him, duel it out.

But either way a run is uncalled for. Personally I like to talk a little trash during sports, one of my friends I play Volleyball with hates it with a passion and asks me to stop all of the time. If we are playing with a bunch of his friends, I try to stop so as not to piss off his friends.

But by shutting my trap, as he so succinctly put it, I mess up my own game.

Here is the point, I know that if I get blocked or a guy completely owns me I am going to hear it right back, yet if we are destroying a team, they shut up and deal with it.

Now there is no fighting in volleyball so instead of fighting if you don't like what I am saying you try to hit me in the face with a spiked ball. Retaliation is going to come, I agree with you, Kovie should have expected and not backed down to a fight if he wants to taunt the bench, what he should not have to expect is a knee on knee hit after escaping what would have been a clean hard hit.

[GMRwings1983 8,804]

s***bags like Ruutu is why the league should get rid of the instigator rule. Him and his stupid looking face have been getting on my nerves for several years now. I wouldn't mind seeing someone pull a Todd Bertuzzi on him.

[auxlepli 17]

The commentators said the offsides whistle had been blown. So anyway the hit is sliced, it's a dirty hit.

[tazzer82 0]

The commentators said the offsides whistle had been blown. So anyway the hit is sliced, it's a dirty hit.

Whistle was blown after the play actually. You can hear it in the one replay.

That being said, I don't think it was intentional. The only reason it's being made a big deal of is because it was Ruutu who hit Kovalchuk. Sucks he got hurt, but it's not like Ruutu intentionally went for his knee. Had Kovalchuk not moved, he would have gotten hit full on and skated away.

Also, him pointing at the Pens bench after scoring wasn't called for. Then again, he doesn't like the Pens and they seem to feel the same way. But not something he should have done, and Ruutu getting 5 for fighting was BS. He didn't drop his gloves or throw a punch, but that was because of his name I suppose.

[DEVILSWATERBOY 10]

Good morning, I saw the hit on replay and there is no way that it was an intent injur it looked like to me that Kolvuchuk

went to move out of the way and his knee was left in a bad position, what bothers me more about this is the fact that an Atlanta player went after the player that caused the injury to hold him accountable and the lines men stepped in and the league wonders why there are so many cheap shots in the league. (Bettman Blows)

[eva unit zero 271]

Wow what a crappy blow to the Thrash.

It is hard to tell but it did seem like Ruutu kind of went for the knee. He seemed to be going for the body and then when Kove moved it looked like he targeted the right knee.

Ruutu got what he deserved from McCarthy. I'm always a fan of a teammate sticking for another player in that situation. There is no room in the game for crap like that.

Ruutu is a dirty player, but this was not a dirty hit. How you can claim 'He seemed to be going for the body then when Kove moved it looked like he targeted the right knee.' is beyond me, given that there was a fraction of a second between Kovalchuk moving and Ruutu hitting the boards. Another hit this brings to mind is Marchment on Modano..Marchment was a supremely dirty player, but he had a similar experience with Mike Modano where he was coming in clean and Modano sidestepped and left his knee in Marchment's path. Naturally Marchment was suspended because of his reputation....but the hit itself was not dirty.

[eva unit zero 271]

umm, he checked the man using solely his knee and his elbow, his body completely missed Kovie, and seeing as your body is directly over you knee the only way to hit him with the knee and miss with the body would be to stick his knee out.

Or for the player being hit to have attempted and failed to avoid the hit, as happened here.

Did he do it with intent to injure, not so sure, I think his intent was to make up for the fact that by taking that run at him Ruutu put himself out of position, and did the only thing he had left, stick out body parts to try and hit him.

Either way no excuse for that knee on knee hit!

While it was technically a knee-on-knee hit, and yes it was a dirty player delivering it, the knee part was ACCIDENTAL.

[toby91_ca 620]

As you watch the second replay, about 49-54 second mark of the video, I saw his knee turn out then he glides into Kovie.

That's the exact spot of the replay I was looking at and it looks to me like he pushes off with his left skate and his right leg is pretty much stationary from the blue line in. When I looked again, he did turn his right skate slightly just after the blue line, but when you push with one skate to go in one direction, if you don't have your other skate pointing in the right direction, you fall down, so I don't see anythying wrong with that slight movement, his knee didn't come out or anything.

[wingslogo19 281]

I don't think that hit was dirty at all. Actually if Ilya just stands there to take the hit, were not even talking about this IMO..

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Or for the player being hit to have attempted and failed to avoid the hit, as happened here.

While it was technically a knee-on-knee hit, and yes it was a dirty player delivering it, the knee part was ACCIDENTAL.

I'm amazed by how we can look at the exact same video and see completely different things.

How was it accidental?

Most guys when they deliver a hit don't take a stride with their left leg so they can keep their right one bent and sticking out. Ruutu didn't have him lined up well, and clearly has his knee sticking out. You don't lead with the knee when you're trying to throw a check to the body.

Yes, the knee on knee contact was partly a result of Kovalchuk trying to avoid the hit and elbow. But Ruutu was leading with his knee regardless of where Ilya was. It wasn't going to be kneeing no matter where Kovalchuk moved.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

I don't think that hit was dirty at all. Actually if Ilya just stands there to take the hit, were not even talking about this IMO..

If Ilya just stands there to take the hit, then we'd be talking about Ruutu elbowing him in the face more than the knee.

EDIT: and the whistle was clearly after the hit. But I think they were already on a delayed offsides, so when Kovalchuk dumped the puck in the zone, everyone knew there was going to be a whistle. Still, I can't fault Ruutu for hitting him in that circumstance. It's just how he hit him I have a problem with.

Edited January 31, 2008 by haroldsnepsts

[OsGOD 3]

Ruutu almost took a trip over the boards... which leads me to believe he was fully expecting a body to be there to stop him. I don't think he intended to be face planted in the thrashers nest after the hit. I am siding more on the "he moved out of the way and the leg was the last thing left of Kovie that was still in his path"

[eva unit zero 271]

I'm amazed by how we can look at the exact same video and see completely different things.

How was it accidental?

Most guys when they deliver a hit don't take a stride with their left leg so they can keep their right one bent and sticking out. Ruutu didn't have him lined up well, and clearly has his knee sticking out. You don't lead with the knee when you're trying to throw a check to the body.

Yes, the knee on knee contact was partly a result of Kovalchuk trying to avoid the hit and elbow. But Ruutu was leading with his knee regardless of where Ilya was. It wasn't going to be kneeing no matter where Kovalchuk moved.

It you look again, you see that Ruutu's knee buckles on contact; which suggests that he was NOT expecting to hit knee-on-knee; if you are trying to hit someone with your knee by, say, kneeing them...your knee doesn't buckle like that because you are EXPECTING contact and PREPARED for it. Kovalchuk dodged at the last second and couldn't get fully out of the way; Ruutu's elbow grazed Kovalchuk's back (it was NEVER head high) at the same time their knees collided so it's not like Ruutu came in and stuck his knee way out.

[Duck Guy 86]

Going to be out for 2 games Link.

[Legendary D In 03 50]

or calgary, or anaheim, or vancouver...detroit's not getting hossa.

Why's that, exactly?

Word,

LDi03

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

It you look again, you see that Ruutu's knee buckles on contact; which suggests that he was NOT expecting to hit knee-on-knee; if you are trying to hit someone with your knee by, say, kneeing them...your knee doesn't buckle like that because you are EXPECTING contact and PREPARED for it. Kovalchuk dodged at the last second and couldn't get fully out of the way; Ruutu's elbow grazed Kovalchuk's back (it was NEVER head high) at the same time their knees collided so it's not like Ruutu came in and stuck his knee way out.

To me, it's pretty clear he was leading with his knee from the get go. Most guys don't skate for a body check with their knee stuck out like that. I don't know that he was going for Kovalchuk's knee, but to me it was pretty clear he intended to hit Ilya with his knee, and elbow if possible.

The elbow wasn't at head height, but he clearly stuck it out away from his body to try and make contact. That's always gonna be a dirty hit, even if it's not a blow to the head. Elbows should be in, and don't flash a knee out when you're about to miss a guy.

Edited January 31, 2008 by haroldsnepsts

[toby91_ca 620]

If Ilya just stands there to take the hit, then we'd be talking about Ruutu elbowing him in the face more than the knee.

How on earth would he catch him with an elbow to the face? I'm not even sure if I would say his elbow was chest high, maybe, but it was clearly way below the head.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

How on earth would he catch him with an elbow to the face? I'm not even sure if I would say his elbow was chest high, maybe, but it was clearly way below the head.

yeah, looking at again, it wasn't head height. But he still threw his elbow out to try and make contact.

[toby91_ca 620]

But he still threw his elbow out to try and make contact.

Yeah I know, but that's expected. When you try and hit someone and he starts to move, it's only natural to throw your elbow/forearm out like that. There's nothing wrong with a forearm/elbow to the chest.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Yeah I know, but that's expected. When you try and hit someone and he starts to move, it's only natural to throw your elbow/forearm out like that. There's nothing wrong with a forearm/elbow to the chest.

I disagree. Because even if you're not headhunting, anytime you throw an elbow there's a chance you may clip the guy in the noggin.

[dicksmack 33]

It's clear that Ruutu went for Kovalchuk's knee, the way he kicked at his leg. What a tool... No surprise though...

[auxlepli 17]

OK I misunderstood about the whistle and watched it again. Ruutu leads with his knee and elbow. It's a dirty hit and he deserved the game misconduct.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

OK I misunderstood about the whistle and watched it again. Ruutu leads with his knee and elbow. It's a dirty hit and he deserved the game misconduct.

That's a great still. It shows exactly how you shouldn't try to hit a guy (legally).

I'm not saying Ruutu specifically meant to hit Kovalchuk on the knee, but he definitely extended his own knee and elbow trying to catch a piece of him, which is illegal because it could result in exactly what this play did.