Kopecky Hit: Both sides agree it was clean...

[Shutemdown 23]

Link:

http://www.redwingscentral.com/redwingscor...288617171237243

Tomas Kopecky's knockout hit on Mathieu Carle was effective, so much so that at first glance you assumed it was dirty. But both sides said after tonight's game that Kopecky's hit was clean and that Carle was caught admiring his own pass.

"On the first thought, it was a bad hit or somebody blind-sided him," said Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau. "I came down. I looked at it on the tape. The timing was there. Mathieu had his head down a little bit. Kopecky came across, he wasn't trying to gain speed, he was trying to make contact with Mathieu. The shoulder just hit the head."

Carle released a neutral-zone pass and continued skating towards the offensive blue line. A backchecking Kopecky came from behind Carle on the left and put his shoulder into the defenseman. The hit was a tad late and Carle was way too long in admiring his pass. The result was a check that knocked Carle unconscious. The rookie was conscious before leaving the ice and returned from hospital in time to leave Detroit with the Habs.

"You never want to see anyone get hurt," said Kopecky.

[j.hoop 64]

that hit was ILL

[j.hoop 64]

that hit was ILL

and heres to many more bone crunchers....looking at you kronvall !

[Z and D for the C 712]

I can't wait for this season! :@

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

The dirtier the better from Kopecky, the kid needs to start getting meaner. I hope to see more of the same from him.

[Guest Four]

Man, we're getting some enforcers and big hitters on this team now!

[Dabura 12,232]

The dirtier the better from Kopecky

No, the more *that Carle hit, which was clean, but ******* awesome nonetheless*, the better.

[Konnan511 1,736]

It's good to see Kopy hit someone hard instead of being hit hard himself.

[stormboy 47]

glad to hear that no one's calling it dirty. i think it's one of those situations where it appears late when you watch it in slow motion, but at real-time speed, no one would have been able to hold up in that short of time when they were already going in for a hit. it's somehow similar (in my mind) to the hit that was put on j-willy a couple of years ago, that knocked him out and left a bunch of blood on the ice. clean hit, williams was just skating one way and looking another and was in no way braced for impact. add to that an unlucky fall and it's game over. (you can get hit that hard but still not have the full force of the impact go to your head, in which case the consequence obviously isn't as severe.)

[Cicada 4]

it was a great check...

clean as a whistle

[wingedone 0]

Video -

Kopecky hit on you tube

[Shutemdown 23]

I watched it front row... the whole crowd went nuts, then quickly silenced when they realized he wasn't moving.

Surprisingly, (I could tell he was out cold the second it happened, his body fell like a rock, no sign of life), play continued for another maybe 10 seconds and resulted in a scrap behind the Habs' net.

No one really figured out how severe it was until they brought a stretcher on the ice.

Either way, Kopecky was getting thrown around all game, that was one of his best hits, and boy, was it a doozy.

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

No, the more *that Carle hit, which was clean, but ******* awesome nonetheless*, the better.

As long as I see a couple Ducks lying in pools of blood on the ice because of Kopecky, I'm good