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CrossoverThrash

Ovechkin CHEAP SHOT

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ovechkins elbow clearly makes contact wiht the head

To me, it looks like AO's forearm hits him in the back then his elbow might make contact as he turns and pulls away to go after the puck, all in one motion. But Heward is hunched over and off balance near the boards so it may look worse because of that.

Edited by RedStormRising

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Not a particualrly dirty hit....potentially risky yes, but we see far worse on a regular basis. Also if AO is say 6 "3 or 6 "4 and Heward is a smaller guy also bening down the elbow wlll appear high. However...I' ve seen far worse in most games, its just the circumstances were unfortunate. Its not even comperable with the Van Ryn hit, as he is leaning head down some distance away from the boards, and the run up, speed and angle of kostopolous's hit was always going to cream him into the boards. With the hit on heward, players get hit in that position all the time, and normally being that close to the boards actually limits the opportunity for injury.

Dirty? NO

Reckless? Possibly

Suspension? No Way

At worst its a 2 min minor, and I'm not even 100% convinced that you could call that. If this was a suspension, then Chris pronger would play about 5 games a season!

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To me, it looks like AO's forearm hits him in the back then his elbow might make contact as he turns and pulls away to go after the puck, all in one motion. But Heward is hunched over and off balance near the boards so it may look worse because of that.

this is pretty much how i saw it...it looked like his arm slid up heward's back because heward was hunched over. if this had been called a 2min minor i wouldn't think it was an awful call, but i don't think it's suspendable.

OP, i respect your opinion and agree that no player should be given clemency for a bad hit just because they're superstars.

however, a few points:

one, whether a player was injured or not should, in most cases, have little bearing on whether a suspension is doled out. obviously, a lot of potentially suspendable hits are let go because the player isn't injured, but just because a player is hurt on the play does not automatically mean the offending player should be suspended. that pronger hit on homer in the 07 playoffs comes to mind. homer came back later in the game, but because of the nature of the hit and its obvious intention, pronger got suspended (though i still think one game was too light).

two, i don't think that this hit is that comparable to the other hit you posted. again, this is obviously not quantifiable, so we likely won't agree on this. however, in my viewing of the AO hit, the capitals player is coming in to the right of the lightning player. at the last second, heward turns slightly to his right which, i believe, made the contact much worse than it would have otherwise been. in the other video you posted, it seems to me that the monteal player has a much better idea of where the toronto player is going to be and chooses to run at him hard anyway. the AO hit seemed much more bang-bang, in which ovechkin really had no time to make an adjustment to heward's movement.

three, it seems to me that the hit wasn't really that hard of a hit. it looked like AO was going with about as much speed as intensity as the average hit. just seemed like heward's head hit the boards at an awkward angle. there are probably a dozen hits a game that could end up like this but aren't at quite the right angle to cause injury. the kostopolous hit, on the other hand, is of a variety that is rarely seen, both because players are more intentional about protecting themselves in those particularly dangerous situations, and players are less likely to rail someone who is in that vulnerable position.

kostopolous clearly made a decision to make a dangerous hit. OV made an average check when both players were twisting and turning along the boards and his elbow accidentally went up heward's back and heward hit the boards at an unfortunate angle. whether the player was injured or not is immaterial (in terms of suspension). remember when jason williams got knocked out a few years ago by an oilers player? the hit was clean; willi just wasn't protecting himself. the oiler should not have been (and was not) suspended just because williams was hurt. it is the job of the league to, as best they can, determine the intent of the player and gauge whether or not they willingly put another player in serious risk.

it is my opinion that alex did not do anything reckless, and that it was an unfortunate play in a physical and sometimes dangerous game. he should not be suspended.

all the best to heward.

edit: grammar. also: i like AO but am not a deeply committed fan of his. i don't keep up on his stats or watch his highlights. he has never been and never will be my computer's desktop image (unless he wins a cup with the wings).

Edited by stormboy

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Guest nutz2u

I must be looking at a different replay than most of you cuz the one I see shows a hit from behind, Now I like Ovie, but ya gotta admit it was a boarding penalty. Many a player has gone to the box for boarding penalties less obvious than that.

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Hit from behind!

Like was already stated, Heward/Huard/Howard/Howard the Duck (and whatever other way you can screw his name up) was facing the boards from a good 10 feet out. Ovechkin followed him straight into the boards and never let up.

Dirty, hmmm depends, was the Randy Jones Patrice Bergereon hit dirty, if you think yes than this hit was definitely dirty as that hit was the epitome of turning at the last second into a hit. And this guy didn't turn for a full 2 seconds.

Suspendable, without a doubt, this is a suspendable hit, if Heward hits AO, the NHL is in complete uproar and this guy gets a minimum of 10.

Risky, 100% without a doubt a dumb hit, he had ample time to slow up and body him or use his stick. That play happens dozens of times a night, the difference is most defenders will body the guy and pinch him to the wall to free the puck up or to tie up at least the one guy.

In my opinion AO was over zealous and wanted to make a great hit/play to help his team that had just given up two goals to make it a game.

But without a doubt that is a suspension worthy hit in my mind. Now after looking at the name on the back of the Jersey will the league suspend or fine him, I doubt it.

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Kostopoulos hit for reference:

Kostopolous got 3 games

When I first saw the Ovechkin hit I couldn't believe the guy got hurt as bad as he did, it didn't look bad at all. And even so, Ovechkin looked really bummed about it, especially since the two had played together according to TSN. Ovechkin could have definitely done worse, like others have said, just unfortunate.

But comparing it the Kostopolous hit?! That is a huge stretch...

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yea this wasn't a cheap shot at all, not sure why there is such a big deal made about it? Understandbly the guy got hurt, but this wasn't intentional at all... Kostopolous hit doesn't even compare with 2 arms against the back of the guy to fly face first into the boards... How does Ovechkin hit compare to something like that? silly argument....

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The AO hit might have been worth a boarding call, and MAYBE a one-game suspension because of incidental elbow-neck contact (that is a scary thought).

But this is NOTHING like the Kostopolous-Van Ryn hit. Look how far out Van Ryn was, look how hard Kostopolous ran him into the boards, note that Ovechkin didn't have his elbow aimed right at Heward's head while Kostopolous clearly put his hands up and shoved Van Ryn face first into the glass. There is no comparison between these hits.

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Let me ask those of you defending the hit this:

IF, this hit is Chris Pronger on Datsyuk or Ian Laperriere on Lids does it change your opinion of the hit?

There were people last year that though Lappys hit on Lids was dirty and that was nothing compared to this.

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Let me ask those of you defending the hit this:

IF, this hit is Chris Pronger on Datsyuk or Ian Laperriere on Lids does it change your opinion of the hit?

There were people last year that though Lappys hit on Lids was dirty and that was nothing compared to this.

Of course it does. I think we can all accept that we are massive homers on this board.

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Hit from behind!

Like was already stated, Heward/Huard/Howard/Howard the Duck (and whatever other way you can screw his name up) was facing the boards from a good 10 feet out. Ovechkin followed him straight into the boards and never let up.

Dirty, hmmm depends, was the Randy Jones Patrice Bergereon hit dirty, if you think yes than this hit was definitely dirty as that hit was the epitome of turning at the last second into a hit. And this guy didn't turn for a full 2 seconds.

Suspendable, without a doubt, this is a suspendable hit, if Heward hits AO, the NHL is in complete uproar and this guy gets a minimum of 10.

Risky, 100% without a doubt a dumb hit, he had ample time to slow up and body him or use his stick. That play happens dozens of times a night, the difference is most defenders will body the guy and pinch him to the wall to free the puck up or to tie up at least the one guy.

In my opinion AO was over zealous and wanted to make a great hit/play to help his team that had just given up two goals to make it a game.

But without a doubt that is a suspension worthy hit in my mind. Now after looking at the name on the back of the Jersey will the league suspend or fine him, I doubt it.

Absolutely spot on.

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I don't see this as a dirty hit or a cheap shot by AO.

If this was a player who had a history of cheap shots, tootoo, Pronger and so on, then yes i would call this a cheap shot.

AO doesn't have a history of doing stuff like this. He plays hard all the time and does what ever it takes to win. I don't think that he goes out and tries to hurt anyone. I think that this was a case of wrong place at the wrong time.

I hope that the injured player ends up being OK and i really hope that AO doesn't get suspended.

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Wow.. what a dirty hit.. I know its early but we should probably nominate this for most misleading thread title of the year.. How can it be a dirty hit when it was hardly a hit at all.. seriously... do you think that if Ovechkin had made such a dirty hit and injured one of tampa's players he would have been standing over there with all of Tampa's players checking on Heward?..

You really want to compare this with the Van Ryn hit?... because it is undisputabley the exact same circumstances?.. well how about comparing it to the 5 or 6 other times in about every game where people get nudged from behind and hit the boards?.. This hit is just a case of s*** Happens..

If you want to suspend Ovechkin for being careless then maybe we should also suspend Heward for being careless and going in like that?..

when did i say it was exactly the same

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Unfortunate hit. Not dirty.

Heward was bending over at the last second. And this is not like the Kostopolous hit, where it was clearly in the numbers and he was away from the boards. If you look at the replay, AO's body hardly makes contact with Heward, Ovechkin turns away and his back slams the boards.

It looks like AO's elbow catches Heward in the head, not because of a flying elbow, but because Heward was bent over.

To me this looks like a fluke play. Not some cheapshot. And before someone calls me blind because I'm some huge AO fan, bite me. I'm sick of that "if you disagree with me it's because you're a homer" argument. Ovechkin's a great player, but I don't really follow the guy.

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I don't see this as a dirty hit or a cheap shot by AO.

If this was a player who had a history of cheap shots, tootoo, Pronger and so on, then yes i would call this a cheap shot.

AO doesn't have a history of doing stuff like this. He plays hard all the time and does what ever it takes to win. I don't think that he goes out and tries to hurt anyone. I think that this was a case of wrong place at the wrong time.

I hope that the injured player ends up being OK and i really hope that AO doesn't get suspended.

If a hit isn't dirty or cheap until the player who does it is dirty or cheap how on earth does any hit ever get to be dirty or cheap. Because if no one has a history of dirty hits they can not have dirty hits. Because if they are not dirty before the play (can't be dirty unless by a dirty player) then the league will not have dirty players to do these dirty hits and the league would be clean.

Damn that my friend is a Conundrum!!!

Maybe the solution is to get rid of all of the dirty players so only clean players are making hits!

A dirty hit is a dirty hit wether it be Dats (Lady Bing winner) or Chris Simon. This is a problem in the league currently, certain players Simon, Boulerice get heavy fines while others, Pronger etc. get off light or without suspension.

If the hit is dirty when Tootoo or Pronger do it, it is dirty if AO, Crosby, or Datsyuk do it!

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Let me ask those of you defending the hit this:

IF, this hit is Chris Pronger on Datsyuk or Ian Laperriere on Lids does it change your opinion of the hit?

There were people last year that though Lappys hit on Lids was dirty and that was nothing compared to this.

How was it nothing compared to this? Honestly if you just look at the hit and not what happens to Heward after the play, it looks fairly harmless.

As for the Lappy hit, of course people were outraged for two main reasons. One it's Lidstrom, who rarely if ever gets hit. Two, it looked like he got him with a butt end to the chin.

If this is Pronger on Datsyuk, I'd still think it was an unfortunate hit, though Im' sure people would be screaming for Pronger to be banned from the league. It doesn't really matter though because I doubt people who think this was a dirty hit would believe me.

As someone else mentioned, no one from the Lightning even goes after Ovechkin. Not because they're cowards, but because it wasn't a cheapshot.

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Unfortunate hit. Not dirty.

Heward was bending over at the last second. And this is not like the Kostopolous hit, where it was clearly in the numbers and he was away from the boards. If you look at the replay, AO's body hardly makes contact with Heward, Ovechkin turns away and his back slams the boards.

It looks like AO's elbow catches Heward in the head, not because of a flying elbow, but because Heward was bent over.

To me this looks like a fluke play. Not some cheapshot. And before someone calls me blind because I'm some huge AO fan, bite me. I'm sick of that "if you disagree with me it's because you're a homer" argument. Ovechkin's a great player, but I don't really follow the guy.

Now that's a rational explanation of it why would somebody call you blind for it?

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If a hit isn't dirty or cheap until the player who does it is dirty or cheap how on earth does any hit ever get to be dirty or cheap. Because if no one has a history of dirty hits they can not have dirty hits. Because if they are not dirty before the play (can't be dirty unless by a dirty player) then the league will not have dirty players to do these dirty hits and the league would be clean.

Damn that my friend is a Conundrum!!!

Maybe the solution is to get rid of all of the dirty players so only clean players are making hits!

A dirty hit is a dirty hit wether it be Dats (Lady Bing winner) or Chris Simon. This is a problem in the league currently, certain players Simon, Boulerice get heavy fines while others, Pronger etc. get off light or without suspension.

If the hit is dirty when Tootoo or Pronger do it, it is dirty if AO, Crosby, or Datsyuk do it!

You're generalizing his statement unfairly. :thumbdown:

Whether or not a player is known as a dirty player DOES matter when it comes down to passing out suspensions for two reasons:

1) if there is a history of head hits etc. then the league is more likely to enforce discipline against the player.

2) if the player is known for high hits or cheap shots, then there is likely to be intent behind the hit.

the way I see it, as Ovechkin has always seemed to be completely open, honest and for the most part clean while playing very hard, I find it hard to believe that he hit Heward in the head intentionally. Much more likely to me that it was incidental contact.

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I don't see this as a dirty hit or a cheap shot by AO.

If this was a player who had a history of cheap shots, tootoo, Pronger and so on, then yes i would call this a cheap shot.

AO doesn't have a history of doing stuff like this. He plays hard all the time and does what ever it takes to win. I don't think that he goes out and tries to hurt anyone. I think that this was a case of wrong place at the wrong time.

I hope that the injured player ends up being OK and i really hope that AO doesn't get suspended.

AO plays on the edge i don't know if you watch games or not, his hits are glorious when they are in the boundaries, tragic if they aren't he is always flying around at top speed which is probably why this hit was so dangerous

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You're generalizing his statement unfairly. :thumbdown:

Whether or not a player is known as a dirty player DOES matter when it comes down to passing out suspensions for two reasons:

1) if there is a history of head hits etc. then the league is more likely to enforce discipline against the player.

2) if the player is known for high hits or cheap shots, then there is likely to be intent behind the hit.

the way I see it, as Ovechkin has always seemed to be completely open, honest and for the most part clean while playing very hard, I find it hard to believe that he hit Heward in the head intentionally. Much more likely to me that it was incidental contact.

didn't Ovechkin get in a fight with Malkin's agent or something and subsequently run malkin every game? And i actually dislike malkin who is much dirtier than ovechkin but has never made an injury causing hit like this one.

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didn't Ovechkin get in a fight with Malkin's agent or something and subsequently run malkin every game? And i actually dislike malkin who is much dirtier than ovechkin but has never made an injury causing hit like this one.

That plays into my argument pretty well actually :P

If Ovechkin had hit Malkin into the boards like this then I would consider it more likely that he meant to hit him, as they have history. Heward, on the other hand... it makes no sense for AO to board him intentionally.

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didn't Ovechkin get in a fight with Malkin's agent or something and subsequently run malkin every game? And i actually dislike malkin who is much dirtier than ovechkin but has never made an injury causing hit like this one.

Yes i do watch games and i make sure to watch the Caps when i ever i get the chance. I don't see AO going out and trying to play dirty. He plays on the edge which is why he is so much fun to watch and is also what makes him such a great a player. i don't think that AO tries to hurt anyone and when he does he is the first to step up and say he did something wrong. When was the last time that Pronger ever admitted that he was in the wrong?

I don't see AO getting into to a fight with Malkin's agent having anything to do with how AO plays on the ice. I'm sure that are a ton of players that have off ice issues that play the game well and are not dirty.

Once again i don't think that AO's hit was a cheap shot. He plays the game hard. He didn't go out and try to hurt Howard.

Harold, thanks for the support on my previous post.

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That plays into my argument pretty well actually :P

If Ovechkin had hit Malkin into the boards like this then I would consider it more likely that he meant to hit him, as they have history. Heward, on the other hand... it makes no sense for AO to board him intentionally.

True, it wasn't premeditated, but the elbow hit huard in the head, ovechkin didn't try to avoid it, whether its suspendable thats debateable, i think it shoudl just be 1 game just to show the world that the NHL will suspend anyone because they can use the elbow and the hit form behind as thier argument liek i am. maybe im scapegoating ovechkin but i htink he could have made that check differently.

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