Cleary's hit on Joe Thornton

[b.shanafan14 733]

haha some people eh.... Cleary's boarding was a run-of-the-mill, every day boarding, stuns the player, he gets up, he's fine. Lemuiex creased Draper's face over the bench ledge, leaving him bloodied and broken, requiring reconstructive surgery. Obviously those who are saying this know nothing about hockey, or at least nothing about the hit on Draper 13 years ago.

Edited February 26, 2009 by b.shanafan14

[I Red Wings I 40]

Several years ago eh?

[redwing_sparty 0]

thorton looked back and saw that hit coming. he should have been prepared for it. maybe he was just trying to draw a penalty cause he def turned his back on cleary.

there are tons of hits just like that every year. thing is the sharks are usually the ones intigating those types of plays and they seemed to take offense that the wings were out muscling them last night.

i'd be ticked too if the hit was on one of my teams players but to blame an entire game off of that is stupid.

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

Thornton turned into the hit, like a bunch of other dumbasses in the NHL over the past couple years. Cleary was finishing his checks, Sharks fans are babys if they believe all the garbage there getting on with.

[Electrophile 3,554]

The fans who started this ridiculous comparison should probably watch that hit on Draper and realize that one was dirty, the other wasn't. What Cleary did could have been dirty if other factors were present, but seeing as they weren't.....it wasn't. He took his 2 minutes and that was that.

I remember that hit on Draper, I was watching the game on TV. I also remember thinking his injuries were far worse than they turned out to be, and I was grateful that he wasn't severely injured. Thornton didn't even break a sweat on that.

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

It was good to see him finish a frickin hit, if it was almost anyone else, they would've turned off. Thornton saw it and turned, players are doing it all the time now. It's stupid, if that was me I throw it up the boards and brace myself. Jesus, dont put yourselve into a position to get hurt.

[diehardredwing19 11]

honestly i never wish anything like that upon any player on any team.... but thornton deserved it, anyone remember thorntons headshot to franzens head last time these to teams hookedup? so thornton had it coming for him even though he turned into it and it was no ones fault.... cleary is not a cheap player unlike claude was or still is that is yet to be seen....

[ben_usmc 253]

if seeing a fire cracker reminds you of watching an atom bomb, then yes I could see the comparision

[esteef 2,679]

esteef

[Guest Crymson]

Sorry if a mod took my previous post of this down for some reason...but I went to check on the thread and It was gone, so I am thinking there was an error? If not why would it be deleted? Just wondering, and sorry for posting twice if I did somethin wrong to get the post removed.

So, out of curiosity, i went to letsgosharks.com just to read some articles on last nights game from the opponents perspective and I'm appauled at what I just read. It seems as though all the sharks fans think the refs gave us the game, or that Because cleary hit thornton in a "Hit reminiscent of Claude Lemeiux's on Draper", that caused thornton to play crappy and the team to follow. Here is a sample of tihs article with the link to the full thing following:

---Detroit beat the Sharks by flat out dominating them in just about every facet of the game. The Red Wings set the tone early when Dan Cleary tried knocking out the Sharks top centerman, Joe Thornton, with a cheap shot that was reminiscent of Claude Lemieux’s hit on Chris Draper in the playoffs several years ago.

Cleary nailed Thornton in the numbers, forcing the centerman’s head into the glass. Thornton was a non-factor in the game from that point forward. Rather than rally around their fallen leader, the Sharks seemed to go into a shell. They would spend the remainder of the game chasing the Red Wings, rather than dictating play. The Red Wings were aided by the on-ice officials inability to call anything more than a minor penalty for boarding. ---

Source: http://www.letsgosharks.com/story/2009/09-0225-01.htm

I'm not suggesting anyone go on there starting stuff, and I am not posting there either. I just found this to be a joke. A joke from some sore losers who can't admit that they were just purely outplayed and not make excuses for why they were. Let me know what you all think.

Yeah, it sounds like someone was seriously grasping for straws.

this. I assume the Sharks fans who posted the comparison never saw the Draper incident or aftermath, damage to Draper's face. They need to do their homework.

They also didn't note the following:

1) Cleary did not barrel full-tilt into Thornton.

2) Cleary did not drive Thornton's face directly into the top of the bench divider.

3) This hit didn't really bear much resemblence to it at all.

4) And yeah, to repeat what you said, in '96 Draper didn't spend the rest of the game screening the goalie on the power play.

Yeesh, what a dumbass.

Edited February 26, 2009 by Crymson

[Echolalia 2,961]

Is a clip of the hit online anywhere?

[Guest Shoreline]

Not on Youtube yet, at least. Just one highlight video that starts off way after the hit.

[T.Low 1,011]

As the Orignal Poster I gotta thank you guys for some really good comments, on both sides of the issues. Of course i like the ones that agree with my sentiment, and think the ones that don't agree are idiots , uh, I mean...uhm...

hey, thanks for the great comments.

[Hockeytown_Ryan 122]

It was very bad hit by Cleary. Definitely dirty.

IDIOT!!!!! Cleary is not a dirty player like Clutterf***

Joe saw it coming and turned away, f*** him!

esteef

Exactly!! Thank you very much!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mors 201]

LOL @ people calling this dirty. Thornton looked right at him, turned his back, then looked at the ref from the ground and started holding his head. Gimme a f***in break, the oscar goes to Thornton. They got their power play and wasted it. QQ more.

[redwings604 0]

I dont really care if it was clean on not im just glad thorton got his face smashed

[Tr!PoD#19 524]

A hit from behind is usually dirty in my opinion. I thought Cleary could have eased up and attempted to pin him.

So yeah, dirty in my opinion.

[BlueMonk 102]

People can argue about whether the hit was clean or not, but regardless of that it sure seemed to get Thornton off his game.

[Electrophile 3,554]

If you have to sell it to the refs/linesmen to get a penalty or a more severe penalty (major vs. minor), then it couldn't have been that bad.

[Wings_Rule_1010 4]

A penalty. Definitely. But "dirty". That's a joke. Cleary went in for the hit and Thornton turned. How in the world is that dirty? Either way, though, Thronton wasn't hurt and it seemed to get him off of his game.

[ben_usmc 253]

A hit from behind is usually dirty in my opinion. I thought Cleary could have eased up and attempted to pin him.

So yeah, dirty in my opinion.

for sure was a boarding call, hell I wouldn't have been happy but at least would have understood if they gave him a 5 min. But comparing that to the Draper is just out of this world.

[tweekvp 0]

I really think every sport should have a rule that if the game is stopped for a players injury that player should sit out for a specified amount of time. It would stop the bs acting by players who get hit.

I'm also surprised no one has mentioned what Mickey was yelling about when the hit happened. If the refs had called the clear interference before the hit, it never would have happened. So as usual most of the fault lies with NHL refs.

[sixer 37]

There's a reason it was a 2 min penalty.

Just an old fashioned hit from behind, nothing more, nothing dirty. Period.

[Tr!PoD#19 524]

for sure was a boarding call, hell I wouldn't have been happy but at least would have understood if they gave him a 5 min. But comparing that to the Draper is just out of this world.

Not even remotely close to what happened to Draper. Who is saying that?

[EuroTwin 240]

Not even remotely close to what happened to Draper. Who is saying that?

Some idiot on a Sharks board.