Cleary's hit on Joe Thornton

[Shaman 713]

That WAS boarding. I can't see how anyone could say any differently. Yes, he looked over his shoulder, and that's probably why it wasn't 5 minutes. But it was still boarding.

Edit: I agree that Thornton was acting, though.

On a somewhat related note, why is diving never called?

Because Homer is hurt.... Anyone notice he always use to get the diving penalty called on him? I guess that is over now that they have Goalie interference

[Earthhuman 8]

I don't like the way Cleary landed on Thornton, elbow up if I recall correctly (not on the hit, but on the follow-through). It was a bit too feisty, and in my opinion that's what caused Thornton to try to sell it.

Afterwards Thornton had a terrible game: -1, 2 bad penalties, and I'm not sure how he was on faceoffs but I know it was low!

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Hitting someone from behind in hockey is never acceptable. Cleary deserved the penalty and is lucky it wasn't a major.

I know Thorton turned into the hit, but Datsyuk and Zetterberg do the back to the other player thing along the wall as well- lots of players do. You don't get to hit the guy in the numbers in any situation.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

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.

Datsyuk and Zetterberg both do the exact same thing when they're along the boards- put your back to the other player because he knows he can't hit you from behind. That doesn't mean it's ok to hit someone from behind.

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

Datsyuk and Zetterberg both do the exact same thing when they're along the boards- put your back to the other player because he knows he can't hit you from behind. That doesn't mean it's ok to hit someone from behind.

Well there going to get there bell rung one day, and deserve it. Turning your back to an oncoming player is just flat out stupid. Your much more vulnerable for injury, old hockey players never did it, because back in the day everyone finished there checks. Thornton is lucky Cleary didnt hit him hard, or he could be facing serious injury. No ones saying it's ok, because its not. But if you put yourselve in that situation, it's your own fault.

[Donaldjr2448 43]

I personally think that Joe Thornton is one of the biggest overrated players in the league, he has more excuses than any player out there!! I just don't understand why anyone would think Thornton is a great player!! Kind of like Paul Kariya minus the bad hip!!

The fact that someone is comparing the hit to Lemieux is not even worth commenting on!! I think the Sharks fans had no excuse this time like last time's oh we played the second of a back to back and blah blah blah. The samething happened to the Sharks lastnight that happens to them in the playoffs every year, The Wings wanted it more. Lets face it even though San Jose has had some mild upsets in the playoff, they have been nothing more that an epic failure!!

[Barrie 900]

I watched the game online with the Sharks announcers, here's my take on the hit...

A 2 minute penalty was fine. Cleary hit Thornton from behind, but he lead with his shoulder. Had Dan cross checked him from behind, then yes it should have been 5 minutes.

However I wonder if Thornton, knowing Cleary was coming, was trying to take one for the team and draw a 5 minute boarding penalty . Thornton's a big guy, he could have braced himself for the hit or given a shoulder to Cleary.

[Hopper15 0]

What goes around comes around. That was a totally viscous hit and Cleary deserves to be fined and suspended for it. Bettman won't do anything as usual though.

[Barrie 900]

Well there going to get there bell rung one day, and deserve it. Turning your back to an oncoming player is just flat out stupid. Your much more vulnerable for injury, old hockey players never did it, because back in the day everyone finished there checks. Thornton is lucky Cleary didnt hit him hard, or he could be facing serious injury. No ones saying it's ok, because its not. But if you put yourselve in that situation, it's your own fault.

Agreed. If players try and draw hits from behind that's pretty stupid.

[seeinred 1,488]

Hitting someone from behind in hockey is never acceptable. Cleary deserved the penalty and is lucky it wasn't a major.

I know Thorton turned into the hit, but Datsyuk and Zetterberg do the back to the other player thing along the wall as well- lots of players do. You don't get to hit the guy in the numbers in any situation.

If a player turns at the last second, a hit from behind is 100% acceptable.

[Guest Four]

What goes around comes around. That was a totally viscous hit and Cleary deserves to be fined and suspended for it. Bettman won't do anything as usual though.

I'm sorry, do you mean to say that Bettman has a sweet-spot for us?

......BAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

AHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHH

HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH

fail.

[pjgj13 30]

I haven't gone over there at all but had anyone complained about the non-stoppage on Z's SH goal off the netting?

Payback is a *****!!

[Wingsallwin 0]

I have to say that was just an unclassy movement by Cleary. Even though I think he is sportsmanlike still, that is not a good way to hit.

People have to know it. Because it is done by the Wings player, some people here are saying like " well that was just a good hit even though it was little dirty".. the truth is that is not true. If other teams' players hit the Wings and injured any of Wings players, how would be the reaction of that?

[EuroTwin 240]

I just watched the hit again. Thorton looked at Cleary twice, the first time for a couple seconds, tracking Cleary as they both went for the puck, the second time right before Thorton gets possession, he clearly sees Cleary and then turns and puts himself in a vulnerable position. The hit itself isn't too bad because Thorton's shoulder goes into the boards first. It's when Cleary is pushed into Thorton after the intial hit that Cleary's elbow lands on top of Thorton's head and they both slide down. Thorton's face going into the unfortunate area between the glass and the boards, that made me wince.

That being said, yeah, I'd probably be pissed if the roles were reversed, but I would also like to think (perhaps naively) that after seeing the hit again I'd understand it wasn't AS HORRIBLE as it looked, as evidenced by Thorton returning to the ice less than a moment later.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

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.

Was Cleary's hit on Thornton worthy of more than a 2-minute penalty? No.

Regarding everything else, their team lost. When your team loses, you are going to get bitter fans. When you are bitter, your smarts typically decline temporarily. Shouldn't be surprising at all, plenty of people in here go bitter and stupid whenever the Wings lose a game. It happens all the time whenever your team loses.

Throw the outcome in reverse and some of the calls, there's a good chance we're the ones ranting and whining.

[T.Low 1,011]

Hitting someone from behind in hockey is never acceptable. Cleary deserved the penalty and is lucky it wasn't a major.

I know Thorton turned into the hit, but Datsyuk and Zetterberg do the back to the other player thing along the wall as well- lots of players do. You don't get to hit the guy in the numbers in any situation.

Cleary was already committed to the hit and then JT turned his back, there is no way he could have stopped or let up at that point. Not a homer, just an observation.

[T.Low 1,011]

I just watched the hit again. Thorton looked at Cleary twice, the first time for a couple seconds, tracking Cleary as they both went for the puck, the second time right before Thorton gets possession, he clearly sees Cleary and then turns and puts himself in a vulnerable position. The hit itself isn't too bad because Thorton's shoulder goes into the boards first. It's when Cleary is pushed into Thorton after the intial hit that Cleary's elbow lands on top of Thorton's head and they both slide down. Thorton's face going into the unfortunate area between the glass and the boards, that made me wince.

That being said, yeah, I'd probably be pissed if the roles were reversed, but I would also like to think (perhaps naively) that after seeing the hit again I'd understand it wasn't AS HORRIBLE as it looked, as evidenced by Thorton returning to the ice less than a moment later.

Can you post the vid?

[#19forPresident! 1]

+1

didnt look all that bad to me.

me either, or Thornton himself for that matter, after all he saw the hit coming before he decided to turn his back.

[#19forPresident! 1]

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

Mods, maybe merge this thread with the other one on the same topic?

[EuroTwin 240]

Can you post the vid?

I would if I could, but it was on our DVR and I lack certain necessary computer skills to convert that to a computer vid. Sorry.

[TheSupafly 50]

Usually the Sharks broadcasters (Hahn and Remenda -- Remenda being the bald guy) are not homers and for some of this game they were hard on the Sharks as they should be. However, regarding Thornton and the no goal they just would not stop whining! Was rather disappointing because not only did they come off there as homers, but morons as well. The puck wasn't even over the line, and Thornton DID see the hit coming. I know they get into the games and all that but they were complaining the ENTIRE game about those. Then turn around and justify a s***ty penalty on the Wings as being okay because McLellan yapped to the refs. Um, what? Just previous to that they were complaining about chincy penalties being on par to the Thornton hit-from-behind (2 minutes), then turn around and say that. Very unlike them.

This shouldn't change people's opinion about how good of announcers they are. They are very good. This was just a rather horrible play by play on their part.

Yeah going back they did homer it up a bit, and they usually are very tough on the Sharks are a no BS duo. Guess they got a little emotional. I promise that they're usually quite good.

[TheSupafly 50]

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.

That's the site that I come from. You have to understand a few things.

-Our site is quite small in comparison to yours. We don't have near the membership nor traffic.

-It's a different environment all together. Things that are allowed on many other boards aren't on there. There are also many minors that frequent the boards. Keep in mind, I'm not saying what's right and wrong...but that's just the type of place it is. It's more nicey nice I suppose you could say.

-A very large % of the people on the site know each other in real life. That leads to conversations more akin to what you'd find if people were in the same house watching the game together.

I assure you the site is no joke, and anyone that chooses to come over and post would be welcomed. I very much enjoy hearing what fans of other teams have to say (duh, why do you think i'm here), and so do many people over there.

Also, did you happen to see any of my posts? I believe I called a few people out on their homerism, although I was angry myself and could have just imagined doing that.

Lastly, c'mon, you'd have to expect a few people to be pretty upset to the point of irrationality.

[sharkfan20 32]

What do i think about the hit,it was a 2 minute penalty when i first saw clearly hit thornton in the back i thought it was going to be 5. But, when i saw the replays, it was def. 2. i didnt' like the hit, but it is what it is. Sharks didn't make them pay, thats their fault. And thornton always seems to not shine in big games. Sharks played like crap again in sens world. Lucky we won again. ugh sure we won, it doesn't seem we put any effort in games. always about 60-70 percent. And i'm glad Mclellan critized Joe T, in the media yesterday. I was not happy with Marleau's, Thorntons, Boyle's, Nabokov's performance. Shoot the whole team. We better not play like that in the playoffs. IF we do, we are out in the first round.Yes i am critical, but i expect more of the Sharks team. And i'm sick of losing big games.

But it wouldn't have mattered if we would have gotten a 5 minute powerplay. Sharks wouldn't have made the redwings pay. i didn't know we had a letsgosharks website. intresting. haha. But i do hope we meet in the wcf. That would be a very intresting series.

[Electrophile 3,554]

What goes around comes around. That was a totally viscous hit and Cleary deserves to be fined and suspended for it. Bettman won't do anything as usual though.

I'm sorry, what? I couldn't hear you over the sound of you not making any sense whatsoever.