Ballard slashes teammate Vokoun in head

[wingsgirl001 983]

WTF

Wow ... looked completely accidental, but holy s***. What an idiot.

Hope Vokoun is all right.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

What a stupid play.

And how did he not realize he had just smacked his own goalie? If he didn't feel the impact, shouldn't he have at least wondered why Vokoun was acting like he'd been shot in the face?

[Seraph 240]

...I like how the Atlanta players are all gathered around him while he's being examed and Ballard skates off and doesn't even realize it. Not a Florida jersey in sight at first.

[Pavel Hossyukstrom 2]

"You stupid goalie, what the hell is wrong with you!?"

lol

[sergei_is_still_a_wing 1]

not to be insensitive, but why was the stretcher necessary? he was hit in the ear. neck/spine did not seem to be affected in the least. he rolled around on the ice for several moments (leading me to believe he had feeling and or use of his extremities). I'm all for being cautious but a stretcher for a lacerated ear? come on.

that being said im glad he is ok.

[Third Man In 2,091]

not to be insensitive, but why was the stretcher necessary? he was hit in the ear. neck/spine did not seem to be affected in the least. he rolled around on the ice for several moments (leading me to believe he had feeling and or use of his extremities). I'm all for being cautious but a stretcher for a lacerated ear? come on.

that being said im glad he is ok.

uh, I'm quite sure the stretcher was because he had just taken a baseball swing to the head and they were worried about a possible neck fracture. You can have a fractured neck/spine and still have feeling and movement, move the wrong way, and be paralysed.

[Pavrik Zettersyuk 4]

Saw this on the Final Score after the Wings game... I felt really bad for Vokoun, and I could feel a little bit of what Ballard was feeling, though he deserved however low his heart felt after doing something stupid like that. I hope Vokoun is ok, and I hope him and Ballard can be like cool teammates still after something like that.

[MCleveland89 122]

...I like how the Atlanta players are all gathered around him while he's being examed and Ballard skates off and doesn't even realize it. Not a Florida jersey in sight at first.

That was my initial reaction. Why does it seem like more Atlanta players are concerned over Florida? Plus, where the hell is Ballard? He should be the one person out there huddled around him. Instead, he's resting up on the bench.

[Yzerman191 37]

Dumb move.

I don't think the NHL will suspend him. Reckless, yes, but I think the Panthers management should be able to deal with a matter such as this one in their own way, however they see fit. I wouldn't be surprised to see the team suspend him though.

[Electrophile 3,554]

I bet Ballard is going to have quite a few well-deserved sleepless nights. What a maroon.

[pockets 9]

does the suspension flow chart say anything about this?

[Kira 451]

It's a play like this that makes me very glad goalies wear masks/helmets. I don't even want to imagine what would have happened had he not been wearing one.

[Shaman 713]

The year of the freak injury strikes again....any other year, he would have broken his stick over the post and it would have been a highlight of a Kovy goal, and thats it. This year is cursed.

[Aussie_Wing 354]

I know it was completely moronic, but I feel so, so sorry for Ballard. He must be feeling horrible, I don't know how he got through that game with all that guilt knowing what he had done to his teammate.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

The year of the freak injury strikes again....any other year, he would have broken his stick over the post and it would have been a highlight of a Kovy goal, and thats it. This year is cursed.

I just thought of that. When you're not getting hit in a dirty fashion, you're getting hit with the puck while sitting on the bench like Leclaire or getting slashed in the head by your own teammate.

[JayUp88 1]

Poor guy

[Johnny Law 15]

I know it was completely moronic, but I feel so, so sorry for Ballard. He must be feeling horrible, I don't know how he got through that game with all that guilt knowing what he had done to his teammate.

x2 Obviously we don't know what their relationship is like but you hope a few beers down the road will mend things up.

Dude bust their stick over the goal all the time eventually something was going to happen.

[OsGOD 3]

So i would think that a penalty and suspension should occur, eh? i mean that was intent to injure all the way (albeit the goalies head got in the way of the goal post)

unless he really was intending to kill him for that goal...

either way, yeah he should be suspended for careless use of the stick!

Hell McSorely was ejected for life for less than that!

Edited December 1, 2009 by OsGOD

[cusimano_brothers 1,655]

Cementhead.

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

WOW, I must have missed the sale today when they were giving away free soapboxes.

I've broken a s***load of sticks in my day. Yeah, it's "dumb" I guess but for me, it gave me some release when I was super ******* pissed off about how something went.

Normally I would stomp on my stick blade on the bench but i've slammed a goal post or two before. It happens. I remember Kevin Stevens swinging his so hard he broke a pane of glass behind the net. I think he got penalized for that one.

Players get frustrated and they do stuff like this. The only reason it made any news is that his teammate happened to get clipped on the side of the head when he did it.

I'm not going to argue that it's not childish because it is. However, this is not everyday life. It's one thing to lose your cool at home or in public and put your fist through a door or whatever. But this is a sport. Players get amped up and their frustration just boils in an instant.

If he snaps his stick over the post and skates away, when they showed this highlight to show the goal, not one ******* person would have mentioned the fact that Ballard broke his stick.

Get off your ******* soapboxes people. He swung his stick in a careless manner. His intention was to hit the goalpost. Unfortunately he clipped his goalie. All will be fine.

Yeah, it's childish. But the lack of understanding around here has less to do with what happened and more to do with a bunch of dickheads thinking they're so much better than Keith Ballard. Makin' mountains out of molehills people.

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

x2 Obviously we don't know what their relationship is like but you hope a few beers down the road will mend things up.

Dude bust their stick over the goal all the time eventually something was going to happen.

Hey, a couple of rational people who aren't overreacting to an accident. How refreshing.

Anybody who has watched Ballard play knows he's a standup guy. Smaller-sized dman that can pack a wallop when he lines somebody up, sticks up for his teammates and has a bit of two way ability. He's a good player and a good guy. Got caught up in his emotions and accidentally Van Goghed his goalie.

[Konnan511 1,736]

WOW, I must have missed the sale today when they were giving away free soapboxes.

I've broken a s***load of sticks in my day. Yeah, it's "dumb" I guess but for me, it gave me some release when I was super ******* pissed off about how something went.

Normally I would stomp on my stick blade on the bench but i've slammed a goal post or two before. It happens. I remember Kevin Stevens swinging his so hard he broke a pane of glass behind the net. I think he got penalized for that one.

Players get frustrated and they do stuff like this. The only reason it made any news is that his teammate happened to get clipped on the side of the head when he did it.

I'm not going to argue that it's not childish because it is. However, this is not everyday life. It's one thing to lose your cool at home or in public and put your fist through a door or whatever. But this is a sport. Players get amped up and their frustration just boils in an instant.

If he snaps his stick over the post and skates away, when they showed this highlight to show the goal, not one ******* person would have mentioned the fact that Ballard broke his stick.

Get off your ******* soapboxes people. He swung his stick in a careless manner. His intention was to hit the goalpost. Unfortunately he clipped his goalie. All will be fine.

Yeah, it's childish. But the lack of understanding around here has less to do with what happened and more to do with a bunch of dickheads thinking they're so much better than Keith Ballard. Makin' mountains out of molehills people.

I'm not going to disagree with you on any of this GS&T. All players have different means of releasing frustration, whether it be a yell or breaking their sticks against whatever is closest. The only thing that really set me off was the fact, if you're going to do something childish, at least don't hurt anyone else in the process.

It's like in baseball, if a player misses a pitch and pops it up then slams his bat on the ground, no one will care, but if the ump or catcher or even a man in the on-deck circle catch that bat because of carelessness, then there will be an uproar because of that carelessness.

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

I'm not going to disagree with you on any of this GS&T. All players have different means of releasing frustration, whether it be a yell or breaking their sticks against whatever is closest. The only thing that really set me off was the fact, if you're going to do something childish, at least don't hurt anyone else in the process.

It's like in baseball, if a player misses a pitch and pops it up then slams his bat on the ground, no one will care, but if the ump or catcher or even a man in the on-deck circle catch that bat because of carelessness, then there will be an uproar because of that carelessness.

Oh, I absolutely agree with you. You've got to be responsible. And that's the thing, if you are going to vent your frustrations and somebody else ends up injured because of your careless act, then you need to make it right. You need to take your lumps as they say.

I'm sure Ballard feels like crap. I'm sure Vokoun knows he wasn't swinging at him. I'm sure he's gonna have to pick up the tab at the next team dinner or whatever.

But it was an accident. Let's not get too bent out of shape about an accident is all i'm saying to some people here. He's not going to get suspended. The team isn't going to do anything to him. If they did I would be stunned. The league doesn't do anything when teammates fight each other, etc....they ought not do anything about this.

I know from experience that I have a temper and have been prone to doing things others would consider childish. But I understand that so long as I'm not hurting anybody else, people can f*** off and i'll handle things any damned way I want to.

Hey, I freely admit I can be childish and I am totally content with that.

I honestly think some people just see this kind of stuff and don't understand it. I guess they're just better than some of us. I care, I really do.

If you want to see somebody take a violent stick swing at a teammate go find the video of Bill Guerin teeing off on Stars rookie Brett Draney about 6 years ago. That was some violent, intentional s***.

Of course neither the stars or league did anything about that. Was training camp though.

[Pucks 66]

Guess Ballard doesn't like soft goals Maybe we can trade for him to keep Osgood in line. Just kidding Harold don't go crazy.

[OsGOD 3]

I still hold onto the fact that a careless act resulting in hitting someone on the ice should be punished. What would it be if the player he hit wasnt on his team? People do get hit with sticks all the time that are less than this and they result in suspensions and penalties.

if thats the case then players should not get penalties for follow throughs that clip payers in the face... after all they weren't "intending" on hurting another player... their face just got in front of the follow through!

Edited December 1, 2009 by OsGOD