Brule crushes Letang

[jollymania 162]

Everyone is noting that he had his arm tucked in; what you are not noting is that he hit him arm first. When you hit a guy cleanly in hockey, you don't just blindly charge in and ram him as happened in this situation. A clean hit is done with the... say it with me...SHOULDER.

Brule hit him straight on with his arms, and what made Letang bleed was Brule jumping into Letang, and Brule's helmet hitting Letang's jaw.

If Brule had hit Letang cleanly, Brule wouldn't have carried over top of him because a clean hockey hit transfers most of your forward momentum, and keeps you standing on the ice.

Yes, I know Letang is the best Penguin currently playing.

wow, have you not heard of mattias ohlund or ken danyko? should we we write the history books and call 90% of their hits penalties and dirty?

Why is this such a big deal anyway? I equate this to arguing about any other bad penalty call. Bad calls or missed calls happen every game. Plus, I can see where someone would call it charging anyway. It's not like he got 5 and a game for it.

you are being quite naïve, or do you not see a trend?

ohlund should be suspended for the rest of his life right?

[fivetenandagame 11]

I'm perfectly fine with a charge being called there. Nothing more.

Is it a "bad" call? In comparison to the bazillion bad calls per game, I think not.

Ref has to make a split second call on this one and he does have his arm up. It's not a flying elbow to the jaw, but given the current state of the game, the black eye that is the concussion issue and the fact that Letang is flat footed and Brule absolutely steamrolls him, I am ok with the call.

I personally think it's a fantastic hit. But with his right arm up where it is, and the contact catching part of Letang's head, I think a charge is iffy but reasonable. Could they have let it go? Sure. But by calling it I don't see it as a bad call. Just a borderline call.

[HankthaTank 1,100]

If hits like this are gone from the game then I will find it very hard to watch it. Beautiful hockey play. Give me a break Pittsburgh commentators.... wah wah wah

[jollymania 162]

I'm perfectly fine with a charge being called there. Nothing more.

Is it a "bad" call? In comparison to the bazillion bad calls per game, I think not.

Ref has to make a split second call on this one and he does have his arm up. It's not a flying elbow to the jaw, but given the current state of the game, the black eye that is the concussion issue and the fact that Letang is flat footed and Brule absolutely steamrolls him, I am ok with the call.

I personally think it's a fantastic hit. But with his right arm up where it is, and the contact catching part of Letang's head, I think a charge is iffy but reasonable. Could they have let it go? Sure. But by calling it I don't see it as a bad call. Just a borderline call.

where did he put his arm up?

[hamip1998 3]

I wish some of the Wings would hit like this on a regular basis.

Also, this hit is not a charge. If he would have continued to stride into Letang (moving his feet instead of gliding) it would have been charging. If you look at the replay, from the time Letang lets go of the puck until the hit it was roughly two seconds or slightly less, which in my book isn't late. You could argue that he left his feet but I also don't think that was significant either. It's not like he launched himself into Letang. Brule probably should have lead with the shoulder instead so there wasn't any question about the hit, but he definitely popped Letang in the chest and not the chin.

If I were one of the Edmonton coaches Brule would have got an "atta boy" from me. Letang got his clock cleaned, plain and simple.

Edited March 14, 2011 by hamip1998

[Finnish Wing 110]

Carman, what do you think of the Pens commentators?

[jollymania 162]

I wish some of the Wings would hit like this on a regular basis.

Also, this hit is not a charge. If he would have continued to stride into Letang (moving his feet instead of gliding) it would have been charging. If you look at the replay, from the time Letang lets go of the puck until the hit it was roughly two seconds or slightly less, which in my book isn't late. You could argue that he left his feet but I also don't think that was significant either. It's not like he launched himself into Letang. Brule probably should have lead with the shoulder instead so there wasn't any question about the hit, but he definitely popped Letang in the chest and not the chin.

If I were one of the Edmonton coaches Brule would have got an "atta boy" from me. Letang got his clock cleaned, plain and simple.

you shouldn't look at the replay to get the timing, it was under a half second after letang let go of the puck to when brule hit him

[Carman 387]

Carman, what do you think of the Pens commentators?

They are an absolute joke, worst commentators in the league. They try too hard to be funny, and come off completely unprofessional too often.

About the hit; Might have been a charge, on the ice it looked like it, but after seeing replays it was clean.

Edited March 14, 2011 by Carman

[eva unit zero 271]

wow, have you not heard of mattias ohlund or ken danyko? should we we write the history books and call 90% of their hits penalties and dirty?

you are being quite naïve, or do you not see a trend?

ohlund should be suspended for the rest of his life right?

Remember what I said about that exact Ohlund hit in the other thread? Kind of the exact same thing.

[LeftWinger 4,951]

ohlund should be suspended for the rest of his life right?

wow, what a dirty player he is!

I see the league eventually banning hits like the Brule hit, not because its dirty, but because it meant nothing to the play. he didn't separate him from the puck or cause a turnover. As nice as the hit was, it was pretty much a meaningless hit. The league would rather have all teams play like the Red Wings and not hit, but rather lean hard on someone to try and separate the puck or cause a turnover, just watch Lidstrom's entire career. This is definitely turning into a pansy league. Sad, Sad, Sad.....

[fivetenandagame 11]

where did he put his arm up?

Is this a trick question? The video clearly shows that his right arm is right up under the chin of Letang. I guess I would consider that to be putting your arm up. It wasn't like he hit him with his shoulder. It was a nice forearm shiver. Like I said, I like the hit but understand the call that was made.

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

I love watching Penguins get rocked and hearing there announcers whine Two words boys: Matt Cooke.

[AtomicPunk 296]

Chest to chest. Nothing dirty about that hit. AT ALL. Thanks NHL.

[matt198913 932]

Good god they are the worst announcers in the league

[Smite 399]

Rule 42 - Charging

42.1 Charging - A minor or major penalty shall be imposed on a player who skates or jumps into, or charges an opponent in any manner.

Charging shall mean the actions of a player who, as a result of distance traveled, shall violently check an opponent in any manner. A “charge” may be the result of a check into the boards, into the goal frame or in open ice.

This is a text book charging call in any league Ive watched or have played in. Trust me I have the same amount of dislike for Pittsburgs as most of you. The unwitten ruls is if your more then 3 strdes away and targeting a player (gliding at the end or not) it is a charge. NHL and refs got it spot on. As well in this case Brule had plenty of time to aviod the collision after Letang got rid of the puck.

Shame on the commentators to try to compare this with the head shot issue that the league is trying to fix. 2 min minor nothing more nothing less.

As for someone already mentioned what most coaches would think of of this play. Long as it was early or mid game, you take that peanlty. Set the tone and make the other teams defence edgy to make them rush and make mistakes.

my .02

[Zetts 236]

Everyone is noting that he had his arm tucked in; what you are not noting is that he hit him arm first. When you hit a guy cleanly in hockey, you don't just blindly charge in and ram him as happened in this situation. A clean hit is done with the... say it with me...SHOULDER.

Brule hit him straight on with his arms, and what made Letang bleed was Brule jumping into Letang, and Brule's helmet hitting Letang's jaw.

If Brule had hit Letang cleanly, Brule wouldn't have carried over top of him because a clean hockey hit transfers most of your forward momentum, and keeps you standing on the ice.

Yes, I know Letang is the best Penguin currently playing.

You must really dislike Kronwall's hits then seeing as he almost always carries over top of the other player.

[alex1978 0]

Very very interesting post..I like this one. gotta bookmark this one.

[eva unit zero 271]

You must really dislike Kronwall's hits then seeing as he almost always carries over top of the other player.

A large portion of Kronwall's big hits are absolutely penalty-worthy. Jumping into a guy as part of your hit is a charging penalty. That's plain and simple.

[Finnish Wing 110]

"You CAN GLIDE into a guy, but you can't stride into a guy" - Bill Clement in NHL 11.

Brule didn't stride. He glided. That's not a charge.

[toby91_ca 620]

"You CAN GLIDE into a guy, but you can't stride into a guy" - Bill Clement in NHL 11.

Brule didn't stride. He glided. That's not a charge.

I'm assuming you are joking, but just in case, did you really just quote NHL 11 to try and explain a rule?

Gliding vs. striding into a guy has nothing to do with charging or not. Almost all hits happen from a guy "gliding" in as he needs to get his balance set. If you don't glide in, it probably won't work out to well for you.

[hamip1998 3]

Rule 42 - Charging

42.1 Charging - A minor or major penalty shall be imposed on a player who skates or jumps into, or charges an opponent in any manner.

Charging shall mean the actions of a player who, as a result of distance traveled, shall violently check an opponent in any manner. A “charge” may be the result of a check into the boards, into the goal frame or in open ice.

This is a text book charging call in any league Ive watched or have played in. Trust me I have the same amount of dislike for Pittsburgs as most of you. The unwitten ruls is if your more then 3 strdes away and targeting a player (gliding at the end or not) it is a charge. NHL and refs got it spot on. As well in this case Brule had plenty of time to aviod the collision after Letang got rid of the puck.

Shame on the commentators to try to compare this with the head shot issue that the league is trying to fix. 2 min minor nothing more nothing less.

As for someone already mentioned what most coaches would think of of this play. Long as it was early or mid game, you take that peanlty. Set the tone and make the other teams defence edgy to make them rush and make mistakes.

my .02

The "unwritten rule" is what I was referring to. I should have been more specific.

In retrospect I am not sure how far away that Brule was from Letang when he started his "glide". From the replay, it didn't look like he took 4 or five strides in his direction and drilled him, which to me is a charge. By the strictest definition of the rule, half of the time that guys go into the corners they get "charged", yet it's hardly ever called. Personally I have seen more boarding calls being made over the years than charging calls.

Point is, a ref can't catch every infraction every time. Interpretations of rules, unless there is a clear and obvious violation, is still subjective based upon the refs view on the ice when it happens. For example, I personally don't agree that a touch or tap on the opposing players gloves with your stick blade warrants a hooking call but how many times do we see that in a game?

While I didn't and don't like the clutching and grabbing style of the early 90's, I am one of those fans that doesn't like to see 10 or 12 power plays a game, either. Life isn't fair. I think the refs should call the penalties that they are sure of or mostly sure of and if they aren't they should let it go.

Edited March 15, 2011 by hamip1998

[Hockeytown_Ryan 119]

Rule 42 - Charging

42.1 Charging - A minor or major penalty shall be imposed on a player who skates or jumps into, or charges an opponent in any manner.

Charging shall mean the actions of a player who, as a result of distance traveled, shall violently check an opponent in any manner. A "charge" may be the result of a check into the boards, into the goal frame or in open ice.

This is a text book charging call in any league Ive watched or have played in.

Poorly written rule I think....

Reading that does that mean that this should be TOP 10 "Charges" for the week of 1-18-2011??

Just sayin' the line to be drawn is in the eye of the official.

Some of those were way worse than the hit on Letang too...

Edited March 15, 2011 by Hockeytown_Ryan

[Finnish Wing 110]

I'm assuming you are joking, but just in case, did you really just quote NHL 11 to try and explain a rule?

Gliding vs. striding into a guy has nothing to do with charging or not. Almost all hits happen from a guy "gliding" in as he needs to get his balance set. If you don't glide in, it probably won't work out to well for you.

You don't respect Bill Clement's authority?!

[Guest Shoreline]

If we wanna broadly interpret "charging", then anyone who follows through or finishes on a hit is charging. I can see the technical aspects of the Brule hit that might make it illegal, but all in all, this hit is fine.

I can understand the logic of trying to eliminate injuries but the parallel between this and the NFL is.. it's a physically violent sport. Surely the worst of the worst get rightfully ostracized, but why are people romanticizing hitting? I don't want to see the NHL product go the same way of the NFL in these regards.

[eva unit zero 271]

Poorly written rule I think....

Reading that does that mean that this should be TOP 10 "Charges" for the week of 1-18-2011??

Just sayin' the line to be drawn is in the eye of the official.

Some of those were way worse than the hit on Letang too...

If you are referring to #10, that's definitely a charge. He leaves his feet before contact.