Nystrom hit on Letang

[MacAttack25 44]

Lots of debate over this one. Especially between Roenick and Milbury.

Keep in mind, this idiot Milbury defended Kostopoulos' hit on Stuart, saying he "loved it".

What do you guys think on this one? Letang is apparently out day to day, and considering he was concussed already this season, that could be bad news.

[cnot19 191]

I think it was a clean hit. Letang put himself in a terrible position at the last minute, at that speed its hard to change course at the last minute.

[kipwinger 8,520]

I don't know how the rule works here. Obviously there's shoulder to chin contact, but it seems like this is only the case because Letang was crouched and his head was down around shoulder level. Nystom doesn't jump or lift his elbow or shoulder at all really. I guess the question becomes could Nystrom have avoided the hit entirely without taking himself completely out of the play. That, I think, you could argue either way.

Note: After watching it closely for the fourth time, Letang plays the puck first and Nystrom never even really makes an attempt to play it. I don't think Nystrom got up high, but he didn't need to make that hit. Letang is vulnerable because he reached out to poke the puck away. My best guess is Nystrom gets a fine but no suspension.

Edited March 1, 2012 by kipwinger

[cnot19 191]

I don't know how the rule works here. Obviously there's shoulder to chin contact, but it seems like this is only the case because Letang was crouched and his head was down around shoulder level. Nystom doesn't jump or lift his elbow or shoulder at all really. I guess the question becomes could Nystrom have avoided the hit entirely without taking himself completely out of the play. That, I think, you could argue either way.

Note: After watching it closely for the fourth time, Letang plays the puck first and Nystrom never even really makes an attempt to play it. I don't think Nystrom got up high, but he didn't need to make that hit. Letang is vulnerable because he reached out to poke the puck away. My best guess is Nystrom gets a fine but no suspension.

Im not sure why people say Nystrom didnt need to make that hit, his job is to be a physical presence and make the defense pay for moving the puck. In this case, should he simply have poked at the puck? Letang would have had an easy exit out of the zone if this was the case. When players make plays like that to poke a puck around or make a move around a player, the defender's responsibility is to take the body, poke checking there is rather ineffective and would have landed Nystrom out of the league if he employed this technique his whole career.

[Din758 371]

Im not sure why people say Nystrom didnt need to make that hit, his job is to be a physical presence and make the defense pay for moving the puck. In this case, should he simply have poked at the puck? Letang would have had an easy exit out of the zone if this was the case. When players make plays like that to poke a puck around or make a move around a player, the defender's responsibility is to take the body, poke checking there is rather ineffective and would have landed Nystrom out of the league if he employed this technique his whole career.

Also we should note its very typical for the fokechecker to make that hit because it makes the puck available for another forechecker as the other d-man was behind the net. Were all taught that play.

[kipwinger 8,520]

Im not sure why people say Nystrom didnt need to make that hit, his job is to be a physical presence and make the defense pay for moving the puck. In this case, should he simply have poked at the puck? Letang would have had an easy exit out of the zone if this was the case. When players make plays like that to poke a puck around or make a move around a player, the defender's responsibility is to take the body, poke checking there is rather ineffective and would have landed Nystrom out of the league if he employed this technique his whole career.

I agree with you. All I'm saying is that the way that they've been enforcing hits all year suggests that you're supposed to bail out on a hit if the other guy is in a vulnerable position and one could argue that Letang was. I like Nystrom and love his hard hitting game so I doubt that he ever considered letting up, but I think that's what the league expects guys to do in that situation from now on.

Like I said, I don't think he deserves a suspension and I don't think he'll get one. But I won't be surprised if he gets a fine.

Edited March 1, 2012 by kipwinger

[sputman 1,268]

any kind of hit on letang is legal.

[xtrememachine1 795]

Doesn't look dirty to me - however I haven't a clue as to what Nystrom was thinking, or what his intent was

Letang was going to chip it past Nystrom and skate around him. Nystrom didn't want Letang to do that so he tried to get in his way and at least slow him down. Unfortunately he was moving pretty quick and drilled Letang.

When I first saw it, I thought it was a solid hit to the shoulder with unfortunate consequences. Nystrom wasn't "going after" him and he kept his elbows tucked in. But because of the position Letang was in, Nystrom's tucked in arms make contact with Letang's head. Pretty much any blow to the head will result in a suspension these days. It'll be an interesting decision though because does this mean even a clean hit can result in a suspension if a head injury is caused?

[rrasco 1,312]

Even Bylsma said Letang put himself in that position by poke checking at the puck last second. Said he would rather have him play along the boards there instead.

f*** Milbury. The more I hear him talk the more I despise him.

[Trastion 22]

f*** Milbury. The more I hear him talk the more I despise him.

I always see him and mentally add a Hitler stache to him, his haircut and face make me think of Hitler every time.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Copy & pasted...

I don't recall seeing this many Dmen getting targeted years ago...The idea of opening up the game, and not allowing any form of obstruction only gives the green light for opposing forwards to nail unsuspected Dmen at high rates of speed...Years ago (take a look at games from the 80's, and early 90's) we'd see the forwards hook/tug on the jersey of an opposing forward to give their Dmen ample time to gather the puck, and make a play thus reducing the chance of getting run hard.

Another thought is getting rid of the trapezoid, and allowing the goalies to play the puck...I'm certain this too will reduce the number of Dmen getting injured as they retrieve the puck.

I definitely don't want obstruction coming back into the game. It's too hard to monitor what level is acceptable. Pretty soon we'll be back to the clutch and grabfest. Picture Datsyuk juking a guy out of his jockstrap, only to have that player hook and hold on to him to negate the play.

I think getting rid of the trapezoid is a pretty good move.

This hit is tough. Letang does make that last second poke that puts him in a vulnerable position. But more and more it does seem like guys are passing up a completely free puck to crush a guy, making no attempt to play it.

I'd call this a legal hit, but it's pretty brutal.

EDIT: watching the replay again, Nystrom has his arm pretty tucked. It looks even cleaner than I originally thought. Like I said, legal hit. tough break for Letang though.

[Konnan511 1,736]

Looked good And clean to me.

Douchebag move by nystrom to fake like he was going to get the puck with all intents and purposes to blast Letang, but tis the nature of the beast.

Out of all the hits, the behind the net ones are the most cowardly. It's the easiest ones to catch the opponent in a vulnerable position.

[toby91_ca 620]

It's a tough one. I guess you have to consider how much Letang moved by reaching to poke the puck and how short of time it was before he took the hit.

[ami 273]

Malkin #7 Paul Martin should get 2 minutes for slashing. That's it.

Edit: It wasn't Malking, it was #7 Paul Martin who should get slashing call.

Edited March 1, 2012 by ami

[JoshuaW92 9]

It really looked like Letang was trying to sell that one. It didn't even look like that hard of a hit.

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

Brutal but clean hit. What pisses me off more than anything, is that in the new NHL when a player gets rocked, the hitter is immediately sought after and play is stopped. It drives me absolutely crazy! What the hell happened to "remember" the hit and lay one back on him later on?

It's to the point where I'd almost like to see a penalty called for the person that causes the stoppage for those reasons within 10 seconds of a hit.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Brutal but clean hit. What pisses me off more than anything, is the fact that in the new NHL when a player gets rocked, the hitter is immediately sought after and play is stopped. It drives me absolutely crazy! What the hell happened to "remember" the hit and lay one back on him later on?

This one I'll kind of give a pass on because at full speed it was hard to tell if it was a headshot or exactly what happened.

But overall I agree. It's gotten ridiculous. I've heard people claim that's the way it's always been, but it goes against my memories of watching hockey since the early 80s.

Clean hard hits are a part of the game. Having fights after every big hit is yet another way to try to take hitting out of the game, this time by the players themselves.

[Hiei 192]

Nystrom has his elbows down and the puck is right there for either of them to play. If he thinks that Letang is going to get the puck before him, doesn't he have a right to blow up Letang from handling the puck, i.e. Good Old Time Hockey? Eddie Shore? Had Letang not tried his best (and failure) Datsyuk impersonation, and taken the body hit, he would've been body blasted into the glass, probably written off as a hard and clean check. After watching the vid, it does not appear to me that Nystrom targets the head in any deliberate fashion.

Of course, if this was the pittsburgh broadcast, those dillholes Steigerwald and Errey would be calling for Nystrom to be banned from the league.

[Nightfall 871]

Tough call for me as well. I have the benefit of watching it multiple times. Nystrom was in position to play the puck, and instead did play the body. You can tell by his body language that he was uninterested in playing the puck and was going for the hit. If it is a suspension, it should only be for 1-2 games.

If I was handing out the suspension, I would probably give him 1-2 games at the most. He made no attempt to play the puck, and yet made contact with the head. At the same time, he was crouched and Nystrom had no time to react.

[Ram 240]

Watched the video about 10 times and it is very difficult to me to see how that hit is illegal.

[Nightfall 871]

Watched the video about 10 times and it is very difficult to me to see how that hit is illegal.

Contact to the head and the body language of Nystrom as he has no intention to play the puck and hit Letang are both factors to making the hit illegal.

[Din758 371]

somebody tweeted that there will be no suspension, but fine or warning is still possible. cant remember the source, read it a couple hours ago.

edit: just found it, dreger tweeted it.

Edited March 1, 2012 by Din758

[drwscc 212]

There is no requirement that he try and play the puck in that situation, so not sure how that makes it illegal. Letang had just had possession of the puck, so it wasn't a late hit. The ONLY thing that is a bit questionable is that Letang got grazed in the chin, but he ran into Nystrom's bicep, there was no elbow or anything there. Head was not principle point of contact, so there should be no Shanaban.

[rrasco 1,312]

Nystrom has his elbows down and the puck is right there for either of them to play. If he thinks that Letang is going to get the puck before him, doesn't he have a right to blow up Letang from handling the puck, i.e. Good Old Time Hockey? Eddie Shore? Had Letang not tried his best (and failure) Datsyuk impersonation, and taken the body hit, he would've been body blasted into the glass, probably written off as a hard and clean check. After watching the vid, it does not appear to me that Nystrom targets the head in any deliberate fashion.

Targeting the head does not have to be deliberate or intentional, it can also be defined as reckless targeting.

IMO Letang put himself in a vulnerable position immediately prior to the hit. There was no reckless (or deliberate) targeting of the head, no elbow comes up, and he didn't leave his feet. Kronwall never makes an attempt to play the puck with his hits, he shouldn't have to. He's using his body to separate the puck from the player. Legal.

Edited March 1, 2012 by rrasco

[Nightfall 871]

There is no requirement that he try and play the puck in that situation, so not sure how that makes it illegal. Letang had just had possession of the puck, so it wasn't a late hit. The ONLY thing that is a bit questionable is that Letang got grazed in the chin, but he ran into Nystrom's bicep, there was no elbow or anything there. Head was not principle point of contact, so there should be no Shanaban.

I do agree. I have been reffing USA Hockey too long.

Glad to hear there won't be a suspension.