Well the statement that said:
I'm of the opinion that height has everything to do with this hit; Perry being the taller of the 2 players involved came at him with little to no bend in his knees where as Zucker had his body turned/twisted, and was leaning more forward when the 2 collided - thus increasing the chance of Zucker's head taking a significant portion of the hit delivered by Perry.
Basically stating that the height differential is the reason the hit was so violent, which the ducks have used before (Pronger).
Ignoring the fact that Perry could have let up, and should have let up. I disagree that Height has everything to do with this hit and would say that height has 25% and Corey Perry had 75% to do with it!
Why is Perry not responsible for reacting to Zucker's position, why doesn't he bend down to hit him in the shoulders?
Oh right the Pronger theory on height as it relates to cleanliness of hits.
This is no longer the NHL of Scott Stevens putting Kariya's lights out, those are the types of hits the league is trying to get rid of.
And yes he made a very good point, the intent of most hits is not to just separate the puck, but send a message, and make the player think before he makes plays.
This hit is very similar imo to Cooke on Savard, player passes puck, player watches pass, another player sees this player in a vulnerable position and takes advantage of it.
*(tangent: Once I would like to see a guy in that position scream "GOTCHA!" or "BOOO!" and see the other player crap their pants, but still be able to skate off of the ice and remember what city he is in!)*
As opposed to the Umberger hit posted earlier in which the player was skating with the puck and his head down and ate a shoulder to the chest, then folded up like a cheap suitcase and knocked himself out on Campbelll's shoulder pads.(BTW that clip is so old and so before the crackdown of hitting both players have played multiple years on multiple other teams, the league has changed since 2006, especially when it comes to hits).
Also, Perry hit from the blindside, whether or not that is because Zucker is looking is irrelevant, the reason it is his blindside is because he is not looking that way. This was not a Kronwalling where Perry hit Zucker right on the logo and the follow through went to the head.
This was blindside and to the head.
Perry was in a position where he really only had three options, go body on body and probably board Zucker, level him right in the head, or don't hit him.
There is no way Perry is the type of player to pull away on that hit, that is why so many fans like his playing style.
Look at the debate we are having, blaming Zucker for watching his pass, he put himself in a vulnerable position, he is too low, etc...
But where and when do we put blame on the player hitting?
Sure F.Micheal did not say whose fault it was, Zucker or Perry, instead he blamed the height of the two players
