its amazing after all the whining an crying out of Toronto on these type of hits there is nothing from the Toronto media elites about one of their own with a head shot…

Posted by cberth on 03/25/11 at 12:31 AM ET

I don’t even know what a good hit is anymore, gary broke my hockey sense.

Posted by Zaze on 03/25/11 at 12:32 AM ET

it all depends on who is getting hit by who and what team each player is on

Posted by cberth on 03/25/11 at 12:38 AM ET

Um, I’m a Montrealer so I’m no fan of the leaf and certainly no fan of Komi (any more) and I usually lean toward a bleeding heart nancy boy bias but I see nothing wrong with that hit.  That is a hockey play.

Posted by dwgs on 03/25/11 at 12:49 AM ET

I agree dwgs, no elbow, no shoulder first, arms down and Avs player in a crouch plus the puck was right there.

Sometime we see a hit like this, but the puck ten feet away, this one, not so.

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 03/25/11 at 12:51 AM ET

“its amazing after all the whining an crying out of Toronto on these type of hits there is nothing from the Toronto media elites about one of their own with a head shot…”

What does this mean?  It happened all of 45 minutes ago.

Posted by mmuskrat on 03/25/11 at 12:58 AM ET

Blindside.

Posted by Harvey on 03/25/11 at 01:06 AM ET

mmuskrat i meant on twitter…when any player other than Komisarek has hit a player on the head they have called for 10 plus games….this time nothing… how is this different then Joe Thorntons hit

Posted by cberth on 03/25/11 at 01:18 AM ET

I really hate to blame the victim but man Oliver needs to know where he is. Crouched down, puck right there. C’mon man!

Posted by Beezee05 on 03/25/11 at 01:31 AM ET

It’s not different from Thornton’s hit - neither were illegal.  Sorry, but it’s not a blindside hit to the head if you take a shoulder to the FACE.  Good hockey play.  I’m all for eliminating predatory blindside hits to the head, but you’re playing hockey; you gotta keep your head on a swivel.  It’s pretty hard to claim “blindside” when you’re staring into the shoulder pad at the time of impact.

Posted by CaliforniaPuck31 from San Luis Obispo, CA on 03/25/11 at 03:33 AM ET

The biggest joke was that Gaunce didn’t get an instigator. Can anyone tell me why not?
The referees decided it was a clean hit so Gaunce decided to fight over it.
THIS is the kind of fight I want out of the NHL!

And this only proves that the instigator doesn’t stop anyone from dropping the gloves whenever they want.

Posted by Hank1974 on 03/25/11 at 10:45 AM ET

We’ll never know, but I’m interested to know what would have happened if Olver never touched the puck. He had to reach out to knock the pass down.
I guarantee Komisarek finishes his hit regardless if Olver touches it.
I wonder if that would have triggered a response from Campbell?

Posted by Hank1974 on 03/25/11 at 10:50 AM ET

The biggest joke was that Gaunce didn’t get an instigator. Can anyone tell me why not?
The referees decided it was a clean hit so Gaunce decided to fight over it.
THIS is the kind of fight I want out of the NHL!

Preach on, brother!

Posted by Zack88 from Ottawa on 03/25/11 at 11:01 AM ET

how long before contact is made does a player have to be looking in the direction of their opponent before it’s not a blindside hit?  in this case it was a split second.  for 99% of the play, Olver was looking away.  probably half a second before the hit, he turns his head toward Komisarek.

which means Komisarek had lined him up and committed to the hit while Olver WAS NOT LOOKING.  for 99% of the play it was a blindside hit, in Komisarek’s mind and from his actions.  there is no way he could have known in advance Olver was going to turn his head forward at the last split second.

if you don’t like this reasoning, think about the opposite.  if you and I are skating directly at each other and I’m looking right at you for four seconds, but a split second before you check me I turn my head and look away…should you be penalized for a blindside hit?

Posted by PaulinMiamiBeach on 03/25/11 at 11:35 AM ET

Are hits like this one really necessary? It may be legal, but the underlying purpose is to hurt the opponent.  I am a Leafs fan, but do not agree with this type of hit.

Posted by Nar from Cobourg on 03/25/11 at 12:02 PM ET

That’s a hockey play and a worthless fight over an open ice hit. Cruising through neutral ice you have need to have some awareness of where the other bodies on the ice are, if you’re 100% focused on the puck…. you’re gonna get it.
I’m not saying Komi couldn’t have back off a little knowing the oncoming player had no clue he was about to get smoked.

Posted by MOWingsfan19 from I really like our team on 03/25/11 at 12:09 PM ET

Look @ those shoulder pads!!!
that’s what they should be changing in this game

Posted by wingycup on 03/25/11 at 12:33 PM ET

A vicious and clean hit followed by a dumb fight.

Posted by awould on 03/25/11 at 02:12 PM ET

Look @ those shoulder pads!!!
that’s what they should be changing in this game

seriously?

changing the shoulder pads would have had no effect on the result of that play in the context of concussion.  concussion is not a direct impact injury.  no matter what kind of shoulder pads Komisarek was wearing, Olver’s body still stopped basically instantly and his head whipped back.  that causes the brain to bounce around inside the skull - which is what causes a concussion.

now, one interesting idea posited by another on these forums is that if Komisarek weren’t so heavily padded he wouldn’t have hit Olver so hard, in order to protect HIMSELF.  I agree that this is likely true, and it is even supported by some science.  it’s the Peltzman Effect - basically, “the Peltzman effect is the hypothesized tendency of people to react to a safety regulation by increasing other risky behavior, offsetting some or all of the benefit of the regulation.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peltzman_effect

Posted by PaulinMiamiBeach on 03/25/11 at 02:22 PM ET

ummm good hockey play - Clean hit…. can’t let players run free in the neutral zone…you have to keep your head up in the neutral zone period…had komi put his elbows up to the head then yes that would be dirty but you gotta be able to stand up and STOP a player flying in the neutral zone.
What SHOULD Komisarek have done get below his head and chop block him? or just let him skate by?
Im all for taking out dangerous head shots but I’m not about to give free reign to forwards in the neutral dropping their heads and going trhough all willy nilly without repurcussion.

Posted by derek from toronto on 03/25/11 at 02:52 PM ET

You can blame Colorado’s right D for Olver’s injury. You can’t put a pass behind a player who is at center ice skating forward (called a ‘sucker pass’). Komisarek did exactly what he was supposed to in this situation. Didn’t give him anything extra, either.

Posted by steviesteve on 03/25/11 at 03:53 PM ET

While I believe it was a clean hit, this used to be the type of hit delivered with the hip and not the shoulder. I think hitting now is more with the shoulders and body than the hip and part of that is the unbelievable protection the current shoulder-pads provide. You make that hit with the hip, it does the job by separating the player from the puck without maiming the guy.

Posted by phillyd from Southern New Jersey on 03/25/11 at 04:36 PM ET

Olver’s kind of compacted on the play. I think if Komisarek had tried to hip-check him in this circumstance, not only would it have been clear-cut ‘clipping’, but he would have shredded the poor guy’s knee.

Posted by steviesteve on 03/25/11 at 05:40 PM ET