The hit was clean but...

Is that something they want to remove from the game? Blind side and vulnerable position?
- LordHumungous

Vulnerable? Yes. Blindside? Not really... Hall ran right into his face...

Would have been shoulder to shoulder and was, by all accounts a clean hit, just unfortunate where the dude's head was at.

lol...there is not a coach in this league that could make this group play better. We have positives (Stecher) and such but the personnel on this club has gaps from 1st line to fourth. Injury prone players which will not be asked to waive...on and on...
- LordHumungous

Yup, totally agree with it all. I dont even like WD and dont think he will be around too long, but he is the least of the problems so far

Vulnerable? Yes. Blindside? Not really... Hall ran right into his face...

Would have been shoulder to shoulder and was, by all accounts a clean hit, just unfortunate where the dude's head was at.
- BINGO!

Probably wouldn't have been the case if Larsen was a left handed shot too. He took the puck on his backhand and opted to go behind the net. I imagine if you are a lefty, you take the puck on your blade and cut up the middle. Unfortunate play.

lol...there is not a coach in this league that could make this group play better. We have positives (Stecher) and such but the personnel on this club has gaps from 1st line to fourth. Injury prone players which will not be asked to waive...on and on...
- LordHumungous

Tom Rowe could help this team.

Nope it wouldnt, but this fascination with WD and his lines/deployment is starting to irk me. They literally have half of a mediocre NHL roster then some average AHL call ups and people want to criticize the line combinations? People were mad when Torts played the Sedin's and Kesler half the game and wore them out, so now a coach tries to balance his lines and thats not good enough either?

Hell, I even stand by JB who specified he wasnt going to ask players to waive their NTC's this year because if he dealt those guys away, they would be an embarassment of an NHL roster. Sure it sucks asset management-wise to not make a few deals, but they hardly have anything here to begin with and nothing to replace guys with
- WhiteLie

The only thing I will say is why on earth is Gudbranson on the ice for the last minute of the game when they are down a goal? To me, you gotta go with your most offensive D-men.

So Elliotte thinks the Canucks are still going for it.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/h...hl-olympic-participation/

Are there Canucks fans that actually have an issue with that hit? Hate the result with a player injured like that, horrible to see, but I really don't think Hall did anything outside of the rules.
- Codes1087

A few Emo's were crying about it.

Tom Rowe could help this team.
- manvanfan

I don't think I can overstate the difference between Bill Peters and Kirk Muller.

A good coach can make an enormous impact.

Probably wouldn't have been the case if Larsen was a left handed shot too. He took the puck on his backhand and opted to go behind the net. I imagine if you are a lefty, you take the puck on your blade and cut up the middle. Unfortunate play.
- Codes1087

Not quite that simple. It was passed to him behind the net. Whoever was there was getting hit no matter what. Larsen didn't even have full possession at the time of the hit, the puck was still in his feet. If he had been facing the boards instead of Hall we wouldn't have this mess. To say Hall has no responsibility in this injury(some people seem to fully blame Larsen for this) is naive. Any player, especially one that thinks the game as well as Hall, knows that if the puck is in your feet, your head is down looking for it. If Larsens head was up no injury, if he had bent at the waist like players tend to do with a puck at the boards it could have become a dirty hit. It is very circumstantial and could have gone either way depending on how Larsens body was, not his head. His head was 100% going to be down, just like every other player in that situation. A hit was 100% avoidable and unnecessary.

Clean hit.
- VanHockeyGuy

Would people say that if it was Stecher instead of Larsen?

Would people say that if it was Stecher instead of Larsen?
- dshiddy

Yes.

The only thing I will say is why on earth is Gudbranson on the ice for the last minute of the game when they are down a goal? To me, you gotta go with your most offensive D-men.
- Codes1087

You mean leading point scoring defenseman Sbisa?!
Its hard to say from where we are sitting whos ready to go or not. They were playing with 5D all night, Sbisa/Stecher just finished a minute shift (Stecher had a 20 second break and another minute-plus shift before that), so he goes with Gud/Hut pairing. Hard to fault him for it, but you know the drill: WD cant manage his lines

Not quite that simple. It was passed to him behind the net. Whoever was there was getting hit no matter what. Larsen didn't even have full possession at the time of the hit, the puck was still in his feet. If he had been facing the boards instead of Hall we wouldn't have this mess. To say Hall has no responsibility in this injury(some people seem to fully blame Larsen for this) is naive. Any player, especially one that thinks the game as well as Hall, knows that if the puck is in your feet, your head is down looking for it. If Larsens head was up no injury, if he had bent at the waist like players tend to do with a puck at the boards it could have become a dirty hit. It is very circumstantial and could have gone either way depending on how Larsens body was, not his head. His head was 100% going to be down, just like every other player in that situation. A hit was 100% avoidable and unnecessary.
- Retinalz

wut

The only thing I will say is why on earth is Gudbranson on the ice for the last minute of the game when they are down a goal? To me, you gotta go with your most offensive D-men.
- Codes1087

bcus Stetcher/Pizza had been on for about 2 minutes, whistle with 1:30 left, they didn't take a time out, so Guddy and Hutton came out. Larson was dead, so you're left with Tree....

Not quite that simple. It was passed to him behind the net. Whoever was there was getting hit no matter what. Larsen didn't even have full possession at the time of the hit, the puck was still in his feet. If he had been facing the boards instead of Hall we wouldn't have this mess. To say Hall has no responsibility in this injury(some people seem to fully blame Larsen for this) is naive. Any player, especially one that thinks the game as well as Hall, knows that if the puck is in your feet, your head is down looking for it. If Larsens head was up no injury, if he had bent at the waist like players tend to do with a puck at the boards it could have become a dirty hit. It is very circumstantial and could have gone either way depending on how Larsens body was, not his head. His head was 100% going to be down, just like every other player in that situation. A hit was 100% avoidable and unnecessary.
- Retinalz

Cant agree with that. Hall has to make contact there as the forechecker. If he avoids the hit, waives his stick for the puck and Larsen makes a play that starts a goal, Hall has let his team down. The NHL is a competition, letting up is the opposite. I dont like the result of the play but I expect that contact to be made every time (I think he even tried to let up, which is the most you can ask for IMO)

Not quite that simple. It was passed to him behind the net. Whoever was there was getting hit no matter what. Larsen didn't even have full possession at the time of the hit, the puck was still in his feet. If he had been facing the boards instead of Hall we wouldn't have this mess. To say Hall has no responsibility in this injury(some people seem to fully blame Larsen for this) is naive. Any player, especially one that thinks the game as well as Hall, knows that if the puck is in your feet, your head is down looking for it. If Larsens head was up no injury, if he had bent at the waist like players tend to do with a puck at the boards it could have become a dirty hit. It is very circumstantial and could have gone either way depending on how Larsens body was, not his head. His head was 100% going to be down, just like every other player in that situation. A hit was 100% avoidable and unnecessary.
- Retinalz

I think if you take that mentality moving forward, 99% of hits in games are avoidable and unnecessary.

The hit was clean.
If anyone doesn't like it then don't watch hockey.

The hit was clean.
If anyone doesn't like it then don't watch hockey.
- Marwood

You aren't being fair...his feelings were unconscious

wut
- BINGO!

Sorry for the contradiction. i meant it as Any player in Halls situation would be going for a hit, but it was 100% avoidable and unnecessary as Hall would have seen Larsen not having possession and should have gone after the puck with his stick, not Larsen with his body.

You aren't being fair...his feelings were unconscious
- CanuckDon

No wonder this fan base gets a bad rap. A bunch of whiny emo's who should stick to watching The Bachelorette.

The hit was clean.
If anyone doesn't like it then don't watch hockey.
- Marwood

I agree it was clean, but it's much easier to say that with Larsen being hit. His head was first point of contact, even if his head was down, it was hit first.

I think if you take that mentality moving forward, 99% of hits in games are avoidable and unnecessary.
- Codes1087

Hitting a guy that hasn't fully gained possession of the puck is different than separating a player, who has the puck, from it, or finishing a check after the play is made. The puck made contact with Larsens skate so it was not a dirty hit. But that doesn't make the hit any more necessary in this situation, and was avoidable.

Sorry for the contradiction. i meant it as Any player in Halls situation would be going for a hit, but it was 100% avoidable and unnecessary as Hall would have seen Larsen not having possession and should have gone after the puck with his stick, not Larsen with his body.
- Retinalz

Puck is on his stick and takes a stride with it, this is like a suicide pass except if Larsen had looked around he could have taken another route to avoid Hall.

I agree it was clean, but it's much easier to say that with Larsen being hit. His head was first point of contact, even if his head was down, it was hit first.
- dshiddy

I wondered the same earlier. I still would say clean hit, but it wouldve been a harder to not want a suspension if it was a top player

Cant agree with that. Hall has to make contact there as the forechecker. If he avoids the hit, waives his stick for the puck and Larsen makes a play that starts a goal, Hall has let his team down. The NHL is a competition, letting up is the opposite. I dont like the result of the play but I expect that contact to be made every time (I think he even tried to let up, which is the most you can ask for IMO)
- WhiteLie

I disagree as well, the puck was not in Larsens possession and the likelihood of him making that play was very small. If Hall let up and went for the puck and tied up Larsens body, he would have stood a good chance of making a play for his team to have a chance at a goal. I understand the game is fast at this level, but this play was not so fast that Hall couldn't have noticed the puck still at Larsens feet and not, or barely, on his stick.