JD headed back to CBJ:

@BrianHedger
As many #CBJ fans wished ... JD's coming back to Columbus ->

Sources: Blue Jackets will re-hire John Davidson as president of hockey operations
- NYRangers1124

Still crazy to me they fired JD after being here two years. Gorton I could see it coming. Dolan gave JD a raw deal here while still keeping sather who has literally failed at his role for over 20 years

Still crazy to me they fired JD barker after being here two years. Gorton I could see it coming. Dolan have JD a raw deal here while still keeping sather who has literally failed at his role for over 20 years
- nyrangers2

Yeah, pretty much this.

Skjei 3rd star.

Barrett Hayton
- picklerick

Yup --- he is the ONLY Arizona player that interests me. He would be costly in a trade, but we could certainly afford it. They need d-men and draft picks so it could be mutually beneficial...

Yup --- he is the ONLY Arizona player that interests me. He would be costly in a trade, but we could certainly afford it. They need d-men and draft picks so it could be mutually beneficial...
- TommyGTrain

3 years after being drafted, hasn’t impressed. He was also a reach for them if I remember correctly, he was outside the top 10 and they took him 5 so I bet the organization views him very highly.

3 years after being drafted, hasn’t impressed. He was also a reach for them if I remember correctly, he was outside the top 10 and they took him 5 so I bet the organization views him very highly.
- nyrangers9479

yeah, he was a reach, but trading him defeats the purpose

they'll want to cut salaries and get picks

Hayton makes no money

what Arizona will really be desperate to do is dump Kessel before his 5 million signing bonus is to be paid in July, but they may just buy him out if they can't

Still crazy to me they fired JD barker after being here two years. Gorton I could see it coming. Dolan have JD a raw deal here while still keeping sather who has literally failed at his role for over 20 years
- nyrangers2

Braden Schneider to Columbus for 4 first round picks

JD when he sees Schneider

yeah, he was a reach, but trading him defeats the purpose

they'll want to cut salaries and get picks

Hayton makes no money

what Arizona will really be desperate to do is dump Kessel before his 5 million signing bonus is to be paid in July, but they may just buy him out if they can't
- jimbro83

Wasn't Hayton playing with Lafreniere in junior?

Kadri has to get at least 3 games for that hit on Faulk right? Dirty POS

Wasn't Hayton playing with Lafreniere in junior?
- JRR1285

With Team Canada in WJC

Kadri has to get at least 3 games for that hit on Faulk right? Dirty POS
- nyrangers9479

Yep. I think they need to say more then just “suspended rest of series” because Colorado could sweep that pretty easily I think.

Yep. I think they need to say more then just “suspended rest of series” because Colorado could sweep that pretty easily I think.
- jimbro83

Christ. Your guess is as good as mine at this point. DoPS will spin the Wheel of Punitive Damages, I guess.
While Kadri certainly chose to take a dangerous angle into the hit, at least it was a hockey play. So, if Wilson gets $5000 for a seriously dangerous, NON-hockey play, what do we really expect here?

Christ. Your guess is as good as mine at this point. DoPS will spin the Wheel of Punitive Damages, I guess.
While Kadri certainly chose to take a dangerous angle into the hit, at least it was a hockey play. So, if Wilson gets $5000 for a seriously dangerous, NON-hockey play, what do we really expect here?
- Tonybere

no matter what they do here i'll be pissed. they really painted themselves into a corner with the whole wilson thing

Christ. Your guess is as good as mine at this point. DoPS will spin the Wheel of Punitive Damages, I guess.
While Kadri certainly chose to take a dangerous angle into the hit, at least it was a hockey play. So, if Wilson gets $5000 for a seriously dangerous, NON-hockey play, what do we really expect here?
- Tonybere

These type of head shots should be completely removed from the game. Both the Players Union and the Dept of Player Safety have proven to be completely incompetent by failing to accomplish this simple mandate.

These type of head shots should be completely removed from the game. Both the Players Union and the Dept of Player Safety have proven to be completely incompetent by failing to accomplish this simple mandate.
- TommyGTrain

Not every instance a player is hit in the head warrants a suspension. Shiit happens!
People get hurt.

The overwhelming majority of these "head shots" are due to a last millisecond change of body position by the players. These guys are going 25mph and it is impossible to adjust your angle sometimes. It has been and will be part of the game. These things happen in contact sports. If it is obvious that a player is targeting a player, that is another story.

Not every instance a player is hit in the head warrants a suspension. Shiit happens!
People get hurt.

The overwhelming majority of these "head shots" are due to a last millisecond change of body position by the players. These guys are going 25mph and it is impossible to adjust your angle sometimes. It has been and will be part of the game. These things happen in contact sports. If it is obvious that a player is targeting a player, that is another story.
- rrentz

kadri targeted him and has done the same thing in the past. full stop.

kadri targeted him and has done the same thing in the past. full stop.
- picklerick

Should be viewed as a predatory hit and he is a repeat offender.
Thanks for carrying the blog. Was out Monday and Tuesday for the holiday and still catching up on the 500+ Work emails i missed while out

kadri targeted him and has done the same thing in the past. full stop.
- picklerick

That may very well be true, but again, majority of the headshots are accidental and unavoidable....unless the NHL bans checking.

Not every instance a player is hit in the head warrants a suspension. Shiit happens!
People get hurt.

The overwhelming majority of these "head shots" are due to a last millisecond change of body position by the players. These guys are going 25mph and it is impossible to adjust your angle sometimes. It has been and will be part of the game. These things happen in contact sports. If it is obvious that a player is targeting a player, that is another story.
- rrentz

While I agree with you that not every instance is an intentional foul, I don't think this one falls into that category.
Kadri had all the room in the world to take a path that would have led to hitting Faulk from shoulders to hips. Instead he chose one that led to direct and forceful contact with the head. Probably because it would have hurt himself more to make heavy contact like that. It was unnecessarily reckless, IMO.

While I agree with you that not every instance is an intentional foul, I don't think this one falls into that category.
Kadri had all the room in the world to take a path that would have led to hitting Faulk from shoulders to hips. Instead he chose one that led to direct and forceful contact with the head. Probably because it would have hurt himself more to make heavy contact like that. It was unnecessarily reckless, IMO.
- Tonybere

If it wasn't Kadri, I'm not so sure it would be viewed as "targetting", and even with it being Kadri, does everyone think he really tried to hit the guy in the head to hurt him or did he lurch and try to get a piece of the player when he realized his angle was off?

IMO even this instance was a player trying to correct a bad angle of approach and try to adjust in a millisecond while going 20MPH. It's human nature to try and get a piece of the guy rather than have the opposing player walk around you.

NO matter the circumstance, a suspension is warranted due to the outcome, and a player's history should be taken more into account. The NHL is wroing by thinking that each instance needs to be viewed in a vaccuum.

If it wasn't Kadri, I'm not so sure it would be viewed as "targetting", and even with it being Kadri, does everyone think he really tried to hit the guy in the head to hurt him or did he lurch and try to get a piece of the player when he realized his angle was off?
- rrentz

but it was kadri and it was targeting at worst and completely reckless at best. what is your point? do you feel like there's some epidemic of unfairly harsh penalties being doled out by the DPoS?

If it wasn't Kadri, I'm not so sure it would be viewed as "targetting", and even with it being Kadri, does everyone think he really tried to hit the guy in the head to hurt him or did he lurch and try to get a piece of the player when he realized his angle was off?

IMO even this instance was a player trying to correct a bad angle of approach and try to adjust in a millisecond while going 20MPH. It's human nature to try and get a piece of the guy rather than have the opposing player walk around you.
- rrentz

You could argue Kadri was partially in a bad position and the only hit he could make without hurting himself was to follow through up high on Faulk. It looks as though he was on a line that would have taken him past Faulk until he put his upper body into the same space as Faulk's head. He was going to miss him completely.

Like Tony said, I think Kadri would have gone down too or been hurt if he targets Faulk in a better way. He opted to make a hit that posed the least amount of risk to himself but one that could also have serious consequences for Faulk. There's a reason we see the same guys doing it again and again. It's their style and they don't get punished enough for doing it.

Not every instance a player is hit in the head warrants a suspension. Shiit happens!
People get hurt.

The overwhelming majority of these "head shots" are due to a last millisecond change of body position by the players. These guys are going 25mph and it is impossible to adjust your angle sometimes. It has been and will be part of the game. These things happen in contact sports. If it is obvious that a player is targeting a player, that is another story.
- rrentz

Agree to your overall point, but Kadri had plenty of time to hit him in the side which would have been a great hit. Kadri targeted him on this one.

but it was kadri and it was targeting at worst and completely reckless at best. what is your point? do you feel like there's some epidemic of unfairly harsh penalties being doled out by the DPoS?
- picklerick

My point was to original post saying that these head shots need to be stopped and that the NHL/NHLPA are somehow to blame. It is impossible to stop them. When instances occur where a suspension is warranted, 99% of the time the player is suspended.

My point is that there is no head shot epidemic going on in the NHL

If it wasn't Kadri, I'm not so sure it would be viewed as "targetting", and even with it being Kadri, does everyone think he really tried to hit the guy in the head to hurt him or did he lurch and try to get a piece of the player when he realized his angle was off?

IMO even this instance was a player trying to correct a bad angle of approach and try to adjust in a millisecond while going 20MPH. It's human nature to try and get a piece of the guy rather than have the opposing player walk around you.

NO matter the circumstance, a suspension is warranted due to the outcome, and a player's history should be taken more into account. The NHL is wroing by thinking that each instance needs to be viewed in a vaccuum.
- rrentz

I get that, but the issue here is the only option for him to make contact was what we all observed. I just posted a response where I too thought he was going to miss Faulk until he hit him through his head area. That's bad positioning on Kadri and his only good option is to not make that play.