I hate the "blame the victim" narrative. Believe it or not, sometimes you need to look down, or bend down or reach for a puck... Someone is still blasting you in the head.
- Aetherial

I was about to say something similar.
you cant always be looking around. you cant avoid it.

but to me the whole head initial point of contact debate misses the entire point about head injuries an trauma imo. it doesnt have to be the initial point to scramble your brain in your skull.

but that changes the game, which most dont want

Missed 2/3rds of the game due to crappy streams and superstition. I never turn a game back on after I have turned it off if my team is pitching a shutout. Every time I do that, the opposing team scores within seconds. So, I resisted the urge, took the dog out for an evening walk, and then came back and went to bed early. I didn't see the end result until this morning.

BRICK (frank)ING WOLL

MINTY FRESH

WILLIE NYE THE GOAL GUY

HOLMBERG DOES SOMETHING USEFUL

I am starting to understand what you guys have been shouting for years about the officials and the Leafs. I used to think the same thing about Tampa a long time ago, and I even DM'ed Paul Stewart about it and he replied - he was very nice, but disagreed that a particular team is targeted by a certain official(s). The more time goes on and the more this poop happens, the more I am thinking like Toolsie and it seems personal against the Leafs. It's Leafy as (frank).

FWIW, I think that hit happens even if Reaver is in the lineup. Leafs have other guys who can throw hands, so it's not like the entire lineup is soft any more - Berubae made them grow chest hair. It should have been a major and a hearing with the league.

Last nights picks :

VGK - TOR : TOR - correct
CAR - PHI : CAR - correct
SJS - DAL : DAL - correct
NAS - SEA : NAS - wrong
BUF - LAK : LAK - wrong

Record : 36 - 21 (.631%)
- GalacticStone

I told you Sabres....and damn the Preds are trash.

He seems so loveable how can you not root for him? lol

It is pretty awesome to see a young player so excited and appreciative when they get their shot vs the ones who are too cool for school and play it off all casual.
- Cush29

This kids face and personality reminds me of a young Ovie. I'm not talking skill comparison here lol.

I hate the "blame the victim" narrative. Believe it or not, sometimes you need to look down, or bend down or reach for a puck... Someone is still blasting you in the head.
- Aetherial

I don't care if the guy has his head up or down.

You can't hit a guy in the head anymore. It's franking simple.

Last night's hit could have been delivered to the chest. He chose to hit him in the head.

I told you Sabres....and damn the Preds are trash.
- systemtool

Do you mean the "currently in a playoff spot Buffalo Sabres?"

Do you mean the "currently in a playoff spot Buffalo Sabres?"
- Atomic Wedgie

wow are they? I'd rather see them in over Wings, Sens, Habs

I don't care if the guy has his head up or down.

You can't hit a guy in the head anymore. It's franking simple.

Last night's hit could have been delivered to the chest. He chose to hit him in the head.
- Atomic Wedgie

Fully agree Wedgester. Especially the last part

This kids face and personality reminds me of a young Ovie. I'm not talking skill comparison here lol.
- systemtool

Oh ya I was thinking the same thing, he has some big time young Ovie vibes in his demeanor etc.

This still makes me smile / laugh.

"Tiger....where are you???"

Oh ya I was thinking the same thing, he has some big time young Ovie vibes in his demeanor etc.

This still makes me smile / laugh.

"Tiger....where are you???"



- Cush29

🤣😂👌

Do you mean the "currently in a playoff spot Buffalo Sabres?"
- Atomic Wedgie

They will miss and continue their impressive streak of not being in the playoffs for over a decade.

Missed the game as I had hockey at 730 and then beers and wings post game to celebrate a 4-0 shut out win - booya!

I PVR'd the game and watched it and WTF was that BS with the hit on Knies not only not being 5 + a game and a suspension but in fact not even a penalty AND the Leafs being short handed because of it? Jesus H that's bad.

Anyone who wants to say leaf fans whine about officiating more than they should or disagree that the league and DOPS treat the Leafs differently can just look at the Reeves hit on Sat and this one and then can drop to their knees and lick my taint.

Shanny should be bombarding the league today demanding an explanation good lord.

Great win regardless and I love Grebenkin more after this than I did already. lol


- Cush29

No way the hit on knies should be 5 games, a penalty sure if the goal is to remove all contact to the head hits. Reaves ran right through Nurse, now I agree nurse put himself in that vulnerable position but Reaves could have let up. In saying, I agree that 5 games was too much...but I'm guessing its because of Reaves track record.
I thought the whitecloud hit was fairly clean other than he seems to jump up....that action should have warranted a penalty.
The NHL, as much of a joke as it is, really has to pick a side, either all contact to the head results in a penalty and possible suspension review or none are.....unless extreme. This wishy washy BS needs to stop and they need to come down on Parros and his band of idiots....they are so inconsistent with everything. Its embarrassing.

Just so we all are on the same page here, this if straight from the NHL rulebook:

Rule 48 – Illegal Check to the Head

48.1 Illegal Check to the Head – A hit resulting in contact with an
opponent’s head where the head was the main point of contact and
such contact to the head was avoidable is not permitted.

In determining whether contact with an opponent's head was
avoidable, the circumstances of the hit including the following shall be
considered:

(i) Whether the player attempted to hit squarely through the
opponent’s body and the head was not "picked" as a result of poor
timing, poor angle of approach, or unnecessary extension of the
body upward or outward.

(ii) Whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position by
assuming a posture that made head contact on an otherwise full
body check unavoidable.

(iii) Whether the opponent materially changed the position of his body
or head immediately prior to or simultaneously with the hit in a way
that significantly contributed to the head contact.

48.2 Minor Penalty – For violation of this rule, a minor penalty shall be
assessed.

48.3 Major Penalty – There is no provision for a major penalty for this rule.

48.4 Game Misconduct Penalty – There is no provision for a game
misconduct for this rule.

48.5 Match Penalty – The Referee, at his discretion, may assess a match
penalty if, in his judgment, the player attempted to or deliberately
injured his opponent with an illegal check to the head.

If deemed appropriate, supplementary discipline can be applied by
the Commissioner at his discretion.

I don't care if the guy has his head up or down.

You can't hit a guy in the head anymore. It's franking simple.

Last night's hit could have been delivered to the chest. He chose to hit him in the head.
- Atomic Wedgie

Yep and the solution is so easy for the NHL - just adopt the IIHF rule and tweak it (if you need to). There is no need to test it or pilot it as it's been used and been effective in IIHF for years.

But NHL is gunna' NHL.

I have a friend who you have likely seen in some commercials who was in a cancelled Skip ad with Mitch Marner who apparently was a giant female genitalia to him after he made a bad attempt at humour over his mustache at the time.
- AdamFrench

Yeah Marner is a big baby who can't take heat

I have a friend who played with some players, some former leafs too and he told me some stories on how they treated people. Marner being a baby is nothing

Just so we all are on the same page here, this if straight from the NHL rulebook:

Rule 48 – Illegal Check to the Head

48.1 Illegal Check to the Head – A hit resulting in contact with an
opponent’s head where the head was the main point of contact and
such contact to the head was avoidable is not permitted.

In determining whether contact with an opponent's head was
avoidable, the circumstances of the hit including the following shall be
considered:

(i) Whether the player attempted to hit squarely through the
opponent’s body and the head was not "picked" as a result of poor
timing, poor angle of approach, or unnecessary extension of the
body upward or outward.

(ii) Whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position by
assuming a posture that made head contact on an otherwise full
body check unavoidable.

(iii) Whether the opponent materially changed the position of his body
or head immediately prior to or simultaneously with the hit in a way
that significantly contributed to the head contact.

48.2 Minor Penalty – For violation of this rule, a minor penalty shall be
assessed.

48.3 Major Penalty – There is no provision for a major penalty for this rule.

48.4 Game Misconduct Penalty – There is no provision for a game
misconduct for this rule.

48.5 Match Penalty – The Referee, at his discretion, may assess a match
penalty if, in his judgment, the player attempted to or deliberately
injured his opponent with an illegal check to the head.

If deemed appropriate, supplementary discipline can be applied by
the Commissioner at his discretion.
- Atomic Wedgie

Am I the only one who thinks it's bizarre that there's no major penalty for drilling a guy in the head?

Yep and the solution is so easy for the NHL - just adopt the IIHF rule and tweak it (if you need to). There is no need to test it or pilot it as it's been used and been effective in IIHF for years.

But NHL is gunna' NHL.
- Cush29

IIRC, the OHL banned it 10-20 years ago.

Just so we all are on the same page here, this if straight from the NHL rulebook:

Rule 48 – Illegal Check to the Head

48.1 Illegal Check to the Head – A hit resulting in contact with an
opponent’s head where the head was the main point of contact and
such contact to the head was avoidable is not permitted.

In determining whether contact with an opponent's head was
avoidable, the circumstances of the hit including the following shall be
considered:

(i) Whether the player attempted to hit squarely through the
opponent’s body and the head was not "picked" as a result of poor
timing, poor angle of approach, or unnecessary extension of the
body upward or outward.

(ii) Whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position by
assuming a posture that made head contact on an otherwise full
body check unavoidable.

(iii) Whether the opponent materially changed the position of his body
or head immediately prior to or simultaneously with the hit in a way
that significantly contributed to the head contact.

48.2 Minor Penalty – For violation of this rule, a minor penalty shall be
assessed.

48.3 Major Penalty – There is no provision for a major penalty for this rule.

48.4 Game Misconduct Penalty – There is no provision for a game
misconduct for this rule.

48.5 Match Penalty – The Referee, at his discretion, may assess a match
penalty if, in his judgment, the player attempted to or deliberately
injured his opponent with an illegal check to the head.

If deemed appropriate, supplementary discipline can be applied by
the Commissioner at his discretion.
- Atomic Wedgie

Yeah well the NHL got lawyers to write their rulebook but meatheads who probably can't pass a grade 9 english exam but played in the NHL as a 4th liner to enforce them. What could go wrong?

Am I the only one who thinks it's bizarre that there's no major penalty for drilling a guy in the head?
- Atomic Wedgie

The NHL has built a massive grey area. They can basically pick and choose when to suspend players for hits to the head.

Just so we all are on the same page here, this if straight from the NHL rulebook:

Rule 48 – Illegal Check to the Head

48.1 Illegal Check to the Head – A hit resulting in contact with an
opponent’s head where the head was the main point of contact and
such contact to the head was avoidable is not permitted.

In determining whether contact with an opponent's head was
avoidable, the circumstances of the hit including the following shall be
considered:

(i) Whether the player attempted to hit squarely through the
opponent’s body and the head was not "picked" as a result of poor
timing, poor angle of approach, or unnecessary extension of the
body upward or outward.

(ii) Whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position by
assuming a posture that made head contact on an otherwise full
body check unavoidable.

(iii) Whether the opponent materially changed the position of his body
or head immediately prior to or simultaneously with the hit in a way
that significantly contributed to the head contact.

48.2 Minor Penalty – For violation of this rule, a minor penalty shall be
assessed.

48.3 Major Penalty – There is no provision for a major penalty for this rule.

48.4 Game Misconduct Penalty – There is no provision for a game
misconduct for this rule.

48.5 Match Penalty – The Referee, at his discretion, may assess a match
penalty if, in his judgment, the player attempted to or deliberately
injured his opponent with an illegal check to the head.

If deemed appropriate, supplementary discipline can be applied by
the Commissioner at his discretion.
- Atomic Wedgie

So the refs on Saturday decided Reeves "attempted to or deliberately
injured his opponent with an illegal check to the head."? Hard to agree with that in my opinion, and you could also argue that sub clause 2 applies to Nurse's poor positioning.

And I'd like to know which of the 3 sub clauses the refs last night decided the hit on Knies falls under to warrant no penalty.


All this rule does is make it way too gray, which again is not surprising because the NHL is a joke.

I hate the "blame the victim" narrative. Believe it or not, sometimes you need to look down, or bend down or reach for a puck... Someone is still blasting you in the head.
- Aetherial

The game itself is very subjective due to the nature of it - but when you look at the rules in major junior hockey they don't give a rat's ass about bending down, reaching for a puck, tying your skate laces, looking for a quarter on the ice or whatever - you can't hit a guy in the head.

That's sort of where I struggle with the Grebenkin hit on Theodore. It's clearly a hit in the numbers and it's boarding - but what bugs me is that Theodore sees him coming, registers he's coming and turns to present the numbers anyway. In my day (when dinosaurs roamed the Earth and it was still flat) you protected yourself and had a responsibility to do so.

So the victim blaming is still something I'm not sure how to walk the line on . . .

Yeah well the NHL got lawyers to write their rulebook but meatheads who probably can't pass a grade 9 english exam but played in the NHL as a 4th liner to enforce them. What could go wrong?
- Santo_44

From the interwebs:

Parros played four years at Princeton University, where he totaled 52 points and 119 PIM in 111 games. He was named team captain for his senior season in 2002–03. While at Princeton, Parros majored in economics and wrote his senior thesis on the West Coast longshoremen's labor dispute.

I've been more focused on discussing the issue with the questionable hits of the past few games, but wanted to take a minute to give Kudos to Benoit, Steeves and Lorentz for their solid impressive play last night.

From the interwebs:

Parros played four years at Princeton University, where he totaled 52 points and 119 PIM in 111 games. He was named team captain for his senior season in 2002–03. While at Princeton, Parros majored in economics and wrote his senior thesis on the West Coast longshoremen's labor dispute.
- fifty__missions

Pre or post multiple concussions and getting knocked out hard by Orr?

So the refs on Saturday decided Reeves "attempted to or deliberately
injured his opponent with an illegal check to the head."? Hard to agree with that in my opinion, and you could also argue that sub clause 2 applies to Nurse's poor positioning.

And I'd like to know which of the 3 sub clauses the refs last night decided the hit on Knies falls under to warrant no penalty.


All this rule does is make it way too gray, which again is not surprising because the NHL is a joke.
- Cush29

Reaves main point of contact was Nurses head. That much seemed clear both live and in replay. Whiteclouds main point was knies upper chest, then face....so I guess the first sub clause could be used. But you can only see that in the slow-mo replay....live at full speed, not sure he why he wasnt call for a headshot.

As I mentioned before, the NHL has to get off the fence, make any type of headshot a penalty.

Reaves main point of contact was Nurses head. That much seemed clear both live and in replay. Whiteclouds main point was knies upper chest, then face....so I guess the first sub clause could be used. But you can only see that in the slow-mo replay....live at full speed, not sure he why he wasnt call for a headshot.

As I mentioned before, the NHL has to get off the fence, make any type of headshot a penalty.
- Fakepartofme

I've seen stills and slo Mos where it's the head as the point of contact...it's hard to say definitively