Man, watching that footage...my heart goes out to Hoss. Hope he's ok and has no permanent damage.

I mentioned during games 1 and 2 that Hossa should be benched because he did not look interested. It looked like he was sleepwalking through those first two games. And sadly, he didn't wake up in time to see the cheapshottin', motherphuckin' sack o' crud coming.

And i can't believe the goal that beat us. Crawford's getting a free pass today ? WTF ? He played very well most of the night, but to have a team bust their butts for 73 minutes to have a goal like that go in ?

Crow has a terrible time of protecting the post. Whether it's going post to post on wraparounds or just standing up on one post....his technique is HORRI-AWFUL and it cost us Game 3. He deserves a TON of credit especially for his outstanding Game 2 performance, but a Chicago goalie hasn't let in as bad an o/t goal since this stinker Belfour let in...in Game 3 in '95 vs Detoilet. BRUTAL.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppt4j7rSBL8

Have not heard that. I heard it was in the spinal area.
- John Jaeckel

Why would he be sent home with that?

Well, no one will be immune in this.
- John Jaeckel

John, any thoughts on whether your intel is just a Phoenix-styled smokescreen designed just for Shanahan?

I ask only because late work last night was very encouraging.

Funny, you say Keith got a penalty? Ya a 2 min penalty that was a complete joke. He should of had 5 and a game, so the refs blew that one too. Not only that, but Keith got a nice 5 game rest before the playoffs started while Daniel sat at home for a month with headaches. Hit was dirty and late, but join the club.
- Slacker

Look it's not Keith's fault Sedins head met Keith's elbow.. I blame Sedin on that play.. Keith did nothing wrong... It was a good Hockey play by keith.

He ran him
He jumped & left his feet
He plowed his shoulder into Hossa's face
.. after the puck was gone .. quite a bit gone

That's what's wrong with the hit.
- CaptainBlackhawk

by my count hossa was on his second stride after passing the puck back. that is not way late in my opionion.

saying torres ran him is like saying if I jump on the train tracks in front of a train, the train ran me over. Hossa changed his direction 180 degrees while torres was skating back to the play, which Hossa was leading. Torres saw the opportunity to make a check (what he gets paid to do) and took it.

shoulder to the face? its a fast game. torres does need to be accountable for his body, but hossa needs to protect himself.

and finally, wasn't contesting the jump, just pointing out some potentially mitigating factors.

all in all, i think it is a borderline charge, that ended up making contact with the head. for that reason and Torres' history, i say 1-2 games. other than that, it is a hockey hit.

I'm surprised they released him from the hospital. What's with the Hawks press release that results are encouraging and Hossa should make a full recovery?
- jhawk159

He was not paralyzed or anything like that. I am a little but not completely surprised that he was released. I would guess he is in a brace of some kind and will be for a while. I have not read the p.r. Based on what I saw (and what I heard this AM) I doubt he will play again this year.

I am not a physician and I can't say what the long term prognosis is for the injuries described to me.

I would think both, the concussion and the injury to the spinal area, would be of a nature where a timetable for return to play is questionable.

by my count hossa was on his second stride after passing the puck back. that is not way late in my opionion.

saying torres ran him is like saying if I jump on the train tracks in front of a train, the train ran me over. Hossa changed his direction 180 degrees while torres was skating back to the play, which Hossa was leading. Torres saw the opportunity to make a check (what he gets paid to do) and took it.

shoulder to the face? its a fast game. torres does need to be accountable for his body, but hossa needs to protect himself.

and finally, wasn't contesting the jump, just pointing out some potentially mitigating factors.

all in all, i think it is a borderline charge, that ended up making contact with the head. for that reason and Torres' history, i say 1-2 games. other than that, it is a hockey hit.
- jarmstrong

Congrats! You're about the only person that I've read today that actually feels this way!

With the way they carted him off the ice, neck brace and all, I wouldn't doubt this.
- EKolb13

But, by the time the post game pressers ended they had already stated that Hossa left the hospital under his own power and was resting at home...that doesn't sound like a typical outcome to a spinal injury.

Well word reached out before the end of the game that Hossa was going home. That is good news for Hossa, so hopefully that means he will be ok. See you next year Hossa!

Why would he be sent home with that?
- stuckey

What I heard described to me is not a broken back or nerve damage. Like I said, I'm not a doctor.

There is soft tissue damage around the spine, which I believe takes time to heal and regain full functionality.

yikes.....Think tempers are a little flared? My goodness.

There's no suspension that will satisfy everyone. Chances are, when the suspension is announced ( I'll go ahead and guess 8-10 games). I assume most people will complain about it.


Meanwhile I'm more worried about Jonathan Toews being dead tired. Not playing for 6 weeks will do that. But Toews was a -10 in Corsi last night, a team worse, that's unfathomable, throw in the fact that the eye test saw the captain simply dragging ass. The Hawks need their best players to be their best players. And with one of them on the shelf, the captain needs to get up to speed right quick.

hey JJ, we might see Brandon Saad after all....

Let's get away from the Keith elbow vs Torres shoulder comparison as it distracts from what actually happened here. Torres left the ice to initiate contact beyond what was necessary with the puck long gone, the head was the first point of contact and no attempt was made to let up at all. There is no way to defend this hit as being anything other than, at best, careless and reckless. Given the history between player and team, and the uproar over all the fighting in the playoffs, he will be done for this series and probably the next. Also, what's with the linesmen constantly jumping in after each dangerous play to prevent standing up for a teammate? They go after Torres and the zebras are there immediately, much as when Bieksa went after Brown following his big hit on Sedin. All it does is allow for the hostility to foster as the action goes unpunished making the next game all the more volatile.

You'd be surprised sure some fans are homers and will never acknowledge their player was in the wrong but that's true with every teams fan base. Bottom line for me is I enjoy hockey it's the best game to watch and I really wouldn't want to see any player hurt yours or ours.
- jhawk159

Of course you don't want to see anyone get hurt.
I'm mostly just playing devils advocate here.

The point is it was a dirty hit and he should be suspended BUT there is no conspiracy. The refs missed it and for a few reasons. First it was .4 seconds late. This is a lot of time in slowmo but not so much at high speed. Second, even in slowmo its hard to see if his feet left the ice BEFORE contact.
In the slowmo you CAN see that he is targeting the head.
So, the refs blew a call and there will be a suspension.

Why would he be sent home with that?
- stuckey

Why would he have been stablized in a stretcher if not?

Let's get away from the Keith elbow vs Torres shoulder comparison as it distracts from what actually happened here. Torres left the ice to initiate contact beyond what was necessary with the puck long gone, the head was the first point of contact and no attempt was made to let up at all. There is no way to defend this hit as being anything other than, at best, careless and reckless. Given the history between player and team, and the uproar over all the fighting in the playoffs, he will be done for this series and probably the next. Also, what's with the linesmen constantly jumping in after each dangerous play to prevent standing up for a teammate? They go after Torres and the zebras are there immediately, much as when Bieksa went after Brown following his big hit on Sedin. All it does is allow for the hostility to foster as the action goes unpunished making the next game all the more volatile.
- schmidy55

Great post

But, by the time the post game pressers ended they had already stated that Hossa left the hospital under his own power and was resting at home...that doesn't sound like a typical outcome to a spinal injury.
- Ogilthorpe2

Could the rumors of a spinal injury be some sort of "morbid gamesmanship", to milk out the maximum punishment?

by my count hossa was on his second stride after passing the puck back. that is not way late in my opionion.

saying torres ran him is like saying if I jump on the train tracks in front of a train, the train ran me over. Hossa changed his direction 180 degrees while torres was skating back to the play, which Hossa was leading. Torres saw the opportunity to make a check (what he gets paid to do) and took it.

shoulder to the face? its a fast game. torres does need to be accountable for his body, but hossa needs to protect himself.

and finally, wasn't contesting the jump, just pointing out some potentially mitigating factors.

all in all, i think it is a borderline charge, that ended up making contact with the head. for that reason and Torres' history, i say 1-2 games. other than that, it is a hockey hit.
- jarmstrong

Your attitude towards this hit is the embodiment of everything that's wrong with the NHL. No respect for the lives of the players who play the game.

I disagree for two reasons. (And lets be clear from the start that I'm not defending Torres I think he should be suspended)

First: The hit could have been a clean hit, torres made it dirty. There is no way the Keith elbow could be clean.

Second: The Torres hit was .4 seconds late ish, I could be wrong but I don't think sedin even touched the puck.
- Cfser

The torres hit was .83 so double your time. And this is just silly to compare them. Keiths hit was bad careless and stupid and most here condemned it. He got 5 games as a first time offender and a very important time time in the season.

Why compare hits this is the same thing Shanahan does. All his decisions are reactionary in order to try and fix other boneheaded decisions he made. How many hits should we compare if you say Keiths was worse then I could say Romes was worse then someone else could day well cooks was worse. WHO CARES what his was worse or not. Simply judge this play on its own merits.

Until the NHL starts to actually punish these hits based on malice and not outcome or who the offending player is, it will continue to be a spin the shanahan wheel of BS.

Yes Torres deserves to be suspended.

But if the NHL actually cared, they would start handing out full year suspensions or play off suspensions.

AKA, If you blindside, elbow, rule 48 anyone you are gone for the Playoffs, see you next year, no questions asked. After a half dozen of those suspensions are handed out to offending players (not based on who they are), this game will be cleaned up, until then it will continue to be a gongshow.

yikes.....Think tempers are a little flared? My goodness.

There's no suspension that will satisfy everyone. Chances are, when the suspension is announced ( I'll go ahead and guess 8-10 games). I assume most people will complain about it.


Meanwhile I'm more worried about Jonathan Toews being dead tired. Not playing for 6 weeks will do that. But Toews was a -10 in Corsi last night, a team worse, that's unfathomable, throw in the fact that the eye test saw the captain simply dragging ass. The Hawks need their best players to be their best players. And with one of them on the shelf, the captain needs to get up to speed right quick.

hey JJ, we might see Brandon Saad after all....
- yahoodi

Only if they lose more players or decide the series is over. Hayes, Morin and Pirri are all better options. I would also not be completely surprised to see Lepisto line up at fourth line W.

All the Shiny Penny hype aside, they likely will only activate a forward with NHL experience and as a cost of admission, the ability to play defense (at forward) on an NHL level.

I am so sick of hearing the "hockey hit" or "hockey play" mentality. A check is supposed to seperate the player from the puck...NOT the players head from his shoulders. It is in no way, shape. or form, a "hockey hit"...nor should it ever be allowed to be a "hockey hit".

It was late...his feet left the ice BEFORE contact...and his principal point of impact was the jaw...

Hockey hit my ass

Why would he have been stablized in a stretcher if not?
- John Jaeckel

JJ,

Ive seen plenty of people get carted off the ice on a stretcher to only see them in the stands an hour later. Everything is precautionary. Even with a broken jaw or anything neck related they would assume the worst and want to stabilize.

Man, watching that footage...my heart goes out to Hoss. Hope he's ok and has no permanent damage.

I mentioned during games 1 and 2 that Hossa should be benched because he did not look interested. It looked like he was sleepwalking through those first two games. And sadly, he didn't wake up in time to see the cheapshottin', motherphuckin' sack o' crud coming.

And i can't believe the goal that beat us. Crawford's getting a free pass today ? WTF ? He played very well most of the night, but to have a team bust their butts for 73 minutes to have a goal like that go in ?

Crow has a terrible time of protecting the post. Whether it's going post to post on wraparounds or just standing up on one post....his technique is HORRI-AWFUL and it cost us Game 3. He deserves a TON of credit especially for his outstanding Game 2 performance, but a Chicago goalie hasn't let in as bad an o/t goal since this stinker Belfour let in...in Game 3 in '95 vs Detoilet. BRUTAL.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppt4j7rSBL8
- philco28

phl...it hard to remeber there was actually a game and a result that was important. After the Hossa hit you could sense, feel and see the intensity just melt away. That has to be tough for all players to see a guy cartted off like that and then just pick right up again.

the hawks were outplayed along the boards most of the nite...Hwk dmen (esp leddy and oduya) are getting whipped...resulting in Phx getting great chances and Craw was up to task of bailing his team out. and then it ends like that

Could the rumors of a spinal injury be some sort of "morbid gamesmanship", to milk out the maximum punishment?
- Tanuki

I don't think so, not with this.

I can see any team in the league, including the Hawks, milking it a bit, much like the Mike Smith/Andrew Shaw thing.

The hit on Hossa was different and far more brutal. Hossa was hurt, in a real bad way. I really doubt he's milking anything.

Why would he have been stablized in a stretcher if not?
- John Jaeckel

Actually that's standard procedure in some situations, it does not necessarily (and hopefully) mean spinal injury.