Keep your head up son...

Cracking hit this one last night, Willie Mitchell send Jonathan Toews onto dream street...

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

clean hit. didn't leave his feet. unlike someone we know from preseason...

Man, that was sheer thunder.

How tough is Toews, clearly shaken but has presence of mind to TRY and get off the ice.

Wow.

One of the best anticipation/reaction clean hit's I've seen all year.

It was a charge. He took several steps from the penalty box and lined him up.

I think there is ample evidence to support a charge, though the physical hit was "clean." Good shoulder to shoulder, kept feet on ice. Could be a charge, though.

It was a charge. He took several steps from the penalty box and lined him up.

I've never liked the charging rule... course your goign to make steps or else you stand still...

aside from him skating which is interperated a "charge" then its completly clean

That wasn't a hit....that was a car crash. Whoa man..whoa

charge?

that was not a charge IMO.

Came coasting in and Toews received what is known as a "suicide pass".

No way was that a charge.. blame the passer who was looking in that direction before feeding Toews.

Mitchell's feet were not moving at the time of the hit, both skates were on the ice and he hit Toews with his shoulder first.

This hit should be in every coach's texbook and every referee's casebook.

Click

This might be the obligatory seasonly call for stricter rules on head shots, but I find it interesting that Hodge lists concussions to Lindros and Kariya (having missed significant time) in conjunction with Toews. Is it me, or do writers and the NHL seem not to care unless a star is injured?

and another clean hit that prompts an attack from the other team. Howie and Billy are all over this lately. I understand why the hawks reacted this way, especially since it was toews, but it is getting annoying.

I was thinking about Jaffe when I watched this hit. If he was covering the game the next 15 minutes would be filled with "why can't players just admit it was a good hit and part of the game". I agree with Jaffe that there is too much crap after the whistle of a good hit.

It was an easy pass to read and Toews paid the price. Clean hit.

I appreciate Howie and Billy's recent support for clean hits. In a recent Isles game, Sutton leveled someone (cleanly) and had to fight a teammate that took issue with the hit. It's getting to a point where players may not know how to distinguish a dirty hit from a clean one and that's dangerous because there are too many irresponsible hits: see hit on Tucker, Phaneuf on Okposo, Liambas in the OHL... head down shouldn't be license for hitting (though you should always keep your head up).

Last night there was a late hit from Kaleta on Nielsen that Marty Biron stood up for Nielsen. It came about because Kaleta got upended by Hillen in a perfectly legal hit.

Flames Glencross was suspended for 3 games for the hit that took out Chris Drury. The league said it was a high hit. Interesting that this standard didn't apply for Phaneuf's hit. Discipline by random chance. Yeah, NHL!

I don't really have a problem with the Hawks going after Mitchell right after it. Let's remember a few things. Guys checked Mike Bossy clean and Gillies, Nystrom and others made sure that stopped. Yes, Bossy got hit thru his career and plenty clean, but that never went unnoticed.

If that was Tavares getting hit like that, I know Sutton, Witt and others would go get the guy. It was Toews teammates' fault for giving him such a bad LOOK OUT pass. But Mitchell saw his chance and did go full out to light up Toews and there has ALWAYS been an unwritten rule..."you don't hit our star". See Wayne Gretz.

to me, it is a matter of degree. Mitchell was looking to blow up Toews just like Phaneuf was looking to blow up Okposo. Throw that big hit, be ready to drop them. It is the "star" system and always has been in this league.

jmho. Do I want to see them drop the gloves after ever good hit...no, but its been like that for a looong time.

Plus, I thought it was a charge on Mitchell, but they haven't called a charge since 1979

That was a dirty hit. Puck was nowhere near Drury.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not defending Glenncross's hit, but these roulette wheel of punishment is bothersome. Glenncross was suspended for a high hit.... other players have not been suspended for the same types of hit. Where's the line? The fact is that the NHL makes it up as they go along. "Oh, a star has been taken out? Well, despite the lack of call on the ice, we're going to issue a suspension." "Oh, a non-star has been taken out? No call on ice? Nothing we can do." Even in Vegas you know the games are rigged so the house wins, while in the NHL you might as well shake the magic 8-ball.