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Ovechkin's Hit = Torres' Hit?


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I don't see a big difference between the hits by Ovechkin and Torres.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/alex-ovechkin-controversial-charging-hit-vs-dan-girardi-181255819.html

Both have a history of leaving their feet to deliver hits.

This is where the NHL always falls apart. Ovechkin will get away without any (or very little) supplementary discipline because he is a star... even though he is also a repeat offender.

Even if you argued that the hit wasn't quite as bad or that Girardi wasn't injured... if all things were fair he would get at least this series off.

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I think it's worse than Torres' hit, but I don't think Torres' hit was that bad. Torres got called out because he's hurt players before, he left his feet, Hossa has a concussion, and most importantly, he left on a stretcher. Rome's hit was a tiny bit late, but Horton was ko'd and left on a stretcher.If you walk away after getting a concussion (dan sedin), the nhl doesn't give a damn because they don't have to do media damage control.

Slap on the wrist for AO. Maybe $2500 fine. Star player hitting and no serious injury to the other player and it's the playoffs. Just look at James Neal running around like a clown to see what players will get away with if they're a star.

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I think it's worse than Torres' hit, but I don't think Torres' hit was that bad. Torres got called out because he's hurt players before, he left his feet, Hossa has a concussion, and most importantly, he left on a stretcher. Rome's hit was a tiny bit late, but Horton was ko'd and left on a stretcher.If you walk away after getting a concussion (dan sedin), the nhl doesn't give a damn because they don't have to do media damage control.

Slap on the wrist for AO. Maybe $2500 fine. Star player hitting and no serious injury to the other player and it's the playoffs. Just look at James Neal running around like a clown to see what players will get away with if they're a star.

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I think it's worse than Torres' hit, but I don't think Torres' hit was that bad. Torres got called out because he's hurt players before, he left his feet, Hossa has a concussion, and most importantly, he left on a stretcher. Rome's hit was a tiny bit late, but Horton was ko'd and left on a stretcher.If you walk away after getting a concussion (dan sedin), the nhl doesn't give a damn because they don't have to do media damage control.

Slap on the wrist for AO. Maybe $2500 fine. Star player hitting and no serious injury to the other player and it's the playoffs. Just look at James Neal running around like a clown to see what players will get away with if they're a star.

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Guest BuckFoston

+1

This could not really be more true right now, guys who are stars can just get away with anything, and of course the player leaving on a stretcher also plays a very large and pivotal role in the final decisions that the league makes on these kinds of incidents.

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i don't know how you guys are even comparing this to torres.. Torres went after Hossa to hit him.. Ovechkin originally tried to play the puck and follow thru and hit Giradi, yes he left his feet so it should be interference or charging minimum. but it's not like Ovechkin deliberately went after Giradi and hit him in the head, he tried to play the puck and saw Giradi so followed thru and hit him.

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Yeah, I'm not sure how this is comparable to the Torres hit.

Torres was trying to kill a guy, Ovechkin was going for the puck first and hit Girardi second. It's debatable whether he left his feet or not, but he clearly wasn't headhunting or intending to injure. This is nothing.

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i don't know how you guys are even comparing this to torres.. Torres went after Hossa to hit him.. Ovechkin originally tried to play the puck and follow thru and hit Giradi, yes he left his feet so it should be interference or charging minimum. but it's not like Ovechkin deliberately went after Giradi and hit him in the head, he tried to play the puck and saw Giradi so followed thru and hit him.

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I am not sure your logic on this, Ovechkin clearly decided not to play the puck and deliver a hit instead. He didn't even make an effort to make contact with his stick. Regardless, both players in both situations are allowed to make hits, that is legal in hockey.

The detail is the way the hit was delivered. They both looked remarkably similar... both Torres and Ovechkin launched themselves up and through their opponent in an almost identical way. They both caught the opposing player high in the shoulder and head.

The differences:

- Girardi wasn't hurt

- Ovechkin is a star

To me that means that if Torres gets 25 games... then Ovechkin should get 10 games if you disregard the "star" status... just on the merit of the opposing player not being injured.

You could even argue that Ovechkin's should be more culpable because his developed more slowly and he had plenty of time to lay off... the Torres/Hossa one was so fast and Hossa cut inside and ducked... that you could argue that Torres had way less ability to judge the hit as exactly.

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Injury is the only difference. Shanahan says Torres made contact with Hossa's head but it definately wasn't the first contact so should be a non-issue. The head is going to get hit, as long as it isn't targetted that's fine.

So the only difference is the outcome, which is wrong. Players shouldn't be suspended for how badly someone is injured if the same play has the same chance of delivering the same outcome to any player. Shanahan better be careful or players will start "faking" injuries, going off into the dressing room for the rest of the game if it means the opponent will be suspended for a few. So long, the integrity of the league.

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When I first saw the hit I was thinking that yeah it was pretty close to being the same. I had to go back and look at the Torres hit a few times and compare. They are not even close. Torre's was clearly going for the hit and nothing more. I still don't agree with the 25 games though, way too many.

The Ovechkin hit does deserve a couple in my opinion. He did leave his feet.

It will be interesting to see what does come out of this because you just know the Torres camp will be using this and what comes out of it as ammo.

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