GDT: Canes @ Panthers 5/24 8:00
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CanadaCanes
Well-known member
Bennett is the very reason why the NHLPA is their own worst enemy at times, player safety/player smafty...it's all a joke when these types of scumbags main goal is to scramble fellow players brains. Bennet did not deserve a handshake line last night, he deserved a fucking punch right back in the face, in the previous series he concussed a rookie with 8 games of NHL experience and all he got was a two minute minor for interference...
StormChaserBH
Well-known member
I'm torn on that one; I hate seeing Slavo get rung up like that; but it certainly looked like a straight chest hit, just that he got a whiplash effect from his momentum, clanked helmets with Bennett after the whiplash, then hit his head on the boards and then the ice. Any one of those 4 impacts could have done the damage, but a combo platter of 4 surely will. Hockey's not a contact sport, it's a collision sport and I don't know how you change that.
If you
If you hit someone in a way likely to or intended to result in their head hitting 4 things that needs to be taken out of the game. That wasn’t a collision it was a targeted attack to hit him with all possible force high on his body. What other possible outcome can come from that?
StormChaserBH
Well-known member
What other outcome could happen? He could have seen/felt the hit coming behind the net, like Slavo does 99.9% of the time, and spun away, pulled up, or braced for the hit, etc..
Hockey is played where shoulder-to-chest hits aren't allowed, at U12, and most adult rec leagues like mine, and you can be sure that noooobody's paying good money to watch that. I get it, I do... I was absolutely sick seeing 74 trying to get up (bad decision) and faceplanting. HOW do you take that out of the game? Tighten up the charging rules so that you can't hit in the direction you're skating at all?
Hockey is played where shoulder-to-chest hits aren't allowed, at U12, and most adult rec leagues like mine, and you can be sure that noooobody's paying good money to watch that. I get it, I do... I was absolutely sick seeing 74 trying to get up (bad decision) and faceplanting. HOW do you take that out of the game? Tighten up the charging rules so that you can't hit in the direction you're skating at all?
If it was Eric Staal on the forecheck he would have been perfectly willing to finish the check and would have done so. And we wouldn’t be having this discussion. And maybe Slavin still gets hurt. The difference is the intent of Bennett’s hit was primarily to force Slavin to bail on the play or potentially die -assuming Slavin saw it coming. His intent was to obliterate Slavin which he did. It was predatory.
StormChaserBH
Well-known member
You still didn't answer the question as to HOW to take that out of the game, you just stated again that you didn't like it. What is the difference, that someone can spell out in a rule that can be officiated (another issue entirely) between that theoretical Eric Staal forecheck hit and that of Bennett, other than you seeing into his soul and knowing his intent?
What is the difference between how Bennet approaches that check compared to EStaal would? That’s where I would start. In executing that check the way he did Bennet showed reckless disregard for Slavin’s life and career and complete disrespect for Slavin as a fellow player.
The problem is there’s a significant percentage of hockey fans including all the old guard media that glorifies and glories in the snuff hits like that. Then they act concerned that Freddie shouldn’t have allowed him to stand up. Please. You can’t have rules that make that hit legal and have ANY credibility when you say you care one iota about brain damage among the players. You can’t rave on and on about how great a player like Bennet is when his sole qualification as an NHL player is that he’s good at injuring opposing players and even pretend to be concerned about injuries.
How many promising careers (Shane Willis) do we need to see wrecked and ended by that kind of garbage.
The problem is there’s a significant percentage of hockey fans including all the old guard media that glorifies and glories in the snuff hits like that. Then they act concerned that Freddie shouldn’t have allowed him to stand up. Please. You can’t have rules that make that hit legal and have ANY credibility when you say you care one iota about brain damage among the players. You can’t rave on and on about how great a player like Bennet is when his sole qualification as an NHL player is that he’s good at injuring opposing players and even pretend to be concerned about injuries.
How many promising careers (Shane Willis) do we need to see wrecked and ended by that kind of garbage.
StormChaserBH
Well-known member
Define it. You're still just complaining and hand-waving about it. The "way he did it" was to execute a legal check with great force that unfortunately caught our player not ready for that check. If you're saying I'm glorifying Bennett by saying that you're barking up the wrong tree. I'm fine with preventing that result if there's a way to do it.
StormChaserBH
Well-known member
He was playing the puck, was still skating, and was facing his "attacker". How could we define 'defenseless' that would help here?
I mentioned the charging rule once for a possible window into making some fix, but Bennett wasn't even striding through the hit for extra power, he was gliding/coasting from at least the faceoff dot where he comes into my picture until the hit below the goal line.
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SlapShots
Well-known member
We have long had the discussion of what does and does not belong in the game. That was a clean, forceful hit on 74 by a dirtbag. Funny thing is that folks cheer that kind of hit, just depends who is the hitter versus the recipient. Hits are meant to separate the player from the puck, but seems players (current and former) are willing to keep it in the game and seem to relish the big hit.
StormChaser Bill made a good point about collisions and the number of head thumps Slavin had on the one sequence.
The league, owners, GMs and the NHLPA are not willing to take a stand on players like Bennett, Trouba and their ilk. Until some of the old school buffoons step away from the game and idiots like Subban and Bisonnette continue to cheer from the commentator seats, yes, those hits are staying. Hell, even Kouleas today said it’s hockey and the hits are a part of the game. Maybe more former players need to speak up about head trauma and CTE?
StormChaser Bill made a good point about collisions and the number of head thumps Slavin had on the one sequence.
The league, owners, GMs and the NHLPA are not willing to take a stand on players like Bennett, Trouba and their ilk. Until some of the old school buffoons step away from the game and idiots like Subban and Bisonnette continue to cheer from the commentator seats, yes, those hits are staying. Hell, even Kouleas today said it’s hockey and the hits are a part of the game. Maybe more former players need to speak up about head trauma and CTE?
BadgerCane58
Active member
If Sam Bennett was traded to the Canes this offseason, we’d all welcome him with open arms. Just stop…..
it was a clean (very) hard hit. I was upset about losing Slavin too. But, it was clearly a clean hit. This is hockey, NHL Hockey.
it was a clean (very) hard hit. I was upset about losing Slavin too. But, it was clearly a clean hit. This is hockey, NHL Hockey.
bagopux
Well-known member
It was the initial hit that did the damage, not his head hitting the boards or the ice. I think it’s pretty obvious from the replay that Slavin fell because he was out cold.
As long as they’re going to allow that kind of hits you pretty much need dirtbags like Bennett do you’re correct.
If you allow it to continue let alone cheer for it when it happens and excuse it then don’t even pretend to care about CTE. Just stop….
Checking is part of the game. Hits like that need to not be part of it. Don’t know how they can accomplish that. The NFL had implemented drastic rule changes because of this. Hits like that ARE causing brain damage. We KNOW this and yet the league has done NOTHING to reduce them and in fact still sets it as the standard for how hockey - particularly playoff hockey should be played.
For the record, my issue with Bennett stops at a different door. When he tried to sever Michael Bunting's spinal cord in the Toronto series and Players' Safety decided to issue him a fine instead of doing their job, THAT's my problem with Bennett. From that point on he's been a loosely guided missile who knows he can get away with walking right up to the line with little to no consequences. Was that a clean hit on Slavin? Probably. Would he have been so eager to deliver a snuff shot had he been disciplined for clearly trying to injure Bunting a couple of weeks before? Doubtful. This stuff builds on itself, and anyone who argues otherwise is frankly ... just flat out wrong.
That said, Florida got more than enough help from the refs in this series with their idiotically random definition of slashing to be worried about a single incident. Sometimes you can touch a guy on the glove with a stick and it's nothing and sometimes it's a penalty ... and too many times for my liking that judgement call leaned towards one team. Again, this stuff builds on itself, which is why the refs are supposed to pick a standard and stick to it. They failed in this series.
That said, Florida got more than enough help from the refs in this series with their idiotically random definition of slashing to be worried about a single incident. Sometimes you can touch a guy on the glove with a stick and it's nothing and sometimes it's a penalty ... and too many times for my liking that judgement call leaned towards one team. Again, this stuff builds on itself, which is why the refs are supposed to pick a standard and stick to it. They failed in this series.
That’s true. I think the intimidation aspect needs eliminated or dialed down. The NHL is going to get sued out of existence if it doesn’t while knowing a hit like Slavin took last night can have a significant impact on him for the rest of his life. Or an impact that shows up later in life with devastating results.
We know these issues are caused by head/brain trauma. We don’t know why it doesn’t always lead to CTE etc. but the freaking connection is clear.
As a family man like Slavin is it would be surprising to me if he doesn’t at least consider retirement. How many of those hits until he’s not there for his daughter’s wedding? Was that the one? One more? Ten more?