Melrose on Tucker & Kasparaitis

[Eleven]

"There was a lot of rumbling this week over Darcy Tucker's hit on Buffalo's Jochen Hecht, and coach Lindy Ruff's reaction to the incident.

 

It was the third knee-to-knee hit I've seen in the past week or so. Tucker-Hecht, Brendan Witt-David Vyborny and Michael Ryder-Andrew Alberts. There were also no penalties called after any of those hits. I saw all three of the hits and I thought the Witt hit was the worst one -- he later received a one-game suspension.

 

Knee-to-knee hits are a problem. I think if one is delivered in a game, the player needs to be severely penalized when it happens. Not a two-minute call, but a four-minute call. If the player does it again, suspend him. To take the point further, I think the hip check that Darius Kasparaitis uses should be banned. The hip check is an old-time kind of hit. Any time a hip check is delivered, there is a strong chance for a knee injury. I don't think we should keep a hit in the game that isn't officially in the playbook, but can still hurt a player."

 

Here's the link.

[Strow]

Thanks for the link. I always disagreed with Barrys points in the past it looks like he is changing his tune towards the new NHL. I do agree with him on both the hip checks and knee to knee contact since I have suffered from knee problems I my be biased.

[Rock DJ]

I like the "old style" hip check. They would catch the attacking player btween the thigh and waist, sometimes sending them head or heels. Horton, Carriere, and others were the masters.

 

It's the ones that go into a crouch to throw it that cause the damage. i.e. Kasper

[BuffalOhio]

I like the "old style" hip check. They would catch the attacking player btween the thigh and waist, sometimes sending them head or heels. Horton, Carriere, and others were the masters.

 

It's the ones that go into a crouch to throw it that cause the damage. i.e. Kasper

 

Agreed. That ugly bastard goes way too low.

[Taro T]

I like the "old style" hip check. They would catch the attacking player btween the thigh and waist, sometimes sending them head or heels. Horton, Carriere, and others were the masters.

 

It's the ones that go into a crouch to throw it that cause the damage. i.e. Kasper

I like them as well.

 

The problem isn't just that some guys go too low, the other part of the problem is that a lot of guys simply don't know how to throw them. I would estimate that 50% of the kneeing penalties you see called are for attempted hip checks that were led with the knee.

 

I don't want to see hip checks eliminated, because when they are thrown properly in open ice they are a thing of beauty. Also, if a clean (when thrown properly) form of physicality is removed from the game, you give the "fans" of players like Darci F a legitimate gripe that you are removing an integral part of the game. There is no place in the game for the types of hits Darci likes to throw when gonzo hour arrives, but there is a definite place for a good, clean, thunderous hit. If you remove the clean ones, there is a kind of legitimization of the crud the *uckers of the world promote. Especially when you don't PENALIZE the crud they pull.

[JujuFish]

I may get flak for this, but I think if you go after a guy with the intent to injure, and do so, you should be suspended for as long as that player remains out of the lineup.

[Knightrider]

I may get flak for this, but I think if you go after a guy with the intent to injure, and do so, you should be suspended for as long as that player remains out of the lineup.

 

Not from me you won't. Seems to me like the ultimate in fairness. The hard part would be proving intent, though.

[Alaska Darin]

I don't have a problem with the hip check when it's thrown the way Rob Blake or Brian Leetch do it. Kasparitis intentionally tries to catch the weight leg low because he's a punk.

 

Marci and the NHL can kiss my white American butt. It's a joke that he once again gets NOTHING for intent to injure but Briere gets TWO GAMES for an unintentional high stick (which he took a two hander for from Leetch).

[Tom L.]

After the hit on Connolly I heard an interview with Regier (I think on WGR) where he was talking about the hip checks that are thrown against the flow of play (like Kaspar and Blake) that are the really dnagerous ones and should be looked at more closely. He also said that it's hard to define the line between that kind of hip check and the one where the guy is angled off along the boards with the flow of play, like Jay McKee specializes in, which definitely have a place in the game and aren't nearly as dangerous.

 

I'm with Regier on this, I'd like to see the Blake/Kaspar type removed from the game as opposed to what I think of as the classic hip-check, but it's hard to legislate. Then again, so is boarding and that's a penalty, so salt to taste.

 

Ta,

[Saber61]

I don't think it matters what you remove or put in, in terms of hits or hip checks or whatever... as long as the current head of officiating is still running the show up there were screwed... that and every other team.

[SHAAAUGHT!!!]

I don't want to see hip checks eliminated, because when they are thrown properly in open ice they are a thing of beauty. Also, if a clean (when thrown properly) form of physicality is removed from the game, you give the "fans" of players like Darci F a legitimate gripe that you are removing an integral part of the game. There is no place in the game for the types of hits Darci likes to throw when gonzo hour arrives, but there is a definite place for a good, clean, thunderous hit. If you remove the clean ones, there is a kind of legitimization of the crud the *uckers of the world promote. Especially when you don't PENALIZE the crud they pull.

 

 

I completely agree. Not only do hip checks put the exclamation point on an aggressive, physical game, they also can change the tempo of the game a full 180 degrees. It also requires a great amount of skill to get the timing and form correct. We shouldn't make hip checks illegal. The last thing I want in the new NHL is defensemen worrying about leading with their hip when the forward is breaking into their zone along the boards. Pushing your hip/butt against the boards is one of the best ways to slow down or stop a player flying down the wing.

 

What we need is NHL management that does not show favouritism towards certain teams or players; and one that can also understand if a coach gets worked up after a game in which a player took an obvious cheap shot at one of his guys. Getting rid of the instigator penalty would eliminate some of these problems and would force players to respect the "code" that Ruff mentioned last week.