Mike Richards Hit on David Booth

[mikesilvia]

Brutal hit!

[aweeks]

Esssshhh.

[dahabsfan]

Perfectly clean hit for almost a century in the NHL. Time for all these buttercups to suck it up, quit admiring their passes, and pay attention to whats going on around them.

Darren

[ono94]

What a BS comment--just because it was legal in the days of part time players, wood sticks and outside hockey doesn't mean it should be legal now. Maybe the NHL should ban goalie masks or composite sticks or helmets because they weren't around when Toe Blake ruled the rink. The simple fact is--the game has changed. The players are bigger, faster and well padded. They are designed to dish out punishment, but horribly protected from absorbing it. But the more simple fact is, that players have to have respect for the people they play with. Richards and Colby Armstrong both had choices to make hits (or not) that could change a game or potentially end a career--and they chose to put another player's career in jeopardy to make the big hit. As big a punk as Lindros was--the NHL was better with him healthy then it was by Stevens choosing to shorten his career with an unnecessary hit. Ironic how Stevens' career was ended by a similar hit.

The NHL and PA need to protect the players by ending the unecessary headshots. I'm not advocating banning hitting--just intentionally dangerous hitting. Booth didn't lunge into Richard's shoulder or bend over or jump--he simply was trying to make a play. Richards chose to hit high and chose to try for the knock out punch. Also the NHL needs to require players to wear their helmets tight enough to keep them on when they get hit so they don't suffer more from hitting the ice, than they do from the hit itself. Or maybe they should just ban pads and helmets altogether--it sounds like a joke--but if people weren't armored, they wouldn't be so eager to try for the knockout blow.

[TannieS]

Perfectly clean hit for almost a century in the NHL. Time for all these buttercups to suck it up, quit admiring their passes, and pay attention to whats going on around them.

Darren

I agree. Mike Richards was going to make a similar hit on Ovechkin during their game earlier this week.

The result? Ovechkin had his head up and avoided the hit.

Plain and simple.

[iockerman]

I'm a Flyers fan, and you guys know this....but I think Richie's hit was definitely unnecessary, but not dirty and aimed at causing any ill-will.

Flyers haters will disagree, but we aren't as dirty a team as everyone thinks. How come nobody has brought up Brad Stuart's hit (I forget which Canuck it was) the other night, not only was a cheap shot into the boards....but the guy hit the player in the face w/ his stick when he was on the ice.

I don't think anyone talks about that due to the fact that the beloved Wings are "so good and a class act", which for the most part they are, but cmon ppl!

[TannieS]

Hmm.. you mean the hit on Shirokov? To be honest, I don't remember him hitting him with the stick when he was on the ice. Not saying you're wrong, just saying I don't remember it - a link anyone???

Stuart's hit, on the other hand, was dirty and he was penalized for boarding. The only thing is, I think it's hard to compare a boarding hit with an open ice hit.

[iockerman]

Hmm.. you mean the hit on Shirokov? To be honest, I don't remember him hitting him with the stick when he was on the ice. Not saying you're wrong, just saying I don't remember it - a link anyone???

Stuart's hit, on the other hand, was dirty and he was penalized for boarding. The only thing is, I think it's hard to compare a boarding hit with an open ice hit.

I think he hit him w/ his stick, although I'm not sure and hope I'm wrong. And yea, I agree there are differences between boarding hits and open ice hits.

Just trying to say since the Flyers have had a dirty reputation that they will always gain negative spotlight and nobody will bring up the Wings cuz they are Bettman's man crush, besides the Pens that is

[bdcsports]

I think the hit in itself was aok, but in my opinion, the pass was made at least a second and a half before the hit, which, last year would have made this a late hit. Jusy my opinion.

[HOCKEY68]

The NHL and PA need to protect the players by ending the unecessary headshots.

They will do it when somebody gets paralyzed or killed because at this rate,thats what its gonna take!