Catalyst for change - hits that don't belong in hockey
Posted Jun 3, 2021, 1:32 PM UTC
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Some of you may remember this hit in 2011 by Tom Kuhnackl in the OHL. He was dished out 20 games for this hit, deservedly in my opinion. This hit resulted in a a noticeable change in culture in the OHL.
While the circumstances are fairly different than the Scheifele hit, this is the play that first came to mind as the best comparable - albeit from a different league. Personally, I think it pales in comparison to the Scheifele hit. At their core, I believe these are both predatory plays, and they don't belong in hockey.
Yeah Scheifele's hit is significantly worse IMO. came after a goal he could've prevented but made no attempt to play the puck. This was arguably more targeted at the head but not after the play was over at least.
At first I did not think he went for the head, and the point of contact appeared to be the upper chest.
After watching a few more replays now it looks more like while the initial point of contact was the chest, he follows through in an upward manner and it also looks like his shoulder hits Evans in the head.
For years now I have wanted the NHL to really come down much, much harder on dangerous/reckless hits. For a while it looked like they were moving in the right direction when Shanahan was running things. But now they have slid backwards towards leniency and inconsistency, and so we'll keep seeing dirty hits and teams having to take matters into their own hands because they feel that the league will not.