Do you think this hit is dirty?

[not_a_wings_fan]

The player that makes this hit was suspended for the rest of the season. I know it's a hard hit, I know it is to the player's back, but the D turned into this one rather than protecting himself. I just can't say that this was anything out of the ordinary for hockey, but idk. Maybe the new glass is to blame - it's like see-through concrete imo?

[youtube][/youtube]

[kodos]

Looks clean to me.

[northwest dave]

There wasn't any slow motion, but was his elbow up? If so, I can see some sort of suspension otherwise the play looked rather clean.

[JWatt (formerly PMS)]

Maybe two minutes for boarding, but there should be no suspension for that hit. It was a hard hit that the defenseman turned away from and put himself in a bad position. The forward had already committed to the check.

[section319]

I have seen the hit on another video and when they slow it down, he does get his elbow up and is what he hit the guy with. The rest of the season seems kinda of tough, listening to the CBC guys he got really fucked up.

[stinkdified]

fractured skull. isn't that why they wear helmets?

[philco_3]

Christ that board never moved or anything. Looked like a hard clean hit. Maybe a 2 minute minor like someone said earlier, but he shouldn't get suspended over it.

[section319]

He probably wouldn't be suspended if he didn't hit the guy with his elbow and yeah those boards didn't have much give at all.

[Sweetred95ta]

It looked like a pretty good hit. If he did get his elbow up, a small supsension would be in order, but not the whole season. I'd be pissed if I was that guy.

[WaukeeBlues]

Defensemen do this crap all the time. When you're flying in there, they act like turning away at the last minute is going to make the forechecker say "Oh, okay, my bad, I won't hit you," and peel off or something. It's bull crap and players in general but especially dmen are doing it more and more. One of these guys is going to get himself killed one day because he's trying to draw a hitting from behind penalty instead of taking the hit correctly.

The dman did this to himself; take the hit with your shoulder and this won't happen. 2 minutes for boarding at most.

[Prison Bull]

At worst a boarding major. OHL went overboard on the suspension. Rest of the season, effectively bans the overager from ever playing in the CHL. Unfortunate for Fanelli and I hope he recovers but he should have been more aware. That being said, Liambas should have eased up a bit.

One more thing - Blues SUCK!

[#1ELPBluzFan]

I know plenty of refs would have gone with a 5 and a game and that's it....suspension is overkill!

[WaukeeBlues]

I can see where the natural reaction on seeing the hit it looks like its dirty. But seriously, what did this guy do wrong? He finished a check- plain and simple. At the last second, the dman turned away from the hit and because he did that, he caused himself grave injury.

I'm sorry- I'm not sympathetic here. Forecheckers should not be bound to be suspended when a dman decides he's going to turn away from a hit at the last second and then gets himself hurt as a result. Irregardless of the elbow, etc, the dman should not have taken the hit this way- plain and simple. IMO.

[section319]

That maybe true but the guy still shouldn't have led with his elbow like he did, his head doesn't drill the glass like it didn't breaking his orbital bone and fracturing his skull if the guy didn't lead with his elbow. Not saying he should be suspended forthe season but to say it isn't worthy of some punishment isn't right either.

[goon attack]

totally clean. the guy was sideways at the point of no return, a split second before he got hit.... he was spinning around and it just ended up strange... it's like the force of the hit spun him more and into the boards.

But this is the bullshit you get when people aren't allowed to protect their teammates by dropping the mitts and duking it out.

if this clown knew he'd get his ass beat, chances are he wouldn't make a hardcore run like this.

[not_a_wings_fan]

That maybe true but the guy still shouldn't have led with his elbow like he did, his head doesn't drill the glass like it didn't breaking his orbital bone and fracturing his skull if the guy didn't lead with his elbow. Not saying he should be suspended forthe season but to say it isn't worthy of some punishment isn't right either.

That's what I saw. I didn't see the elbow come up to hit the head, I saw (for some fucked up reason) the head come down to where the elbow was traveling. People do this all the time - put themselves in vulnerable positions instead of bracing for impact or standing into the check.

[goon attack]

I don't think his elbow is up until the follow through. Anybody got a slow mo of this? It's hard to tell. From what I see, he makes elbow to shoulder contact, not elbow to head contact.

[section319]

Yeah, you guys might be right, I spoke too soon. After looking at this video he does seem to hit him with his shoulder and his elbow hits him on the follow through.

The best look of it is around 40-45 seconds, no slow mo but not a bad look.
[youtube][/youtube]

[goon attack]

His helmet flew out of position from the hit and his face hit the metal glass support. Sure, it was a wicked hit, but his helmet was just too loose... not a good idea for a d-man who is absorbing hits like this a dozen times per game.

I still don't think he went with an elbow to the head. It just doesn't look that way. But freeze frame right at the 44-45 second mark, between the hit and when his face hits the glass... his helmet is way out of position before he hits the glass. That's not on Liambis... but he's being sacrificed so the league looks like it's doing something about this kind of thing... even though he's just doing his job forechecking. But he's a goon so nobody cares.

My final analysis is that the hit was totally clean and that Fanelli's helmet was being worn improperly... AND that the OHL is full of shit by suspending him AT ALL much less for the entire season.

[abc789987]

the hit doesn't look dirty to me. those type of hits happen every game.

from what i have been reading, the commish, David Branch has a history of overreacting with things like this once the media hears about how our violent sport has injured another person...

There is no way this deserved a season suspension.