Zdeno Chara's Clean Hit: Everyone Calm Down, Injuries Are Part of the Game

Hockey is a tough sport, and like any tough sport, injuries are a part of the game.  The players are well aware of this. If they weren’t okay with it, then they would have signed up for something like figure skating or curling. 

A big hit, or any hit for that matter, is a part of the game just like tackling is a part of rugby and football.  Whenever you have two 200-pound men colliding, whether it’s on ice or on turf, injuries are bound to happen.  That’s just a fact of life. 

Now I’m not saying that I like seeing guys get hurt, because I don’t.  All I’m saying is that there are clean hits and there are dirty hits.  Seeing players get hurt on a clean hit in the normal flow of a hockey game is unfortunate, but seeing players get hurt on a dirty hit is what needs to be taken out of the game.

Take for example, the Joe Thornton hit on David Perron.  Thornton received a two-game suspension for a blindside check to the head.  I personally think that this was a clean hit.  Thornton stepped in front of Perron, his elbow was down, he didn’t jump or charge, and unfortunately his shoulder caught Perron in the head. 

It was Perron’s defenseman that left him out to dry with a textbook suicide pass.  You can’t blame Thornton for making the hit—Perron’s head was down and Thornton gets paid to separate the puck from the man. He was doing his job.  Daniel Paille's hit on Ray Sawada is another clean hit (in my humble opinion) that cost Paille four games.

Since Thornton and Paille were both suspended, the league has sent the message that any sort of hit to the head is illegal.  If this is the case then guys like Zdeno Chara are screwed.  Anyone over 6’4” can’t make an open ice hit without their shoulder being at head level.  So are they to stop making open ice hits?  No, that wouldn’t make sense.  If the elbow is down, feet are on the ice and the man has puck possession then it should be considered a clean hit. 

This brings me to the most recent hit by Chara on Max Pacioretty.  It is impossible to say that Chara did anything dangerous or illegal on this play.  It was a clean hockey hit and it’s just unfortunate that it ended the way it did.  Obviously no one likes to see injuries, (and all the best to Pacioretty and his full recovery) but I think the league got this one right by not suspending Chara.

In the end, hockey is a tough sport and injuries are bound to happen, even on textbook clean hits.  (Brian Campbell on RJ Umberger comes to mind.)  The real issue is with hits like Maxim Lapierre's on Scott Nichol, James Wisniewski's on Brent Seabrook and Alexei Ponikarovsky's on Dan Hamhuis.  These hits are not in the regular flow of the game and are dangerous.  I hope the league can spot the difference between dangerous hockey plays and legitimate, clean hockey hits when deciding on suspensions.  Let's just hope that the Chara decision is the beginning of many smart decisions to come.