Three?  You would think that all the other head shots being penalized would result in a precedent being set.  All those players received between 1 and 3 games.  However, unlike those other hits, Drury didn’t even have the puck at the time.  Say all you want, but 10 games sounds more appropriate

Posted by bsalamon on 11/09/09 at 02:10 PM ET

That hit concussed him?  Chris “Glass Chin” Drury.

Posted by mike from austin on 11/09/09 at 05:09 PM ET

Glencross barely grazed him. If he gets a concussion from that he shouldnt be playing at all. I wonder if drury had symptoms going into that game because he toook couple of hits the game before that.

but you got to laugh at nhl

Richards hit, Boothe had the puck, played it, got hit= no suspension.

Glencross hit, Drury never touched/played the puck, got hit= 3 game suspension.

Posted by FlyersFan on 11/09/09 at 05:20 PM ET

The Mike Richards hit reminded me a lot of the hit that Mark Messier put on Mike Modano about 15 years ago; its on youtube.  To me, the Richards check is one of those clean but dirty hits.  I think its a technically clean hit.  He didn’t get an elbow up, and didn’t leave his feet.  But kind of coming from the blindside and targetting a guy like that is a little sneaky, and I do think he intended to hit Booth up high. 

That being said, a couple games after he hit Booth, Richards was gunning for Ovechkin in what was a carbon copy of the way he hit Booth.  Ovechkin however got his head up at the last second, saw it coming, and avoided it.  The great players can play in traffic and still avoid the devastating hits, as the hockey cliche goes.

Posted by mike from austin on 11/09/09 at 05:41 PM ET

Wow, anyone calling Drury a “glass” player really should shut up. The man is nothing short of the warrior - he played almost every game in the series against Washington with a BROKEN HAND. That takes balls bigger than any of you can muster amongst yourselves.

You take a shot to the back of the head at any speed and tell me its not intense. Goes to show how ungrateful the lot of you are, really.

Posted by Bobbie on 11/09/09 at 07:12 PM ET

And generally ignorant of human physiology.  Been knocked out at least three times.  Been blasted in the head without being slowed down.  Been clipped and dropped.  The force of the blow is not necessarily as important as angle and momentum.  It’s not only about how much force is applied, but what portion of the brain makes impact with the skull, and whether there’s rotational momentum.  The fact that Glencross “grazed” him (by the way, with a net force that would probably knock out the same people who are calling Drury a pussy), that is, hit him in the side of the head, and that Drury appears to react slightly, makes it seem like Drury actually had his head spun to the left in the process.  Add the net force to rotational velocity.  Bad for brain.  Concussion in no way surprising.

Bottom line is Glencross blindsided a player who hadn’t played the puck since the faceoff.  That’s a cheap shot at any level of hockey, no matter who you’re rooting for.  A ten game suspension would be appropriate if the NHL wants to decrease injury-causing cheap shots.

Posted by Sully on 11/09/09 at 09:51 PM ET