Nope Paul… this is my first look at it, and it’s a clean hit.  Let’s review why:

* He hit Markov from Markov’s side.  Markov was not facing the boards, nor did he even turn at the last second.  He hit Markov, and basically sent him spinning, at which point Markov then went in face-first.

* Markov was admiring his pass.  He simply got caught vulnerable because he was admiring his pass.  Next time, he should get his friggin’ head up.

* It doesn’t matter WHEN in the game a check happens, so long as its clean.  The insinuation from Komisarek is basically that TOR should have stopped playing and skated off the ice and forfeited before the check, which is completely ridiculous.

Maybe Komisarek and his teammates should concentrate more on why they and bunch of underachieving chokers this season.

Posted by Primis on 04/07/09 at 08:44 AM ET

Clean hits cause injuries too.

I think it’s still a clean hit- he finished his check and Markov went into the boards in an unfortunate manner that ended up with him getting hurt.  I still think the hit is more or less clean, maybe a fraction late, maybe not, but the result is sad no matter what.

I would have asked Komisarek if he’d even watched a replay of it.  He may be basing his ire on what he saw on the ice which, as we know, is a limited viewpoint.

Posted by shanetx on 04/07/09 at 08:47 AM ET

Nothing has changed, it is a clean hit.

Komisarek has a lot of guts chirping someone for hitting someone in a vulnerable position, considering that is his bread and butter. Not to mention this hit is like a slap on the wrist compared to the way Van Ryn was crumpled by Kostopoulous earlier this year.

Is Komisarek insinuating that he believes the Leafs should stop playing and give them a free ride in the 3rd period? Does he think that he would do that? Says a lot about his character. And he says that Grabovski is a coward because he plays hard but refuses to fight in a scrum?? News flash Komisarek, you are three times the size of Grabovski and he’s a skilled player. He isn’t going to drop the gloves with you bud. That doesn’t mean he should just stop playing though.

Posted by Andrew Mack on 04/07/09 at 09:09 AM ET

It was a clean hit. It takes a lot of nerve for someone like Komisarek to chirp off like he’s doing now, especially about hits.

Posted by Alan from Atlanta on 04/07/09 at 09:23 AM ET

Anyone expect a higher standard from Burke’s team?
Didn’t think so.

Posted by MOWingsfan19 on 04/07/09 at 09:28 AM ET

Just a hockey play. Hit was side-to-side, not a hit from behind. Stick didn’t come up on Markov. He didn’t push Markov down into the dasher. He didn’t ride him in. He didn’t take three strides into the hit. He didn’t come from halfway across the rink just to paste him. Nothing about this hit is dirty.

I can understand why Komisarek is upset. His team is likely to get bounced in the first round. They’ve lost the only two players that make their power play decent. But he’s got to get his head straight.

I said it before and I’ll say it again. This is what’s wrong with hockey right now. You can’t hit a player cleanly without having to fight someone for it. Malkin gets laid out, and suddenly it means that Ballard has to fight? What? So now Komisarek is going to go out there next time he faces the Leafs and try to make Grabovski fight?

Sheesh. Hitting is a part of hockey. All these players need to get over their bloodlust and need for revenge and just play the game. Guys will get hit. CLEANLY. And they will still get hurt sometimes. I swear the way some of these players act nowadays it’s like the NHL is just some awful action movie where character X is a tortured soul out for revenge on character Y.

Posted by Nathan from Jonny Ericsson's ice cream truck on 04/07/09 at 09:31 AM ET

If it was any other player than Grabovski, then I’d agree with you Nathan/Alan/Paul.

But this guy has a history of dirty tricks and consequent turtling that puts Ribeiro to shame. And that guy was shipped out west to get to know Phaneuf and Pronger a bit better.

It was an unnecessary, borderline-illegal hit that will hopefully force Mikhail to answer to any of the Kostitsyns next season (I’d say Komisarek or Laraque, but then you’d all cry blue murder because of genetics).

Posted by Graboycottski from Toronto on 04/07/09 at 09:39 AM ET

But this guy has a history of dirty tricks and consequent turtling that puts Ribeiro to shame.

History? Sure. He has one. But this isn’t a dirty hit, borderline or otherwise. It was a shoulder-to-shoulder hit. As far as I’m concerned, Grabovski had his man.

As someone above said, clean hits cause injuries too. Why should Grabovski pay any price for it? His history? Nonsense.

Posted by Alan from Atlanta on 04/07/09 at 09:47 AM ET

If it was any other player than Grabovski, then I’d agree with you Nathan/Alan/Paul.

It was an unnecessary, borderline-illegal hit that will hopefully force Mikhail to answer to any of the Kostitsyns next season (I’d say Komisarek or Laraque, but then you’d all cry blue murder because of genetics).

Hilarious! That’s a pitch perfect impersonation of a blinkered Habs fan. I think the commenters above have pointed out all of the reasons why the hit is clean.

I’d just add that I had to laugh when Gainey called the hit dirty after trying to defend Kostopoulos’ filthy hit on Van Ryn and when Komisarek accused Grabbo of running away from any confrontation with his tail between his legs when he is the king of the linesmen rescues. The only time he actually manned up he got dummied by Lucic.

Mikhail would love to answer the bell if the Kostitsyn brothers ever got up the courage to do the same. They’ve been the ones running this year. Grabbo has taken the Habs’ late hits, spears, slashes, and targeting and given it right back with interest. Good for him.

Posted by Pension Plan Puppets on 04/07/09 at 09:49 AM ET

If it was any other player than Grabovski, then I’d agree with you Nathan/Alan/Paul.

So, it’s a clean hit, but because it was Grabovski, it’s dirty?

Right.

Sorry, you can’t have it both ways.  We’re not talking about a flying elbow here or a knee-on-knee, we’re talking about a clean hit.

A clean hit.

Doesn’t matter who made it, because it is...a clean hit.

Posted by Garth on 04/07/09 at 09:57 AM ET

It wasn’t even close to being a dirty hit. As Nathan says…

Sheesh. Hitting is a part of hockey. All these players need to get over their bloodlust and need for revenge and just play the game. Guys will get hit. CLEANLY. And they will still get hurt sometimes.

We saw an example of that in the Wings game against the Sabres last night. Val Filppula laid a beauty of a hip check on a Sabres player and sent him on a merry little ride through the air. It was an absolutely clean hit, but the Sabres on the ice went “postal” on Val. And this same sort of thing happens almost every night in the league.

I’m not sure when this nonesense started but it’s getting way out of hand. If a guy cheap-shots your guy, then go after him. But if your guy gets taken out in a legal play, well, get on with the game and find a way to pay the other guy back...legally. This other “macho” crap has no place in the game.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 04/07/09 at 10:07 AM ET

Clean hit. I hate the leafs, but that was clean and to me it did not look late either, the puck had just left Markov’s stick

Posted by BigSensFan on 04/07/09 at 10:07 AM ET

Still no change in my opinion. Clean hit. PRIMIS said it first and covered all the bases.

Posted by Hockey1919 from Montreal on 04/07/09 at 10:16 AM ET

Why is that a penalty...?

Posted by kevin from boston on 04/07/09 at 10:18 AM ET

I don’t care if Grabovski has a “reputation”. Maybe he’s a dirty player in general, it doesn’t make this hit dirty. Because this hit is clean.

Asking if the hit was necessary is another question. No. It wasn’t. But you tell me how many hits in each NHL game are “necessary”? How many of Cal Clutterbuck’s record-setting 300+ hits were “necessary”?

Fact is, the game of hockey can be played quite effectively without throwing more than a few hits per game. But hitting more, like Cal Clutterbuck, has an effect on the game. I don’t care if it was “unnecessary” because the game was already decided, almost over, whatever. As a coach, you want guys to play with full effort every minute of every game until the season is over, whether you’re 50-25 or 35-40, and whether the score in the game is 0-0 or 6-1.

Physical battles are a part of the game that are not necessary, but add an extra dimension to the game that makes it more exciting, and can tilt effectiveness from one player/team to another. Hitting’s not necessary, but if it weren’t allowed, how would the Ducks have won a Cup? How would the Broad Street Bullies have dominated for a few seasons in a row? You can play hockey without hitting, but if you did, the Canadiens of the ‘70’s might have reeled of 10 in a row, the Oilers might have knocked out seven or eight, and the Wings of today might be on a roll of six or seven.

Hitting is part of hockey. It changes the game. It is a factor that gives GMs and coaches more than one way to build their team and drive their team to succeed. If you have a problem with Grabovski’s hit because it was “unnecessary”, then you have a problem with hitting in hockey, in which case, we’ve got a whole new argument to have.

Posted by Nathan from Jonny Ericsson's ice cream truck on 04/07/09 at 10:31 AM ET

If it was any other player than Grabovski, then I’d agree with you Nathan/Alan/Paul.

But this guy has a history of dirty tricks and consequent turtling that puts Ribeiro to shame.

If that were the case guys like Jordin Tootoo, Chris Pronger, etc, would be infinitely banned based on sheer reputation alone.

Obviously that’s not the case though, so that’s a weak, ridiculous argument.

Posted by Primis on 04/07/09 at 12:01 PM ET

His reputation is deserving of another look - but the hit is clean, just very unfortunate that Markov was hurt.  People get hurt on clean hits, too - just as someone can throw out his back picking up a cracker off the floor.  In my mind, that is all the more reason to get serious about dirty hits and shots to the head - there is quite enough potential for injury in the game as it is; no need to add any more.

We saw an example of that in the Wings game against the Sabres last night. Val Filppula laid a beauty of a hip check on a Sabres player and sent him on a merry little ride through the air. It was an absolutely clean hit, but the Sabres on the ice went “postal” on Val. And this same sort of thing happens almost every night in the league.

I know.  It’s like the proper retaliation for getting hit isn’t to hit the guy right back, but to have someone else on the team try to beat him up.  It’s odd, and happens all the time now.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 04/07/09 at 12:11 PM ET

I understand Komiserek being sore. It’s tough to lose your best PP player, especially when the PP is the only reason the Habs were winning games lately.
All the same, he’s full of shit.

Posted by The Muppet on 04/07/09 at 01:41 PM ET

Ummm. Must be a lot of Leafs fans here. 

Do any of you know what a boarding penalty is??

To quote primis: “Markov was admiring his pass.  He simply got caught vulnerable because he was admiring his pass. “ You really need to look up the definition of a boarding penalty. 

For those of you that say it was a clean, shoulder to shoulder hit, you are playing games with words.  You didn’t say side shoulder to shoulder because that would not be accurate.  Grabo hit the back of Markov’s shoulder and from behind.  He also hit him in a vulnerable position several feet from the boards.

Had this been an open ice hit, I would find it easy to understand if no penalty was called.  However, this act was not open ice.  Even for you who think the “hit” itself was clean, you don’t understand that clean hits can still be boarding penalties.

Posted by Steiny from Canada on 04/08/09 at 08:22 AM ET