No way that hit is clean.  Phaneuf was at least a foot off the ice on the follow through

Posted by bsalamon on 09/18/09 at 06:51 AM ET

poster above: she says he left his feet “ON IMPACT”.

heres a few points:
a) its pre-season
b) it was a shorthanded situation. Okposo wasnt going anywhere against 3 guys.
c) Dion didnt drop his gloves at all. sorry, if anyone does that hit on Iginla, you better be damn ready to drop the mits. Dion wouldnt. totally bush league. Okposo is arguably their most important player right now outside of Tavares.
d) Okposo got shoved from behind and was off balance.
e) it was still a hit to the head. and it makes it even worse because Phaneuf came in back-first so he could get all his momentum into the hit without having to actually “Face” the person he was about to destroy with his shoulder.

as much as the hit is “clean” theres a lot of factors here on why Phaneuf is just an opportunistic wuss bag like Kronwall is. until there are forwards who can light these guys up like Brown and Ovechkin, theyll keep taking liberties on players in vulnerable spots. thats what they pride themselves on. its part of the game but in hockey, its all about checks/balances and these two players face no check/balances because the play against soft players most of the time and dont put themselves in the position for “payback.”

Phaneuf and Iginla better watch their back. taking out a star player (relatively speaking for the Islanders) in pre-season just to get your highlight reel hit is worthy of self-redress from Okposo or retribution from other players on his team, or around the league.

Posted by Death Metal Nightmare from MKE on 09/18/09 at 07:01 AM ET

Maybe you guys saw a better replay of this than I this mediocre YouTube clip, but it’s pretty absurd to make a judgment based on that.

I will say I agree with DMN’s point that hits to the head are a problem, regardless of whether or not they are “clean” or not, and if the NHL and NHLPA were serious about protecting the players, they’d make any hit to the head a dirty play, and penalize it, plain and simple.

Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 09/18/09 at 07:15 AM ET

agree. 

What a cheap PRESEASON hit.  for god sakes man. what a dick.

I can see this as a momentum changer late in the year if your battling for a playoff spot, or if your in the playoffs, but god damn. 

huge dick.  i hope someone lights him up.

Posted by drw on 09/18/09 at 07:16 AM ET

Not only did he leave his feet, he literally left his feet LUNGING at Okposo from some distance away, so the “following through” or inertia” arguments can’t be used.

That the refs are so completely retarded that they couldn’t make a call on that play (he got a Roughing out of the fracass that followed, nothing more) is ridiculous.  That hit was ON THE PUCK, on the play.  The refs can’t say they didn’t see it—that would be admitting they weren’t paying attention to the puck or play then.  So either the refs are stupid, or blind, but definitely have to be one or the other.

Even if Okposo hadn’t been shoved from behind, the hit still would have been very, very dirty.

Phaneuf is a worthless player, as he proved last year.  He’s all hitting,some slapshot, and no real defensive responsibility in a bone in his body.  This only confirms to me that he doesn’t have enough of a brain to ever be a really good defenseman, that after his poor seaosn last year he’s still doing this stupid, stupid stuff.  He’s just a meatbag that will lunge at and hit guys every so often, which I guess for the simpleton fans in Calgary makes him a hero or something.

If the league wanted to make a statement here, they could suspend Phaneuf for something like 5 games— regular season games only.

Posted by Primis on 09/18/09 at 07:19 AM ET

Holy shit! That was a great, great hit!

OLD TIME HOCKEY BABY!!!

Posted by Mark from Ottawa on 09/18/09 at 07:35 AM ET

What a friggin great hit!  Wow…  Maybe someone should keep their head up as they cut across the ice?

Posted by WingMan from The Q C on 09/18/09 at 07:48 AM ET

Keep his head up? When two players are already defending him AND he’s short handed? Yeah…Ok W.M. Sounds good. It’s the bloody preseason, and Dion made a pretty gutless cheap shot. Was it illegal? No. Was it dirty? Yes.

At DMN- Explain to me how this is exactly like Kronwall. Can you? I dare you.

Posted by mrfluffy from Long Beach on 09/18/09 at 08:05 AM ET

You know, as much as my reflexive response is to bash Phaneuf, that hit was at least as clean as the one Kronwall laid on Havlat.

Posted by HockeyinHD on 09/18/09 at 08:07 AM ET

You know, as much as my reflexive response is to bash Phaneuf, that hit was at least as clean as the one Kronwall laid on Havlat.

Not so much. This is preseason, with two guys already defending Okposo who was also short handed. Kronwall also didn’t have to cross the width of the rink to make the hit, either.

Posted by mrfluffy from Long Beach on 09/18/09 at 08:21 AM ET

What a friggin great hit!  Wow… Maybe someone should keep their head up as they cut across the ice?
You mean after being bumped from behind and knocked off balance? Mmmmmmmmmmmmm-kay. Stop talking WingMan.

The hit was dirty.  It was preseason, it was a hit to the head, Phadouche had two teammates in a better position to defend the play, etc. There was no reason to make that hit other than he’s a dick.  The fact he wouldn’t answer the bell (according to Isles players) speaks wonders of the “man” plenty of Calgary worship for being on a bottom-pair career track.

Posted by Mike @ MHH from Oklahoma City, OK on 09/18/09 at 09:24 AM ET

LUNGING

You are OUT of your MIND.

He left his feet on the follow through.

When will people start to understand the difference between JUMPING to hit someone and leaving your feet because momentum carries you over the guy you’ve hit?

Hit to the head?  The guy was pushed forward into Phaneuf.  PLEASE, can someone explain to me how Phaneuf is supposed to stop the hit when Okposo goes off balance a millisecond before the hit?

There was no reason to make that hit other than he’s a dick.

How about the fact that he had the puck and this is a game of HOCKEY?

And what’s this horsehit about “it’s preseason” and “they were shorthanded”?  Since when are you supposed to pull up on a clean hit in the preseason, or you’re supposed to not hit a guy because you’re on the power play?

The fact he wouldn’t answer the bell

Let me finish that for you.  The fact that he wouldn’t answer the bell is because it was a beautiful, clean hit and nobody should have to fight simply because he made an amazing open ice hit and took advantage of a player who didn’t see him coming?

I love it when the pussies come out of the woodwork to denounce GREAT hockey hits.

Not so much. This is preseason, with two guys already defending Okposo who was also short handed. Kronwall also didn’t have to cross the width of the rink to make the hit, either.

Preseason?  So f*cking what?
Short handed?  So f*cking what?
Phaneuf didn’t have to cross the width of the rink either.  He went from centre to where the winger would line up for a faceoff.

Stop crying about clean hits.

Posted by Garth on 09/18/09 at 09:36 AM ET

Clean hard open ice hit on a guy cutting with his head down. The preseason argument doesn’t fly with me. You step on that ice to play any game against the some of the top players in the world (NHL as a whole, not the Flames specifically) you better be ready to go because you can expect every other player out there is (these guys make a living trying to be the best – there is no half speed for preseason). If you’re not playing hard you’re going to be the one getting hurt. As Brent Sutter said “that’s a hit Dion can’t pass up”. Unfortunate injury, but hockey can be violent sport.

Posted by Robbieo from Canada on 09/18/09 at 09:36 AM ET

Yah he left his feet on the follow through..so what. At impact he was on his feet.

Clean hit. Huge hit.

Good for the Islanders for going after him though.

Posted by Laker from ROCKSTAR on 09/18/09 at 09:44 AM ET

Ouch. I’d call that a technically legal hit. But it was very unnecessary. Pre-season, short handed, double covered, off balance. Absolutely no reason to make that hit.

Players keep talking about how they need to respect each other on the ice and not hit when some one is vulnerable. This is not how you do it.

Posted by Nate A from Detroit-ish on 09/18/09 at 09:51 AM ET

Absolutely no reason to make that hit.

What does that mean?

He’s got the puck, he’s cutting across with it.

How is there no reason to make the hit?

Posted by Garth on 09/18/09 at 09:59 AM ET

Looks like a clean hit to me.  The biggest problem I see from the video is teammates trying to instigate a fight with a guy who delivered a clean hit.

Head shots should be punished in hockey, but I can’t see a way to punish Phaneuf for this.  He was going for a hard check, I don’t think he was headhunting.  Okposo’s injury came about as a result of unfortunate circumstances.  Phaneuf started setting up that hit way before Okposo was knocked off stride, putting him in an awkward position to take that hit.  His feet left the ice as his momentum carried him up and through the player.  If you don’t want people checking hard in preseason, stop playing the games.  There doesn’t seem to be any unwritten rule about letting up on hits in preseason games like in the All-Star game.  Guys are fighting for roster spots out there.  Phaneuf may not be fighting for his job, but he’s playing against guys who are, so he can ill afford to just take it easy out there, lest he get destroyed.

If anything, I’ll parrot what Fox Sports Detroit color commentator and former hockey tough guy Mickey Redmond says about situations like this.  It’s ridiculous for a guy to have to fight somebody after a clean hit.  You want to fix fighting in hockey, you should start punishing people who instigate fights for good hockey plays.

Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 09/18/09 at 10:00 AM ET

J.J. made some excellent points in his post, the only thing I would add is that Phaneuf might not be fighting for a roster spot on the Flames, but he is fighting for a spot on the Canadian Olympic Team.  Personally, I think he’s in tough to make the squad, but continued plays like that can only enhance his chances.

Posted by dash_pinched from Rumour Mill Bay on 09/18/09 at 11:13 AM ET

Clean hit or not? Debatable, but if you throw at hit like that and a guy from the other team challenges you to a fight, drop your f*cking mitts. Phaneuf is such a pussy. He looks for guys in the most vulnerable position, but shys away from real battles
.

Posted by Roboshow from Calgary on 09/18/09 at 11:19 AM ET

but if you throw at hit like that and a guy from the other team challenges you to a fight, drop your f*cking mitts.

Bullsh*t.  It was a clean hit.  He shouldn’t have to fight because some *#$%@& doesn’t like him laying a clean hit on someone who had his head down.

Posted by Garth on 09/18/09 at 11:24 AM ET

Clean hit.

Phaneuf could have backed off, if he wanted to be a nice guy. 
But he didn’t have to.

NHL hockey is a very dangerous occupation.

Posted by w2j2 on 09/18/09 at 01:07 PM ET

Yep, I totally agree with the recent posters.  While certainly violent, it was also clean.

Now, you can make a case that it was an unneccessary hit, I suppose.  As Garth mentioned, I don’t exactly know what that means… but if someone is looking for a reason to hammer Phaneuf, that works as well as anything else, I guess.

Posted by HockeyinHD on 09/18/09 at 01:23 PM ET

Whooooo it’s hockey season again allright.

Posted by Hippy Dave from Portland by way of Detroit on 09/18/09 at 02:06 PM ET

I find it funny that Calgary reporters are now stating that it’s dumb to stick up for your teammate and challenge Dion to a fight after the hit when they were all for sticking up for your teammates when Tyler Sloan hit their man last year.

Posted by funny thought on 09/18/09 at 06:09 PM ET

Dirty hit, no contest. He lunged, and literally threw himself into this hit and it was also to the head which makes it that much worse.  Misconduct and suspension should have easily followed.

Posted by K from Chitown on 03/26/10 at 09:15 PM ET