Somebody has to say it so I’m going to say it….that hit was NOT that bad. Bergeron hit….. same deal. At some point you have to wonder when does the acting start, don’t you? A guy gets hit from behind…goes down to get a penalty. Now that he’s lying on the ice he thinks I can’t get up because I’m supposed to be hurt…..better get the stretcher. Is this the WWE..? If a boxer gets knocked out he gets up and walks back to his corner. I guess this guy was knocked out which I find hard to believe since he was moving around 2 seconds after the hit if you watch the video….There’s no way I’d would be geting on a strecher unless I was paralyzed. No frickin’ way…I guess this is just another example of the wimpification of the NHL and America…And by the way….who is the hottie doing the interviews on the bench broadcast to the whole arena? How funny/lame is that!

Posted by kevin from boston on 01/02/09 at 08:46 AM ET

No way that should be a suspension.  He did deserve a penalty, but it was a hockey play and I don’t think Ovechkin had malicious intend beyond trying to finish his check.

Besides, superstars in the NHL don’t get suspended, even if their play is dirty.  Just ask Sidney Crosby.

Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 01/02/09 at 10:25 AM ET

It was definitely a hit from behind, but if you watch the slo-mo replay it looks like Ovechkin mostly missed Heward.  I don’t know how he got a concussion, he must have been hit in exactly the right spot.

Posted by K24 from NYC on 01/02/09 at 12:40 PM ET

@JJ, but if this were sid, would you be asking for a suspension? Me thinks so.

Posted by Kevin from Pittsburgh on 01/02/09 at 01:10 PM ET

With all these hit from behind penalties… we keep talking about it but they keep happening. This player, like most turned into it.

Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different is quite simply the definition of insanity.

There is no point in having a hit from behind penalty. Take it away and a player won’t rely on the penalty possibility for protection. (if it’s a gross hit there is still possibility of boarding or charging penalties)

Messier said it best when he said before the hitting from behind penalty you simply would not put yourself in that position, you went into the corner with your head on a swivel.

Posted by laker from Kamloops on 01/02/09 at 01:52 PM ET

I didn’t think it seemed like a bad hit but drawing a reference from racing, the more benign the hit seems to be, the more injurious it probably will be.  Dale Earnhardt’s crash seemed harmless until we find out later, he’s dead.

On the flip side of that, Richard Petty’s famous flying and tumbling crash (replicated in Disney/Pixar’s Cars) seemed horrendous but he just about walked away from that.

I’d be up in arms about the hit if it were delivered to say, Zetterberg or Datsyuk or even Filppula.  Having said that, I think the medical staff did the right thing by stabilizing his neck and head FIRST.  Kudos for the forward thinking procedures.

Posted by SYF from a "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" on 01/02/09 at 01:56 PM ET

Not to say Ovechkin should or should not get a penalty, but his head does hit the glass before his shoulders. Ovechkin also taps Heward before he hits him, but not before Heward was already turned. Is leading with forearms acceptable now?

Posted by SGTEXPLORER from Covina, CA on 01/02/09 at 06:09 PM ET