Great “hockey” hit.

THIS, ladies and gentlemen, is a good ol’ fashioned body check. Staal doesn’t have to obliterate Wellwood’s head, he throws a shoulder into Wellwood’s chest and sends him flying. No needless shot to the head.

Posted by Alzy from Innisfail, Alberta, Canada on 03/13/11 at 05:26 AM ET

I’m not a huge fan of hitting a guy already engaged with another player. At that point, awareness of everything else going on around you drops significantly and the hits can become dangerous. But that said, this was a good clean hit. The lid flew off, but I don’t think any part of Staal actually touched Wellwood’s head.

Posted by Nate A from Detroit-ish on 03/13/11 at 12:24 PM ET

@ Nate-

Too bad Scott Stevens never saw things that way…but I tend to agree.

Posted by mrfluffy from Long Beach on 03/13/11 at 04:27 PM ET

Agreed, stop staring at the puck at your feet, Kyle…

At a certain point, you can only protect players form themselves so much.  This is a perfect example of a hit that’s perfectly legal, perfectly clean, and perfectly the fault of guy getting lit up.

Posted by Primis on 03/13/11 at 08:22 PM ET

Perfectly legal hit.

Posted by SYF from the bottom of my, what, 11teenth pint of Guinness? on 03/13/11 at 09:06 PM ET