On the Okposo hit, you can clearly see Phaneuf lining him up and setting Okposo in his sites.

Well gee, really?  It’s almost as if he were playing a game of body-contact hockey!

and if Phaneuf didn’t leave his feet before making the hit, he had certainly left his feet by the time contact was completed.

Yeah?  And?  Sorry, but if you hit someone and they fall down, your momentum might carry you off your feet.  That is NOT the same as leaving your feet BEFORE a check.

It was a clear case of malicious intent, or at least extreme recklessness, on Phaneuf’s part.

Really?  A clear case?  I guess that’s why it’s being debated whether or not it was a dirty hit.  If it was a clear case NOBODY WOULD BE ARGUING THE OTHER SIDE.  Nice to know that your opinion is the be-all, end-all.

Anyone who saw that hit could tell Okposo wasn’t trying to create the circumstances under which a head shot penalty would be called.

So?  What does that have to do with ANYTHING?

Do you think anyone EVER is trying to create any kind of circumstance in which they get smoked by an opponent?  What a moronic argument.

“Gee, I’m gonna take the puck down the ice, then when I’m about to get hit I’m going to move so that I get hit in the head.”

Wow, what a moron you are, Campbell!

Posted by Garth on 09/18/09 at 12:43 PM ET

So, when do you think Campbell will write an article that’s not demonizing fighting?

I can understand opinion pieces, but rewriting the same old one over and over again over the course of a year is just plain poor writing.

We get it, Ken.  You don’t like fighting anymore.

Do us all a favor and stop writing.

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

The problem I have with the hit is that Phaneuf didn’t make any attempt to not hit Okposo in the head. In the Kronwall hit on Havlatt (which some have compared to this hit), Junior hit Havlatt from the front and hit him in the chest area with his forearms. Phaneuf backed into the hit from 20 feet away with his left elbow up at head height. It might “technically” be a legal hit, but it was totally unnecessary…at least in terms of the way it was done.

But, hey, like Pronger, this is the way Phaneuf plays. And he really doesn’t seem to care who gets hurt in the process. So, until either the League does something about these types of plays or someone takes Dion’s head off, he’ll keep playing dirty. As Mickey Redmond would say, “You’ve got to keep your head up at all times, boys and girls.”

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 09/18/09 at 01:18 PM ET

Phaneuf backed into the hit from 20 feet away

And that’s why it should have been called charging, especially as defined in the NHL Rulebook. The definition I always remembered, whether it was official or not, was 3 strides into a player. Phaneuf takes four strides, I know they were backwards crossovers, but he’s gaining speed with them and never stops until just prior to the hit.

Posted by phillyd from New Jersey on 09/18/09 at 02:24 PM ET

Why don’t we just not allow contact at all? In fact, why don’t we just play all games in empty arenas because I’m sure all that home team cheering might hurt the visitors’ feelings?

Cry me a river.

Posted by mike from austin on 09/18/09 at 02:35 PM ET

Why don’t we just not allow contact at all?

No one is suggesting that hard, clean contact shouldn’t be an integral part of the game. What’s not good for hockey (or for the health of individual players) is to continue to condone/ignore the ever-increasing number of hits to the head…especially by repeat offenders like Pronger and Phaneuf.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 09/18/09 at 02:53 PM ET

continue to condone/ignore the ever-increasing number of hits to the head…especially by repeat offenders like Pronger and Phaneuf.

*cough*Kronwall*cough*

Posted by dash_pinched from Rumour Mill Bay on 09/18/09 at 03:29 PM ET

Don’t get me wrong; I think what Phaneuf did was awful. Its a preseason game for cryin out loud. And I think he deserves to get the crap kicked out of him.

But its a rough game and these things happen. I’m just sick of Campbell’s sob stories.

Posted by mike from austin on 09/18/09 at 03:38 PM ET

*cough*Kronwall*cough*

Unlike Pronger and Phaneuf, Kronwall is not a “head hunter” or an elbow-thrower. Almost all of his hard hits are delivered face-to-face with the other player and they begin with his arns and elbows below the other guy’s shoulders. If anything, Kronwall’s hits are clear examples of “devastating” but clean hockey hits. It’s why he’s never been suspended for any of them.

Anyway, you should take something for that cough, dash. I hear flu season is going to be particularly bad there in Rumor Mill Bay.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 09/18/09 at 06:38 PM ET