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Red Wings’ Kronwall delivers devastating, questionable hit on Islanders’ Lee

By Scott BilleckDec 8, 2018, 8:21 PM EST
21 Comments

No one walks the clean hit/dirty hit tightrope like Niklas Kronwall.

There are several montages on YouTube of Kronwall Kronwalling opponents. Some of them are hard but clean hits. Others are, well, questionable at best and there’s another one to add to that column from Saturday night.

With the Detroit Red Wings up 2-0 in the first period, Kronwall lined up Anders Lee of the New York Islanders, who was picking up a loose puck on along the boards in the neutral zone. Like many of Kronwall’s hits, it was a devastating thump.

Here’s the hit:

Lee’s head appears to be the principal point of contact and he was forced to leave the game.

UPDATE: Lee did not come out to start the second period but returned later in the frame

The comments section is going to be full of, ‘Lee needs to keep his head up.’

That is true. The player has a responsibility to protect himself.

But what is also true is this: Just because a guy’s head is down doesn’t mean there’s free rein to pulverize his brain.

Kronwall had some time to change how he was going to hit Lee, either the angle or the magnitude of the force of it.

Josh Bailey went for retribution later in the period, first getting a slew foot in on Kronwall and then fighting Dylan Larkin.

Lee leads the Islanders with 11 goals and is tied with Josh Bailey for the most points with 22.

Time will tell, but you have to imagine that George Parros and the Department of Player Safety will give this one a long look.

Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck

Golden Knights’ Reaves ejected after blindside hit on Capitals’ Wilson

By Scott BilleckDec 5, 2018, 12:13 AM EST
60 Comments

(UPDATE: Reaves will not receive any supplemental discipline from the NHL.)

Yes, you read that right.

Vegas Golden Knights forward Ryan Reaves did his best Tom Wilson impression in front of the man himself against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday. And the result was much the same.

Reaves drilled Wilson as Wilson was looking the other way following a pass attempt. The hit from Reaves sent Wilson’s helmet flying in the air. Wilson hit the ice hard and appeared to hit his head on the way down.

NBC Sports Washington has the video here:

Reaves was assessed a five-minute major for interference and handed a game misconduct on top of it. He’s also likely going to be hearing from the NHL’s Department of Player Safety over the next couple of days.

Wilson needed to be helped off and was ruled out for the rest of the game with an upper-body injury.

Wilson was involved in a controversial hit last week after he laid a blindside hit of his own on New Jersey Devils forward Brett Seney. Wilson was ejected from the game but was not subject to further discipline.

Wilson has been suspended four times in the past 15 months.

Reaves and Wilson already had a thing going in the game.

In the clip below, Reaves steps into the path of an oncoming Wilson and then proceeds to laugh in his face, this after drilling Wilson seconds earlier.

Wilson took Reaves down in the first period with a big hit of his own.

Still a lot of hate between these two teams and it’s safe to say that Reaves and Wilson haven’t seen the last of each other.

Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck

NHL fines Canucks’ Roussel for biting Vlasic

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By Scott BilleckNov 24, 2018, 12:57 PM EST
2 Comments

Antoine Roussel has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowed under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for chomping on the hand of Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

The incident happened late in the third period with Roussel’s Vancouver Canucks down 4-0 to the Vlasic’s San Jose Sharks.

Vlasic and Roussel were engaged in a scuffle after play had stopped, with the former getting his hand in the face of latter. Roussel, seemingly displeased (or hungry), lashed out with his teeth.

The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz sent out a tweet following the game saying Vlasic bit him and said Vlasic showed him the bit marks.

Here’s the footage of the incident:

Roussel was penalized for his involvement in the fracas as he was given two minutes for roughing, another two for cross-checking and a 10-minute misconduct.

It’s the not the first time a Canucks player has tried to feast on another player’s hand.

If you go back to Game 1 of 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, you’ll remember a certain Alex Burrows chomp on Patrice Bergeron.

Burrows was neither fined nor suspended for the incident, with officials saying there was no conclusive evidence that Burrows intentionally tried to chow down.

Of course, that didn’t stop Bruins players from trying to entice Burrows to take another bite later in the series.

Biting isn’t exactly a foreign concept in the NHL.

In the 2015 Stanley Cup Final, Victor Hedman alleged that Andrew Shaw bit him on his stomach during a scrum. Hedman was shown on the bench after the melee lifting up his jersey to show the mark on his torso to the trainer.

There was no punishment for Shaw even as he didn’t deny doing the deed.

In a game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs, now-Vegas Golden Knights forward Max Pacioretty appeared to be bitten by then-Maple Leafs forward Mikhail Grabovski after the Pacioretty wrapped his arm around Grabovski’s face in a scrum after a whistle.

Grabovski had a phone hearing for the incident but the DoPS couldn’t determine if a bite had occurred. He was not fined nor suspended for the incident.

Grabovski later admitted that he did, indeed, bite Pacioretty.

Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck

Blackhawks’ Keith tossed after scary hit from behind (Video)

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By Scott BilleckNov 3, 2018, 10:46 PM EST
14 Comments

Duncan Keith suited up for just 2:14 of the first period on Saturday night against the Calgary Flames.

By 2:15, the veteran Chicago Blackhawks defenseman was in the showers after an ugly boarding major on Flames forward Dillion Dube.

The hit, which you can see below, is sure to be the first thing on the docket for the NHL Department of Player Safety department come Sunday morning.

Keith followed Dube down behind the net, committed to the hit and couldn’t do much about it once Dube tried to turn back toward him.

Here’s the tape:

Dube’s face appeared to be in shambles after he got up. Dube held a towel over his nose, while blood had made its way onto his visor.

To Keith’s credit, he immediately checked on Dube but the damage was already done. The hit didn’t appear to be predatory, but it’s the type of hit that the NHL wants to be eliminated from the game. On top of that, Dube was injured in some fashion on the play and didn’t return to the game due to precautionary reasons.

Oh, and Keith has a history. His most recent suspension came in 2016 for this nasty bit of business.

The Flames were able to score on the ensuing penalty as Sean Monahan scored his seventh of the season.

MORE: Your 2018-19 NHL on NBC TV schedule

Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck

Capitals’ Tom Wilson handed stiff three-game suspension

By Scott BilleckMay 2, 2018, 8:19 PM EST
193 Comments

He may have gotten away with it during Tuesday’s game, but Tom Wilson didn’t escape the NHL’s Department of Player Safety on Wednesday.

The Washington Capitals forward was handed a three-game suspension for an illegal check to the head of Pittsburgh Penguins forward Zach Aston-Reese.

Wilson wasn’t penalized on the play. Aston-Reese suffered a broken jaw and a concussion stemming from the collision in the second period.

Wilson will be eligible to return to the Capitals lineup for Game 7 of the series, if it makes it there. The Capitals currently lead the Penguins 2-1 after a 4-3 win on Tuesday.

[NBC’s Stanley Cup Playoff Hub]

DOPS head George Parros said Wilson elevated his left shoulder into the hit, causing Aston-Reese’s head to become the main point of contact.

Parros determined that the hit was avoidable and that Aston-Reese made no sudden move to result in the headshot. He also noted that Wilson could have made a full-body hit, but instead changes course, extends up onto the toes of his skate.

“The onus is on the player to ensure this upward motion does not pick the head in a way that makes it the main point of contact,” Parros said.

Wilson falls into the repeat offender category as stipulated in the CBA.

Wilson escaped unscathed in Game 2 after catching defenseman Brian Dumoulin in the head.

Wilson is the second player to be suspended for three games after Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri was given the same suspension for the same offense in the first round.

Wilson was last suspended for an illegal check on Blues forward Sammy Blais during the preseason. The incident cost the Capitals forward the first four games of the regular season. Earlier in the preseason, Wilson also sat for two games for interfering with Blues forward Robert Thomas.

Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck