Comments on: NHL will not discipline David Steckel for his Winter Classic hit on Sidney Crosby; Crosby not amused

By: sfbookreviews

sfbookreviews — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:21:18 +0000

I understand what you’re saying and normally would agree. But the NHL made a huge deal about how blind-side hits to the head, regardless of intent, had no place in hockey. I’m not saying protect Crosby because of who he is, I’m saying live up to the standard you set in the off-season. Again, the new rule does not take intent into account. It doesn’t take past history into account. It says a blind-side hit to the head is not tolerated any longer. Period.

By: juanhughjazz

juanhughjazz — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 18:22:47 +0000

crosby and ovechkin shouldn’t be protected any more than any other player. let’s not turn the nhl into the nba.

By: kantnockdahustle89

kantnockdahustle89 — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 18:07:47 +0000

@SFBook
The difference between Cooke hitting someone and Steckel is that Cooke has a strong reputation for playing dirty. If anyone watches the CBC replays of the hit you can see Steckel not even looking at Crosby when he turns around and skates up the ice. He actually tries to move his body around Crosby when he finally sees him there but its too late.
It sure doesnt help there are more than a few clips of Crosby embellishing hits and even faking injury when he is barely touched. As it turned out nothing was wrong with Crosby and it looked to be an accident. The sport is called hockey not baseball, people run into each other on accident and on purpose.

By: clusterpuck

clusterpuck — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 13:37:20 +0000

Crosby and Ovechkin are the reason why games like this one produce the biggest ratings in 36 years. NHL should be protecting guys like that when clowns like Steckel are trying to knock them out. Guys are always trying to break Sid in half or knock him out. I bet the NHL won’t be real happy when somebody finally succeeds at doing so.

By: sfbookreviews

sfbookreviews — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 03:51:32 +0000

It was a blind-side hit to the head, which is supposedly something the NHL is serious about eliminating from the game. Intention doesn’t matter, results matter. You can bet if Matt Cooke had hit one of the Caps’ top players with the exact same hit, the entire hockey community would be up in arms.