Tom Kostopoulos Blindside Cheap Shot Breaks Brad Stuart's Jaw (Video w Blood)

Tom Kostopoulos of the Calgary Flames on Friday night broke the jaw of Detroit Red Wings defenseman Brad Stuart with s blindside hit that cannot be described in any manner other than a cheap shot.



Amazingly on the play all Kostopoulos was charged with was a two minute roughing penalty which is a joke that means none of the referees saw the play and only gave a penalty when they saw the results.  There is no arguing that this is not the epitome of the type of hit the NHL created Rule 48 to eliminate from the game.  This was clearly a targeted head shot and was the principal point of contact and I believe it was also from the blind side.

I do not think there is any question as to whether a suspension and a rather lengthy one is coming, just a question of how long it will be.  How long do you think Kostopoulos should and/or will get for this hit?

Video: Jarome Iginla vs Jamie Benn In Knuckle Buster; Fight of Year Candidate?

LM Otero

Dallas Stars forward Jamie Benn and Calgary Flames captain Jarome Iginla squared off at 7:19 of the first period in a tremendous fight that lasted over a minute.  Benn would clearly get the better shots early, but being as tough as Jarome Iginla is means you do not quit on anything and he would fight back to land some big shots of his own in this battle and probably won overall.  The damage side definitely goes to Benn, but he was out of gas early waiting for the linesman to step in a stop it while Iggy just kept pounding him.  Also if the guys are going to take gear off before the fight as Iginla did, then Benn should definitely have removed his helmet.

Analysis of Marc Staal Hit On Matt Stajan

In both the posting of the video and the game recap I have stated views on the Marc Staal hit that knocked Matt Stajan from the game with 10:24 remaining in the New York Rangers versus Calgary Flames game, but let me take it a step further here and lay out the full case.  The NHL this year has instituted unanimously instituted new rules laying out penalties for “lateral or blind-side hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principle point of contact is not permitted."  There are those who are claiming that this hit fell under those rules and thus Marc Staal should be suspended.  This Rule is called Rule 48 and reads as follows:

48.1 Illegal Check to the Head—A lateral or blind-side hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principle point of contact is not permitted.

48.2 Minor Penalty—There is no provision for a minor penalty for this rule.

48.3 Major Penalty—For a violation of this rule, a major penalty shall be assessed (see 48.4).

48.4 Game Misconduct—An automatic game misconduct penalty shall be assessed whenever a major penalty is assessed under this rule.

48.5 Match Penalty—The Referee, at his discretion, may assess a match penalty if, in his judgment, the player attempted to or deliberately injured his opponent with an illegal check to the head.

In the case of Marc Staal’s hit on Matt Stajan the hit is not lateral or from behind but from in front of the player as the angles on the video clearly show, the player does not leave his feet to make the hit, there is no raising of the elbow to create an intent to injure and the principle point of contact is with the chest of Stajan and carries him further up into the body.  What happened on the play was a defender had lined up an offensive player for an open ice hit just inside the neutral zone and the offensive player assumed there would be no contact so he continued to watch the pass he had just made instead of the ice.  As callous as it might sound the person to blame if one is to be blamed for this hit is Matt Stajan because he was not skating with his head up, which is not to say if he was he would not have gotten laid out by a great hit, but he could have braced himself better for impact.  

I do not know for sure if it makes a difference in regards to Rule 48 that his head was turned to the side as opposed to being down, which is the only point of uncertainty for me. 

I agree with what the league is trying to do in light of the increased rate of concussions and to take the dirty hitting out the game, but concussions, which I would assume is what Matt Stajan will have can happen on clean hits as well.  If Matt Stajan is seriously injured I will feel badly for him, but I will also believe that it was not due a dirty or malicious play on the part of Staal.  If the leagues fines or suspends Marc Staal for this hit then the league might as well outlaw hitting because this is the textbook kind of hit you want a defenseman to make in terms of defending his own zone and doing it cleanly.  This is not Shane Doan or Matt Cooke, or Mike Richards, this was clearly from the front, on the ice and with the arms down and I expect the league to keep their arm down and not call foul as the referees on the ice did tonight.

Original post withe video of the hit and versus team analysis can be found here

Video: Marc Staal Hit on Matt Stajan

Here is the video of the huge hit Marc Staal laid on Matt Stajan.  The hit is being seen in completely opposite fashions based on which team a person supports, but in trying to be as unbiased as possible I see a clean hit where Staal takes him on the opposite shoulder and not the head, stays on the ice the entire time and there is no doubt he rocked him.  I do not see it as being from the blindside as some are saying.  You be the judge and leave it in the comments.

Update: Link to my analysis of the hit which has other video of the hit

Here is the Video and analysis from the Versus Crew

Pregame: New York Rangers Looking For Two Straight Wins Host Calgary Flames, 11/22/2010

New York (11-9-1) vs Calgary (8-10-1)

Key Opposition Player: Jarome Iginla (8-8-16)

Rangers Lineup:

Frolov - Stepan - Gaborik
Dubinsky - Anisimov - Callahan
Fedotenko - Boyle - Prust
Avery - Christensen - Boogaard

Staal - Girardi
Del Zotto - Eminger
Gilroy - Sauer

Biron
Lundqvist

The New York Rangers will take the ice tonight looking to build on the impressive outing they had Saturday night against the Minnesota Wild in their 5-2 victory.  Overall the Rangers through the rollercoaster early season sit 11-9-1 and would love to build some consistency both in play and results, but they will have to remember to do that one game at a time.  Tonight on paper appears to be a game the Rangers should win because of the Flames general struggles, the fact the Flames played last night and not only the fact they blew a 2 goal lead in the third vs Detroit, but how.  Problem is these are the Rangers and the games that seem like locks because of a weaker opponent are the ones they fail to show up to play.  If this team wants to be a good team, a playoff caliber team, you have to beat the teams you are supposed to and hold your own against the better ones.  Another part of that equation is to create a home ice advantage which at 4-6-1 the Rangers have failed to do so far.

This morning we found out that it would be Martin Biron in net for Henrik Lundqvist and this move is a combination of giving Lundqvist time to get his game right and rewarding Biron for his good play.  The lines and D-pairs are expected to stay the same at least to start, but with Tortorella that doesn’t mean much one the puck drops.  For the Rangers I will be watching the Dubinsky-Anisimov-Callahan line as their play has slipped the past week even to the point that Anisimov was replaced by Christensen on Saturday.  I will also be watching Brandon Prust as he will be facing the team that traded him to New York on February 1, 2010.  Prust is still bothered by the charley horse he originally sustained Friday in Colorado but if it didn’t hold him out against Minnesota the next night you can bet he is in there and running on adrenaline against the Flames.  I would expect a fight out of Prust tonight, though not sure who, maybe Tim Jackman?

Calgary as always begins and ends with Jarome Iginla who has been the subject of many trade rumors of late and lucky for the Rangers has found his game after a horrid start.  Iginla has six points in his last two and eight points in his last four, accounting for half of season total.  Everyone in Calgary is on the hot seat for their slow start and they have already started making moves by trading Ian White to Carolina last week.  Olli Jokinen is going to miss tonight’s game while serving a suspension which robs the home fans a chance to boo him but saves the TV audience from having to watch replays of him missing in the final game last year versus the Flyers.

Pregame Thought: Thank you Calgary and Olli Jokinen for being the reasons that the Rangers get to watch Brandon Prust wear a Rangers sweater.

Prediction: Rangers 3-2 (Prust, Gaborik, Callahan)