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Could Wisniewski face any discipline for Doan hit?
November 1st, 2009, 8:00 am · 13 Comments · posted by Eric Stephens, Staff writer
The NHL has sometimes sent mixed messages in its attempt to crack down on hits to the head but it stands to wonder if it will take a closer look at Ducks defenseman James Wisniewski’s hard check to the face of Phoenix Coyotes captain Shane Doan.
Wisniewski caught Doan with his forearm just as the winger entered the Anaheim zone to create a shorthanded chance in the first period. Doan went right to the ice and was groggy as he fell back down but he only missed a shift.
Referees Paul Devorski and Stephen Walkom did not call a penalty on the play. Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said he thought it was a legal hit.
“His arm hit his chest and his shoulder hit Shane Doan on the side of the face,” Carlyle said. “But his arm was up and it looks like he was leaning. When you look at it from the end view, his arm comes down and his shoulder hits Shane Doan.
“He looked down at the puck. He went to try to put the puck through Wisniewski and had his head down.”
Wisniewski said the blow to Doan’s head occurred only when the winger appeared to lower his head as he drove toward the net.
“I’ve got to stay up at the blue line and he tries to toe-drag around me,” Wisniewski said. “And he leans his face down. So I just shift my body over and I have to stand my ground.”
However, there is ample precedence that the league could dole out supplemental discipline even though a penalty isn’t called on the ice. When asked if he expects the NHL to take another look at the play, Carlyle said, “I don’t know. You never know what you’re going to get in those situations.”
Wisniewski had a similar reaction.
“Who knows?” he said. “That’s not up to me. I just play hockey. But you never know.”
Following the play, Coyotes defenseman Keith Yandle went after Wisniewski and drew an instigator penalty. Doan later settled his score by fighting Wisniewski in the first minute of the second period.
“If somebody hit me hard and I wanted to go and ask him to fight, I hope he’d respect me and do that as well,” Wisniewski said. “I kind of saw it coming.”
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13 Comments
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Clean hit.
Fine and suspend the thug!
I agree, I think it was clean. It was not an elbow against the head.
Yer right Ducked Up. Still Doan is an Olympian, the hit was high, we’re the Ducks and this is the NHL.
“Referees Paul Devorski and Stephen Walkom did not call a penalty on the play. Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said he thought it was a legal hit.”
Walkom was the head director of officiating as of last season. He just stepped back on the ice as an active ref. If he saw no problem with the hit….why should the League? He used to review all hits just like this one. As you can see by the video of the play…Wiz is skating backwards…and stops, braces himself, and leans towards Doan to hit him. Doan skating, head down runs into Wiz’s arm/shoulder. The bigger question for the League is: Why was Doan allowed to go back in the game? The way he was flopping around after the hit shows he was concussed…even if only slightly. If Wiz would’ve connected with any clean punch to Doan’s chin, in their later fight, it would’ve put him on IR for the next month or so. Stupid decision by Tippet.
At first I thought it wasn’t quite clean, but I saw a different angle and it looks clean there, so I would say it is.
Clean, clean, clean. I love the way Wisniewski plays.
Saw it up on Youtube. Clean hit, he led with the arm and not the elbow and besides, Doan was steaming right towards him and Wisniewski wasn’t turning to his side so how can you even throw an elbow when you’re not turned to the side and the other guy’s coming right at you?
Duck homers, you all sound like Brian Hayward. Look at the youtube clip at 00:54. You clearly see the right elbow of Wiz pop right to the noggin. It wasnt the shoulder. It wasn’t the elbow riding up ‘by accident’. It’s a head shot. He should get a game, at least.
My favorited part of that whole sequence - Hayward not mentioning it was a high hit, that it may have been questionable, whether or not a penalty may be called. While Doans flopping around on the ice he suggests Doan is milking it - pathetic.
Of course we’re Duck homers…it’s a Ducks site. You’re the pathetic one…now go complain to someone who wants to listen to you…like your mother!
CHEAP HIT DUCKS ARE FRUSTRATED YOU CAN TELL IN THERE PLAY. FINE HIM AND SUSPEND CHEAP HIT SHOULD EXPECT THAT FROM THE TYPE OF PLAYER.
The Big Wiz has just been suspended 2 games by the League for the hit on Doan
that is ridiculous! he put a clean hit on doan! thats what happens when you skate with your head down. i have seen worse hits than that and nothing has happened. clean hit