In the NHL, Not All Hits Are Created Equal

It IS confusing, isn’t it? 
"Blind-sided" only because Hudler is head-down, watching his own pass move away; and still 3/4 to front. 
Not "interference" (as penalized) because Hudler released his pass only .55 seconds (HALF a sacond) earlier.  [timed 3 times: .53 sec, .55 sec, .57 sec; averaged for accuracy]
Not "elbowing" as widely whined about, because Brown’s arms are down and initial contact is arm-to arm, then shoulder; sliding up to side of head because Brown is taller.
Cuts only because Hudler’s own visor cuts him when he goes down.

So, what we have is an unfortunate, dramatic, yet fairly minor injury resulting from a clean hit.  The clean hit resulted in massive over-penalization, an un-earned PP goal, a run goalie with no call (for a total of 7 minutes in improper manpower differential), the margin of loss in the game and a league review finding no fault.  Unprofessional broadcasting ("no puck in sight", "bloodthirsty", etc) also enraged fans.

0:12-14 of the first clip… "I can’t feel my face!"…. lol

Dude, Eric, you are dumb if you are confused.

Brown’s hit was CLEAN, it’s already been decided by the NHL. He hit him about 1 second, not even, after dishing the puck off. Perfectly legal.

Brashear’s hit was a retaliation hit because he got decked and looked for someone else to hit. How can you not see that? He was looking for a target, it easily deserves a suspension. Not too mention it was 2-3seconds after Betts dished the puck, PLUS Donald already had about 3-4 strides, which is charging. Brasher is not a hockey player, he was LOOKING for someone to hit because he got hit, he was chasing the player to the bench, said forget it, then went after Betts.

Stevens vs Karyia, captain on captain, one word… momentum.
Stevens hit Karyia not even 1 second after he dished the puck into the zone. Perfectly legal.

Seriously, was TSN this bored that they let someone write up ANOTHER NEGATIVE story about the NHL?

Watch more hockey, then again you are a Caps fan, a "freelance sports writer" and think Brashear is getting rough justice, don’t you even know his history in the league?? Probably not.

Pens in 5.

enough with brashears history and that he isnt a hockey player and blah blah blah. brashears hit was in retaliation, but it was a legal hit. it was under a second after the puck was passed. should he have hit him, no, but it was leagal. i asked 6 of my friends that are refs only one said it was border line. way too many games, bettman sucks a$$, refs need to start being fined for alot of the non calls which are serious. mainly the ones to the head!!!!  also stop the favoritism with certain players when they are on the ice, the days of gretzky are over!!! 

by the way the pens will never win a cup crosby! caps in 7 and no im not a caps fan.

Wow Eric, talk about irresponsible reporting.  If you even consider yourself a reporter.  Some pretty fundamental differences between the two hits, and just because you’re another Red Wing supporting front runner that gets to post stuff on a website does not make you correct.  Browns hit was as clean as the day is long, and Brown can not be held responsible for Hudlers lack of ability to skate and pass a puck with his head up.  It wasn’t late, it wasn’t high, but it WAS devastating, and that’s about the only accurate part about your description.

Brashears hit was a clear cut retaliation hit, and that’s the very thing that the NHLs front office said that they were going to suspend for when this years NHL playoffs began.  They clearly stated that there would be no message sending, and no retaliations for clean hits.  The latter, of course, being what Brashear got suspended for.

Come on, this is rediculous. One of the dumber articles I’ve seen in awhile. You don’t get penalized for hard hits, you get penalized for illegal hits, something Brashear makes a lot. Brown’s hit was perfectly legal and part of the game. It shouldn’t have been penalized AT ALL. This is just another dumb article supporting the Red Wings and trying to stir up racial messes. That’s right, I said you’re saying this because Brashear is one of the few blacks in the NHL. Give me a break!

Why don’t you go report on the NBA’s (Nobody but Boston and LA) inconsistant calls. Then you may actually have a story.

I disagree, the Mike Brown hit was extremely clean, he is not going to let an opposing player in the playoffs run around like a chicken with his head cut off. Hudler should of known better and kept his head up. I haven’t seen the Donald Brashear hit, so I can’t compare, but Brown’s hit was clean.

The only similarity between these two hits is that all you media "experts" are trying to convince us that they are the same. Brown’s hit, as stated numerous times above was clean, in the course of a hockey play. Brashear’s was after a dump in, as the player is going to the bench for a change and was a blatant hit to the head…STOP making the connection. And sporting news, take the link to this "expert" off the main page…

Face it, the Brashear hit was against the Rangers and everyone knows that Buttman loves his NY teams.  If the Brown hit had involved Brashear, you people would be crying about how that one was a head shot as well!!  For those saying that Brashear was a "blatant " hit to the head, you are idiots!!  All shoulder folks!!  The hit was clean!!  Only the timing could be questioned!!

Hey ForgottenOne!!  Your five game prediction just says it all!!  You know nothing!!

It would have been a clean it if he wouldnt have lifted his arms and took Hudlers head off. The league supposedly has been clear on eliminating that… however not suspending Brown provers otherwise.

Why is this still confusing to so many? "Shoulder" , "timing" and "head" are distinct terms. The latter is the only issue here, the first two are just compounding factors (bonus suspension points). Stevens hit would be grounds for a suspension in today’s NHL.

Hitting someone with a shoulder immediately after the play is legal, but targeting the head after that same hit is NOW illegal.
And **** well should be. The NHL has lost so many talented players over the years to concussion it is impossible to overstate the importance  – and new rules need to be applied the same way boarding calls were reworked.

Non-factors in this argument include:
1. He didn’t use his elbow (MasonFan)
2. The hit was clean (forgottenone)
3. The player should have kept his head up (jaysfan)

Please don’t give me any crap about eliminating head shots taking violence out of the game; fights need to stay and big hits need to stay. Ending a great players career via concussion from needless head shots has to stop.

That CBC angle clearly shows that the initial contact was shoulder to shoulder (look at the feed frame by frame and freeze it at 0:09), and it was only after, as the hit was being finished, that there was contact to the head.  So that would suggest that Brown wasn’t targeting Hudler’s head.  I can see the referees letting the blood wrongly influence their calls on the ice and because it happened so fast, but when there is time to review the whole sequence from multiple camera shots, this wasn’t anything like the Brashear hit and didn’t deserve a suspension.

Mike Murphy from the NHL said on NHL Live yesterday that it was a hockey hit and Brown wasn’t going to be suspended.  However, if that’s the case, then the referees made the the wrong calls on the ice because hockey hits aren’t illegal.

"Please don’t give me any crap about eliminating head shots taking violence out of the game; fights need to stay and big hits need to stay. Ending a great players career via concussion from needless head shots has to stop."

this ^