GOHABS.com Message Board

Clear insanity by the lead. A wicked headshot with the shoulderpad.
I can just imagine this happens to Cami, Gionta or Gomez...the league is a freakin joke imho.

clearly an intent to injure, a headshot, no less. the NHL is stupid for not protecting its players. absolutly stupid. IMO, this was way worse than the hit on Tucker that got whoever 3 games (deserved, of course).

Time to get officiating into the 21st century.

I disagree. Richards didn't leave his feet, didn't raise his elbow. Caught Booth admiring his pass.....good old hockey play. Looked vicious but clearly within the rules.

As for headshots, yes they are dangerous. But how would it be possible to regulate them? If a 6'4 guy hits a 5'9 guy and his shoulder hits his head strictly because of their height difference, how can you penalize the tall guy? Smaller players will draw penalties every time they get hit.

Maybe the solution is regulating equipment....making helmets more shock resistant and making shoulder pads softer?

agreed, i cant BELIEVE Richards is getting away with that one. Direct contact to the head, intentional, and down right scarey!

The NHL double standard disgusts me.

Johab, the hit was intentional, obviously (open ice hits are part of hockey). But do you really think Richards knew for sure that his shoudler was going to hit Booth's head? I don't think he knew. Richards is already worrying about:
a) keeping his elbow down
b) not leaving his feet
Can we really expect him to know exactly which part of his opponent his shoulder is going to make contact with?

And this is coming from a guy (myself) who's had 2 concussions, including one on a play very similar to that one, so I'm in no way biased.

I think you're looking at it slightly backwards. He's not so much concentrating on not lifting his elbow or not leaving his feet or not saying hello to his mother in the crowd or not doing a million other things. He's concentrating on driving that shoulder into his target. Given that he's practiced thousands upon thousands of body checks in his career, I think it's pretty reasonable to expect him to be able to aim it. If he can't aim it, he shouldn't throw it.

The only possible question, in my mind, is whether or not he attempted to hit the head or if it was bad aim. If it was bad aim, he should have received a medium-long suspension, and if it was intentional, he should have received a very long one.

Something is REALLY wrong with discipline in the NHL!

Obviously Mike Richards meant to raise his elbow.

That's worth AT LEAST 5-games!

Well he didn't raise his elbow, so what's your point?

http://ballhype.com/video/mike-richards ... vid-booth/

Regardless of it arguably being "within the rules" Otis.....intent to injure is a phrase that should be taken into consideration.

I'm all for big hits to seperate guys from the puck.

But clearly Booth was not prepared for that hit. So Richards clearly intended to injure.

It's about players respecting other players.

To me....Richards is all guilty as it gets and it's absurd that he was not suspended.

Mulsey, since when does a player have to be prepared for a hit in order for it to be considered ok to hit him? Scott Stevens would have been a mediocre defenseman if he wasn't allowed to hit players who weren't "prepared".

It's Booth's responsibility to be aware of who's in the ice against him and where they are. In fact, if you break down the video, you'll even notice that Booth and Richards cut towards each other at the blueline and Booth is looking in his direction. Then, Booth chooses to admire his pass (a HUGE no-no) and Richards finishes his check. Clean hit.

It deeply concerns And-o that anyone could review that hit and not immediately see the intent to injure and the blatent indiscretion of the hit to the head in general.

TYPICAL FLYER MOVE!!!

Someone will end-up getting killed with a hit like that!

I'm with Otis on this one (always a safe bet, I know). The hit was unfortunate, but I didn't see it as being that dirty, nor intent to injure. The guy's head was down and it was in the heat of the battle. I've seen much worse from Phaneuf and Stevens (and Robinson and Chartraw, for that matter) over the years.

I appreciate your concern big fella, but I'm not overly concerned about my ability to diagnose a hockey play. I'll be just fine.

Otis kills Nil d!

Perhaps Scott Stevens isn't the best comparison to make? Stevens should have been suspended many times in his career but mostly got away with the dirty stuff because he was a star player. This is what I think is going on here, a double standard because Richards is who he is.

To me that's a head shot, though it's more borderline than some. Richards pushes way way off his left leg in a way that in these circumstances guarantees he's gonna catch the guy in the head. I think Richards leaves his right foot just enough that it's a reckless, intent-to-injure play. He also has loads of time to see exactly where he's gonna hit the guy. Booth barely sees the hit coming and has his shoulder up but was probably not expecting Richards to push up into his head. I also think that Richards was late on the hit. Booth didn't have the puck and enough time seems to have elapsed, but it's maybe too close to call on the timing part. 1-game suspension.

Look, if there's any seriousness about eliminating head shots, it's plays that like this that need to go. I realize they're part of what we know as hockey. But with the equipment and strength these guys have now, someone's gonna get killed. I agree with Ando.