It was just about two weeks ago when Islanders forward Doug Weight completely leveled Hurricanes rookie Brandon Sutter while his head was down. It was unfortunate for Sutter, he left the game after the collision and the seriousness of the hit left Weight with a heavy heart. Right from the start, the hit had become somewhat of a focus to everyone in hockey – it was just massive. Some were calling for Weight’s head and others were just saying Sutter was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The league did not seek restitution, as the hit was indeed clean.
I came across a great article today that speaks about this hit in a manner nobody else has approached just yet – which is surprising. In a nutshell, it blames the size of today’s players on the increase in concussion related injuries – an interesting way to look at things.
One painful lesson every National Hockey League rookie learns is to keep your head up when skating through the neutral zone. If you don’t, you will not see the 4,700 joules of kinetic energy skating at you with bad intentions.
During an Oct. 25 game, Brandon Sutter, rookie center for the Carolina Hurricanes, never saw Doug Weight, veteran center of the New York Islanders, sizing him up for a hit that resulted in a concussion and an overnight stay in the hospital. Hockey purists will say that it was a “clean hit” and Weight was not penalized
The rest of the article goes on to talk in scientific speak about the energy each player exerts on another when making contact – all very fascinating to those who may want to take a different look on how much is involved beyond actually “playing” a sport.
You can read the rest of the article here.
Good points. I had a conversation with a higher up right after it happened too, and we ended up in a debate about bringing players up too soon and too young. Not just the size of the players, but the maturity. It’s actually a very interesting debate.
Welcome back Mike!!