Can one of my friendly NHL fans on SF tell me if Connor Bedard got knocked out with a good hit or a dirty hit tonight?
Also, is there an unwritten rule about not targeting rookies? I love the game but I haven’t been watching my whole life.

Just looked up the hit. Looks pretty clean he didn't leave his feet to make the hit. He did make contact with Bedard's face/head which is something the league wants to get rid of. Doesn't look like he was trying to take him out or anything. The defender looks taller which can affect how the hit happens although the league doesn't like to use that as an excuse for a high hit.

Hockey is fast but you often know if you made a good or bad hit. Sometimes the hits that look the worst are nothing and you jump back and the little ones rock you.

That looked like a clean hit. Smith kept the elbow tucked in, didn't leave his skates and it was a solid body hit that also happened to catch Bedard's jaw.

All these young kids are talented but they don't have a lot of body mass or weight and it looks like the physics came into play.

I hope Bedard is OK. Looks like a left jaw injury and I hope it's not a fracture. I didn't see blood so perhaps it's minor, although I don't think so.

Chara for the Bruins suffered a jaw fracture a several years ago in the playoffs and he came back one game later wearing the full face shield. Bedard may do the same after he's wired back together but unlike the playoffs where Chara's skill and role as the captain were needed, Chicago may take their time with him and not rush him back.

I'm sure by now the team knows exactly what is wrong.

Disclaimer: I officiated in the minors years ago and keep in touch with my striped bretheren.

The hit itself looked clean---both Flashlightboy and comet24 described it well.

I hope Bedard's okay, too---he's a VERY impressive young player.

Thanks guys. He sure has been fun to watch.

As the others said, it was a good clean hit. He aimed for the body, didn't target the head, kept his elbows down and just followed through. It was a good old time hockey hit. It's a good lesson for a rookie to learn, keep your head up when you are stick handing through the defense. Watch the good stick handlers, they can see a big hit coming and will just dump the puck deep and then spin off if they can see a big hit coming. You NEVER put your head down while stick handling through the center of the ice, you WILL get your clock cleaned. Hopefully he is not hurt, and that he learns this lesson.
The defenseman was a big guy, and Bedard is on the smaller side, that makes it seem like he was head hunting, but it looked clean to me. This hit on Paul Kariya, should be mandatory viewing for young stick handlers like Bedard. I don't think a penalty was called on the play but I don't remember, this might be called for targeting the head in today's game but I've seen worse not get called.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C57NpdhJkUU

That’s a totally clean hit. You’re supposed to use your shoulder and aim for center mass. Unfortunately for Bedard he’s much shorter and instead of taking a shoulder to the chest it got him in the jaw.


One of the problems they are having with younger players is that from a young age the players have a literal red stop sign on the back of their jersey at the neck line and if you can see red you cannot hit them. This was done to prevent players from getting hit from behind and getting slammed headfirst into the boards after a few people ended up getting spinal cord injuries.

Players have started to use that to protect themselves and when they are near the boards they will turn and face the board exposing the stop sign logo to the oncoming player. Well the NHL doesn’t have the stop sign so a lot of players who are used to doing that have taken very serious hits because of it.

And no there are no safety provisions specific to rookies.

It was a clean hit. Connors small stature did not help.

Is Blindref still about? Would like to hear his take.

quote:

Also, is there an unwritten rule about not targeting rookies? I love the game but I haven’t been watching my whole life.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
There is an unwritten rule about targeting star players. When that happens the team tough guy settles the score. A lot of the rookie players in the NHL get clobbered their first year. Bobby Hull was a target most of his career.

I've finally seen the video. He tried to skate through 4 opposing players and got thumped. And, not hard either. He just got stood up by a much bigger player. He had the puck. Legal hit. Welcome to the NHL.

Everyone used to go after Crosby all the time when he was a young player. When he was young it was easy to piss him off and knock him off his game. I remember brutal playoff games in 99 and 2000 in which Richard Matvichuk did everything he could to beat the hell out of Peter Forsberg. That's why most teams still reserve one spot for a goon. I don't see why when the playoffs come they are sitting around not dressed.

What continues to frustrate me is going after players as a result of a legal check. We used to teach our kids get them back legally. I know you have to set the tone, but I think going after another player because of something that is legally allowed in the game should draw a major.

Looks like he fractured his jaw from the hit. That sucks. He's a young kid. Hopeful he will learn from it and not skate up the middle like that. It was still a good hit outcome just sucks.

quote:

What continues to frustrate me is going after players as a result of a legal check. We used to teach our kids get them back legally. I know you have to set the tone, but I think going after another player because of something that is legally allowed in the game should draw a major.

100% agree. Go hit him back later in the game when you get a chance but jumping a guy for a clean hit is crap.

Bedard was placed on injured reserve with a fractured jaw after being leveled by the New Jersey Devils’ defenseman Brendan Smith in the first period of their game Friday.