Liambas hit on Fanelli

[furlanitalia 1]

I think the biggest problem is what resulted of the hit. Don't get me wrong, I'm not taking any blame off of either player, but had his helmet been on properly, he may have left the ice with a concussion, not a fractured skull and orbital bone. Then maybe we're looking at a lower suspension, but a suspension none the less.

[chk hrd 164]

In the Avs/Coyote game last night a player got hit and his helmet flew off, fortunately he was not hurt. People need to make sure that thier helmets fit right and the straps are snapped and the right length. There is no excuse for a strap to be so loose you can use it as a swing for a midget. Just like cages that flop around and are missing J clips. The equipment is designed to protect you if worn right.

I am not saying that that he would be all right if his helmet didn't fly off but chances are pretty good he would have came out alot better if his bucket stayed on regardless if the hit was clean or dirty.

[lampliter87 8]

Bullshit, there's no way you can blame this on the kid.

You cant say that he did all the right things either. If a guys coming full speed and the other player turns his back at the last second giving the oncoming player no chance to hold up or not deliver the hit and gets hit in the back and injured is all the blame placed on the guy delivering the hit? Not absolving Liambas of blame but look where hes at when Fanelli starts to turn. Weve seen this situation before where a guy sees a forechecker coming and turns at the last second leaving no chance to avoid the hit and gets injured. Players tried to avoid the hit and end up getting hurt worse than they would have just taking the check.

Of course he could have done a better job to absorb the hit, but I've got a couple issues with this. 1. Look at the play he's trying to make, a left handed shot spinning around to play the puck back the way he came, to the right. No shit he was turning. Ever heard the slogan "Take the hit to make the play"? I play D and have taken some nasty hits in this exact same off-balance position immediately after making a breakout pass or attempting to clear the puck, including breaking my collarbone in two places. 2. Look at the hit that Liambas tries to make. Where are his hands when he makes the hit? Look at his stick positioning, above the waist. Look at what makes contact, elbow to head. Bigger guy + more speed + off balance player + dirty hit = Trouble.

+1 on the issue of tightening the chin strap.

[KingPest19 0]

Bullshit, there's no way you can blame this on the kid.

You cant say that he did all the right things either. If a guys coming full speed and the other player turns his back at the last second giving the oncoming player no chance to hold up or not deliver the hit and gets hit in the back and injured is all the blame placed on the guy delivering the hit? Not absolving Liambas of blame but look where hes at when Fanelli starts to turn. Weve seen this situation before where a guy sees a forechecker coming and turns at the last second leaving no chance to avoid the hit and gets injured. Players tried to avoid the hit and end up getting hurt worse than they would have just taking the check.

Of course he could have done a better job to absorb the hit, but I've got a couple issues with this. 1. Look at the play he's trying to make, a left handed shot spinning around to play the puck back the way he came, to the right. No shit he was turning. Ever heard the slogan "Take the hit to make the play"? I play D and have taken some nasty hits in this exact same off-balance position immediately after making a breakout pass or attempting to clear the puck, including breaking my collarbone in two places. 2. Look at the hit that Liambas tries to make. Where are his hands when he makes the hit? Look at his stick positioning, above the waist. Look at what makes contact, elbow to head. Bigger guy + more speed + off balance player + dirty hit = Trouble.

+1 on the issue of tightening the chin strap.

I have no problem with him making that play. The issue is turning when he did. And I disagree with the contact to the head. The initial point of contact is on the backside of the shoulder of Fanelli. At the point of contact Liambas arm is tucked in. It was a textbook shoulder check at that point in time. Its hard to tell if contact was ever made to the head by Liambas.

[chippa13 1844]

To all the folks who put some blame on Fianelli for turning, has Liambas been going for a shoulder hit then he not have caught him in the head due to the turn. Fianelli turned so his head, on a clean body check, should have been further away from the contact. This punk Liambas has a great future being a hero in some Canadian Senior League knocking guys out of work on a regular basis.

[KingPest19 0]

To all the folks who put some blame on Fianelli for turning, has Liambas been going for a shoulder hit then he not have caught him in the head due to the turn. Fianelli turned so his head, on a clean body check, should have been further away from the contact. This punk Liambas has a great future being a hero in some Canadian Senior League knocking guys out of work on a regular basis.

Except the fact that at contact it was Liambas shoulder to the back of Fanellis shoulder. The momentum is what carried them into the boards and his head hitting the partition.

[TopshelfDing 0]

Everytime I watch the clip it seems like Liambas carried the hit through with his elbow to the side of Fanelli's head.

No need for these types of vicious and uncalled for hits; there is a difference between physical play and this. Liambas deserves a crosscheck to the mouth for this type of BS.

[chippa13 1844]

To all the folks who put some blame on Fianelli for turning, has Liambas been going for a shoulder hit then he not have caught him in the head due to the turn. Fianelli turned so his head, on a clean body check, should have been further away from the contact. This punk Liambas has a great future being a hero in some Canadian Senior League knocking guys out of work on a regular basis.

Except the fact that at contact it was Liambas shoulder to the back of Fanellis shoulder. The momentum is what carried them into the boards and his head hitting the partition.

Would that momentum you're talking about be Liambas' hand squarely in the ear of Fanelli?

[KingPest19 0]

To all the folks who put some blame on Fianelli for turning, has Liambas been going for a shoulder hit then he not have caught him in the head due to the turn. Fianelli turned so his head, on a clean body check, should have been further away from the contact. This punk Liambas has a great future being a hero in some Canadian Senior League knocking guys out of work on a regular basis.

Except the fact that at contact it was Liambas shoulder to the back of Fanellis shoulder. The momentum is what carried them into the boards and his head hitting the partition.

Would that momentum you're talking about be Liambas' hand squarely in the ear of Fanelli?

Np the momentum of Fanelli turning back to the other way and getting hit in the back of the shoulder why he was spinning. Everyone keeps talking like he drilled his head into the boards with his elbow. Theres one frame where it looks like his elbow may be up but it also shows his elbow below Fanellis head and his helmet popped offf and his head hitting the partition.

[Chadd 916]

That hit happens ten times in every game, this is the "worst case" result. If the guy doesn't finish his check, the coach puts him on the bench. Unfortunate? Yes. Unnecessary? Yes. Worthy of a one year suspension? I just can't see that.

[adam14 182]

Another casse of the suspension being determined by the result and not the severity of the actual play.

[ddbowdoin 0]

the hit was definitely not clean, but the player turned his back into the hit... he's a young kid, and unfortunately something like that may not have happened with some more experience.

what happened to the kid sucks, big time... this is something that could sideline him for the rest of his career. but I can't jump on Liambas for the hit. Was it dirty yes, but he also turned into the hit. Sorry to say it but some players do their jobs

now this is a dirty hit...

[DarkStar50 679]

Branch's giving out a one year suspension sends a clear message to every player in the OHL about that kind of hit, whether or not the player turns around to face the wall.

[Chadd 916]

Branch's giving out a one year suspension sends a clear message to every player in the OHL about that kind of hit, whether or not the player turns around to face the wall.

Until the next time there is a hit like that without a severe injury we don't know if that is true.

[DarkStar50 679]

Branch's giving out a one year suspension sends a clear message to every player in the OHL about that kind of hit, whether or not the player turns around to face the wall.

Until the next time there is a hit like that without a severe injury we don't know if that is true.

I think Branch has accomplished his mission of getting the attention of OHL players regarding that type of hit.

"For those who think that the punishment was excessive for a player just finishing his check, Branch might counter that he believes what Liambas did was excessive, as he says he expressed in his conversation with Liambas (quoted by Ken Campbell on The Hockey News website) “I said to him, ‘O.K., Michael, you’ve been taught to finish your check. But then I said to him, ‘When your coach tells you to cover a guy, do you take a blanket out with you?’ What exactly does finish your check mean?”

For Branch, the injury suffered by Fanelli was a major factor in determining the suspension, and “OTR” host Michael Landsberg asks Branch if the injury had occurred from a clean hit, would he have ruled the same? Branch said no and that his on-ice officials ruled it was not a clean hit, that it was boarding and, because of the distance traveled, could also have been called charging. (A comment to an earlier post on this hit discussed the O.H.L. rules on the boarding aspect of the call). Branch also addressed the need for players to have a greater degree of respect for each other.

“The single largest lesson in all this is that you’ve got to build in a respect factor for your opposition,” Branch told Landsberg yesterday. “So slow down. There’s a way to finish your check, as they say, without traveling at a high rate of speed. … We’ve discussed before how in some people’s minds — certainly ours — respect has gone out of our game and we’ve got to somehow bring it back and raise the level of respect. It’s not out of our game completely, but it’s changed so much, the way we play our game and that’s I think one of the big things we have to take out of this.” "

[Jordan 13]

Okay, first let me say that I am on the fence with this one.

On one hand, I do think that he was finishing his check, and the biggest factor in the injury was the helmet coming off. I do also believe thatin today's game that type of hit has become common place.

Now for the other hand: I think calls for boarding and charging have generally gone the way of the doe-doe bird. These calls only seem to come out of the rule book when there is an extremely violent and injury creating or injury threatening hit. Years ago, even in the NHL these hits were rare.

Perhaps it is indeed a matter of respect; I get that, but I think it's that the arbitrary line where a hit is considered dangerous, has moved so far to the extreme that our perception of what is acceptable in the game has changed.

Watch classic hockey games from the 50's or 60's, even 70's and guys were barely checked behind the goal line. When they were were it was more of rubbing out, from the side, sliding along the boards. You never saw the extreme kind of hitting that you do now.

I think we need to enforce charging and boarding calls no matter how minor. That's how the game was designed. It is particularly important as the athletes have become bigger faster and stronger, and the speeds have gone to unbelievable levels.

Even the NFL realised that even though watching a quarterback get planted can be entertaining, that they had to protect the QB's or the game would deteriorate over all.

[Chadd 916]

Please make sure you link back to sources when quoting large portions of copy.

I think Branch makes my point for me when he admits that the injury was the reason for the suspension. Unless he starts suspending guys for similar hits that don't result in severe injury, it's just another case of suspending the guys that were unlucky enough to hit the wrong guy.

[DarkStar50 679]

The only unlucky guy here is Fanelli.

[hockeyfreak7 0]

^not true. if liambas throws this hit and fanelli's helmet doesnt come off then liambas would not have been suspended for the season.

thats the bottom line.

maybe he would have gotten 2 games for boarding...but if fanelli's skull wasnt fractured then the suspension would have been minimal if at all.

and that is a factor that liambas cant control. therefore..he was unlucky that fanelli's helmet had to come off.

[DarkStar50 679]

Who would you rather be right now, at this moment, Fanelli or Liambas?

Fanelli is still unlucky, Liambas is still stupid.

[furlanitalia 1]

Liambas' gm was on HC saying defending liambas. Said he has a 95% average in school, reads to kids over the summer and apparently is a really great guy. He tried to get down to the hospital that night but they wouldn't let anyone in. It's sad too see guys who are nice off ice become goons on ice, running around trying to hit everyone they see as hard as they can.

Branch is making it very clear you need to play with respect: the over agressive hits that are in danger zones need to stop.

[RecLeagueHero 0]

So Liambas is supposed to know, through the magical ESP that all hockey players have, than Fanelli isn't smart enough to properly secure his helmet strap? Maybe it is "victim blaming," but end of the day the guy chose a fashion statement over his own safety.

[DarkStar50 679]

Some of the nicest, greatest guys I know off the ice are the biggest a**holes on the ice pulling dirty crap and stupid sh*t. And this is in weekly pick-up with the same group of guys forever.

Off ice or on ice, your actions have consequences.

[Chadd 916]

Some of the nicest, greatest guys I know off the ice are the biggest a**holes on the ice pulling dirty crap and stupid sh*t. And this is in weekly pick-up with the same group of guys forever.

Off ice or on ice, your actions have consequences.

I agree with you completely on those statements. That said, this is something that happens a dozen times a game and this time something bad happened, resulting in an injury and a suspension. It is unfortunate and unlucky for both of them but, as you mention, only one guy required medical care.

[GSH13 0]

I'm not real familiar with Liambas or his style of play..Is he typical a pretty physical player. Not asking if hes a goon. Just if he is a big hitter/grinder type player.

I really believe that once a player is pegged as a certain role the pressure from coaches, scouts, and so on can influence some stupid decisions on the ice. I mean if a coach is really riding a guy to go out and put on the body, sometimes the pressure overrides other thoughts. Maybe not the case here. I don't know what the coach or player are like, but its just a thought. Wouldn't be the first time its been heard of.

Either way it just seems more like bad luck to me than anything. Liambas probably should have laid off last minute but thats a kind of hit that happens over and over without something like this happening. You hate to see a guy get hurt like that, but he didn't have that bucket snugged up, he knew there was a forechecker coming hard, and he turned last minute to try to make the play. Wasn't a smart move by either player and thats just a risk you take playing hockey.