The Florida Panthers David Booth can’t catch a break. First it was a solid, and controversial hit by the Flyers Mike Richards that put him out with a concussion.
Now having recovered, he again gets caught Thursday night with his head down and takes a thunderous hit from the Canadiens Jaroslav Spacek.
There is question that contact is made to Booth’s jaw, but it only seems to appear that way from one angle.
The hit appears square to the chest and I suspect that his head snapping back, or Booth trying to pull back last second, gives that impression. Panthers fans say it was on the jaw and even the Canadian Press issued it as a shoulder-to-head hit.
You decide:
After the game, Panthers coach Peter DeBoer, GM Randy Sexton and Panthers teammates all felt that it was a clean hit.
Ironic though that it happens on the night that the NHL’s new hit-to-head ruling goes into effect.
According to Sexton, Booth was examined by Canadiens doctors and was deemed alert, attentive and moving around. He was checked out at a loal hospital and is expected to travel with the team to Ottawa on Friday morning.
Hopefully he just got the wind knocked out of him. If any concussion-like symptoms occur however, it would not be surprising that his season is done.
Posts
1 comment:
Always hard to watch a guy get knocked like that.... especially when it was Booth.
But Spacek's hit was definitely a clean one.
It's quite a line that the NHL are and will try to dance with.... how to protect the players while keeping the physicality in the game.
Sometimes, guys are just going to get hurt.
Post a Comment