February 18, 2004
Taking A Second Look At The Naslund Hit
With a lot of my friends from the Pacific Northwest ready to assault Downtown Denver with pitchforks and torches, I thought it might be a good idea to take a second look at the hit Colorado Avalanche center Steve Moore laid on Vancouver Canucks Captain Markus Naslund last night.
Luckily for me, I'd recorded the game last night on my TiVo, so it wasn't too tough to fast-forward to the end of the second period to watch the hit again. And then watch it in slow-mo. And then, super slow-mo. And then backwards.
After all that, I'm pretty sure I know what I saw:
With the Avalanche trying to break out of their own zone, Naslund tried to intercept the puck near the Colorado blue line along the left wing boards in front of the Vancouver bench. The puck caromed off the stick off the stick of the Colorado left wing (who I can't identify), who was obviously looking to re-direct the puck to Moore, who was skating up ice but curling toward the center ice faceoff circle.
Naslund managed to get in the way of the puck, but only enough to slow it down, not enough to control it. The puck caromed back toward center ice, with Naslund in pursuit.
Following the progress of the puck, Moore had skated straight up the red line, and arrived at the puck about a stride and a half before Naslund. Realizing he probably wouldn't be able to control the puck with Naslund nearby, Moore opted instead for a left handed sweep check to keep the puck out of Naslund's reach.
Trying to gather the puck, Naslund lunged for it, and an instant later Moore laid his shoulder into Naslund, sending him to the ice.
Watching it in either real time or slow-mo, it's amazing how innocuous the hit really looks. You don't really understand how hard Naslund was actually hit until he slumps to the ice.
As many times as I play it back, the hit always looks clean. And I haven't seen an angle yet that would indicate that Moore threw an elbow (though it may exist) -- while others beg to differ.
Could Moore have laid up, and just given Naslund a glancing blow? Perhaps, I counted a little more than a second between Moore's sweep check and the hit -- more than enough in hockey time to make such a decision. But such a call would have run the risk of having Naslund slip by him and regain control of the puck.
Moore said he was just finishing his check, and after watching the video, I have little reason to doubt his word. As for the rage felt by Vancouver fans, believe me, I understand better than you can know. But after watching the shot over and over again, I'm left wondering just how the league could legislate against hits like this one.
In any case, the league's top scorer will miss at least one week, and perhaps two. And in a league where entertainment can at times be in short supply, that's no good, whether or not the hit was clean.
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.ericmcerlain.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/2961
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Taking A Second Look At The Naslund Hit:
» About Retribution from CC NHL Weblog
In the comments to my post on the Markus Naslund injury, Ben Wright asks why no one on the Canucks went after Moore, either at the time or later. This question has popped up persistently on Talk Radio, too. May... [Read More]
Tracked on February 18, 2004 09:19 PM
Brad May and others have talked about what Moore has coming to him the next the Avs and Canucks play. My question is why didn't any Canuck players do anything at the time? The hit came in the second period and Moore played the rest of the game. If the hit was so vicious and such an outrage why didn't anyone stick up for the captain during the game?
Posted by:
at February 18, 2004 11:20 AM
So the Canucks want the league to accord superstars special treatment. Somehow, I don't expect they'll be consistent about this demand if and when one of their guys takes a run at Forsberg or Sakic in the rematch.
Needless to say, I'm not impressed at all with Vancouver's reaction. Naslund had his head down, and he got blasted for it. At the risk of sounding like Don Cherry, that used to be a "teachable moment" for young players -- i.e. keep your head up, so you're aware of what's going on around you. Else you get hurt.
Posted by:
at February 18, 2004 05:00 PM
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in,
.
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)
12:01 AM