NHL

Tom Kostopoulos Mugs Mike Van Ryn

Posted Nov 09, 2008 1:15PM By Eric McErlain (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Canadiens, Maple Leafs, NHL Injuries, NHL Videos

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When you talk about cheap hits in ice hockey, it's hard to find a hit more gutless than running a helpless opponent into the boards from behind. Your opponent is essentially helpless, more or less at a full stop and unable to brace himself against any impact.

When you see such a hit, it can stick with you for a very long time. Last season, it was hard not to notice how many Pittsburgh Penguins fans fell to their knees praising Gary Roberts and his hard nosed style of play.

But for me, all I could remember was the vicious hit Roberts delivered from behind to a helpless Kenny Jonsson in a 2002 playoff series between the Maple Leafs and the Islanders -- a hit that sent Jonsson to the press box for the rest of the series and eventually led him to conclude that the NHL was hazardous to his health.

In marked contrast to the hit that Doug Weight delivered to Brandon Sutter a few weeks ago, a hit from behind is all too easy to judge -- much like the hit that Tom Kostopoulos of the Montreal Canadiens delivered to Mike Van Ryn (pictured at right) of the Toronto Maple Leafs last night at Air Canada Centre. The video is after the jump.



Here's Tim Wharnsby from The Globe and Mail:
Mike Van Ryn was hospitalized overnight with a concussion, a gash on his forehead, a broken nose and a broken left pinky after being rammed into the end boards by Montreal Canadiens forward Tom Kostopoulos in the first period on Saturday evening.

Toronto coach Ron Wilson predicted the Leafs blueliner will be lost for at least a month and the National Hockey League will review the incident to see if the play warrants any suspension for Kostopoulos. He was given a five-minute boarding major and subsequent game misconduct for his hit from behind that knocked out Van Ryn.

Leafs defenceman Pavel Kubina wants to see Kostopolous recieve a lengthy suspension.

"I thought it was a dirty hit from behind," said Kubina, who scored a goal in Toronto's 6-3 victory. "It shouldn't happen and there should be a big suspension. We all need to respect each other out there.

I don't have any doubt that Kostopoulos will get a hefty fine -- after all, the hit was delivered to a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs (rather than being the team that was dishing out the punishment during the "Maple Thugs" era) and was broadcast nationwide North of the border on Hockey Night in Canada. Of course, if you manage to do your dirty work during a game that's carried nowhere other than local cable outlets in the American Rockies and the Upper Midwest, then you'll probably get a free pass.

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