Brendan Witt Destroys Niklas Hagman With Vicious Elbow

At the 2:21 mark of the third period during Thursday's Islanders-Maple Leafs game, Brendan Witt delivered a vicious elbow to the head of Toronto's Niklas Hagman.

It's obvious that Hagman had absolutely no idea where he was following the hit, as he stumbled off the ice in a rather scary manner. Witt received a five-minute major, as well as a 10-minute game misconduct for elbowing.

The question now becomes, how will the NHL's discipline czar, Colin Campbell, react to the hit?

The standard suspension for elbows to the head this season seems to range from two-to-five games, though there never seems to be any sort of consistency with these things. Of course, no matter how long the inevitable suspension is, it still won't be as severe as the one Witt would have received had he told an off-color joke about Hagman and his girlfriend.

During the five-minute power play following the hit, Sean Bergenheim scored a shorthanded goal for the Islanders, while Pavel Kubina later added a power play goal for Toronto.

The Maple Leafs ended up winning the game, 5-4, in a shootout.

(H/T HFBoards for the video)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

2-27-2009 @ 12:27AM

TMC said...

Thats the thing with the Internet... people get all hysterical and reactionary and they drama-queen out as much as possible.

Your title is a perfect example of that.

"Brendan Witt Destroys Niklas Hagman With Vicious Elbow"

Destroys? WTF does that mean?

Vicious? That word requires INTENT- and Witt didnt INTEND to elbow the guy. If you just called it an elbow then youd be reporting the facts. Even if you called it "careless" then Id agree... but "visious" is frickin ridiculous.

I Agree that he should get fined and even suspended a game or two because you need to be more careful. But to throw intention on a guy who was playing without a stick who leaned AWAY from the other player is nothing but dramaqueen BS. Sorry.

2-27-2009 @ 2:44AM

rwing said...

Looked like a REAL CHEAP SHOT to me. The commentators were right in their remarks...what is this guy doing??? This is an example of THE KIND OF DIRT-BAGS WE DON'T NEED in the league. Don't have a clue what TMC was looking at. A VICIOUS BLOW to the head it was...seems he went out of his way to clobber him. May Colin Campbell dish out a GOOD SUSPENSION on this one...maybe for the REST OF THE SEASON!!!!! Witt is totally WITLESS on this one. Get well Nicklas!!!

2-27-2009 @ 11:21AM

Hello Larry !!!! said...

looked pretty cheap and intentional which is out of character...he should sit as long as it takes for Hagman to get back plus one...

2-27-2009 @ 3:38PM

kfogs1957 said...

Brendan Witt pulled a stunt the night before against Pittsburgh as well. Jordan Stahl was prone on the ice after a whistle and Witt was bending down tring to cross check him, then he was yapping at Stahl. I know it's tough being an Islander, but let's npt go the Chris Simon route Brendan. Plating tough is one thing most Hockey fans love, but two nights in a row this one dimensional player made himself look like a fool.