It's not often that preseason games provide anything newsworthy, but Thursday night's meeting between the New York Islanders and Calgary Flames has proven to be the exception.Just over five minutes into the second period, Islanders forward Kyle Okposo carried the puck through the neutral zone and was on the receiving end of a devastating hit from Calgary defenseman Dion Phaneuf.
A skirmish ensued, nearly involving both goaltenders, while Okposo remained on the ice. He was eventually taken off on a stretcher. Video after the jump.
RDS has the complete video of the incident on its website.
What do you think, hockey fans? Clean or dirty?
UPDATE: Botta mentions at Islanders Point Blank that Flames radio reported Okposo phoned his dad to let him know that he's OK. Certainly good news.
"Islanders announce that Okposo has been diagnosed with a mild concussion. He has been cleared to travel with the team back to Saskatoon." [Botta on Twitter]
(H/T HF Boards for getting video so fast)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
9-17-2009 @ 11:51PM
Justin said...
As an Isles fan, it looked like a clean hit. Maybe a little too eager for the pre-season, but clean nonetheless. KO was just skating with his head done. Only thing i cant tell is if Phaneuf lead with his elbow but it looked clean to me.
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9-18-2009 @ 9:33AM
twistoffate29 said...
Either way Phaneuf is still getting Sean Avery's sloppy seconds.
9-19-2009 @ 4:14PM
Hugh said...
Skating with his head down! Who does he think he is, Eric Lindros?
9-18-2009 @ 12:11AM
batt said...
Dirty
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9-18-2009 @ 1:12AM
sillylimey said...
It looks like the backchecker getting a piece of him put him off-balance and may have resulted in a lot of the damage.
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9-18-2009 @ 12:31PM
wickedliljade32 said...
That looks like exactly what happened to me. The backchecker took KO briefly off balance, putting him in a much more vulnerable position. Not a good hit IMO whether dirty or not, intentional or not.
9-18-2009 @ 12:33AM
JKP said...
Dirty, dirty, dirty.
He left his feet and led with the elbow, If it wasn't an elbow to the head it was a shoulder to the head.
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9-18-2009 @ 12:42AM
jnr said...
clean hit
okposo's looking at the puck in his feet, if you look you can see the puck sitting right on the tip of the top flame of the c at center ice, right where okposo last touched it before getting clocked.
what's phaneuf supposed to hit him with, crouch and explode through with his bicep or stand up and take him with the hip? any which way, the kid got destroyed for staring at the puck stuck in his skates
9-18-2009 @ 12:51AM
Joey Lindstrom said...
Left his feet? Wow, I guess it really is true that diehard fans see only what they want to see. That was a *CLEAN* hit. There's a reason why no penalty was called. Okposo - who I hope is OK - made a boneheaded mistake and paid the price for it. That, my friend, is hockey. Deal with it.
9-18-2009 @ 1:54AM
JKP said...
If you don't see Phaneuf leaving his feet, maybe you should buy some die hard glasses yourself.
Shoulder to shoulder is clean; shoulder to head is dirty, especially by today's standards.
Obviously you have to keep your head up. That Okposo put himself in a bad position doesn't magically make the hit clean.
9-18-2009 @ 8:47AM
dpk0327 said...
Yeah and you missed the spinning karate kick too.
Clean hit, lets not pussify hockey. Skate with your head up. It's meant to be a physical game.
9-18-2009 @ 10:14AM
George McBain said...
Have to agree with JKP. Leading with elbow and intent on leaving the feet before the hit. This was unnecessary in the preseason.
9-19-2009 @ 9:08AM
Janice said...
With Dion Pheneuf, there will always be a disparity in where there other player is hit. He is 6 foot 9 if I remember right. That would atomatically make his shoulder at the other players head height.
9-18-2009 @ 1:06AM
demps4 said...
Clean hit wrong time of the year for it. We also dont know what happened before this to lead up to that hit. A hit like that is usually retaliation for something earlier. I might have missed a game but I only saw them playing once in the regular season and thats in March so I guess we will find out then.
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9-18-2009 @ 1:09AM
M.DONOSO said...
KEEP YOUR HEAD UP!!!!
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9-18-2009 @ 2:00AM
obcchef said...
thats fine dirty and sutter behind it....wait till the next game and hope phaneuf sits...cause he's got a bullseye on his back now
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9-18-2009 @ 2:07AM
ariel said...
ok, as an isles fan also, phaneuf didnt leave his feet. on impact he got jolted and he went up in the air. it SUCKS that KO was staring into his skates, but phaneuf rocked him clean and legit. i just hope KO is ok to start the season
9-18-2009 @ 2:11AM
jalphonso2 said...
I think that just because your head is down doesn't give someone a green light to hit you in the head even if its a shoulder. Hockey needs to change the rules a bit to protect the players from concussions
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9-18-2009 @ 2:37AM
islesfan1989 said...
clean or not, there's no place for a hit that hard when a player is off balance IN THE PRESEASON. These games mean nothing, so clean or not, there's no reason for Phaneuf to hit Okposo when he was in a vulnerable position like that. Okposo didn't see him coming, b/c he was shoved by the other Flame. Phaneuf saw this and still led with his elbow.
Maybe in the postseason we can call this hockey. But before the season even starts? Remember, the Isles had just scored to make it 3-1. Is it really worth shifting the momentum in a meaningless game to take out the opposing team's best player and leave him unconscious?
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9-18-2009 @ 3:35AM
Kris said...
Ok Kings fan here. He only left feet on follow through. The hit from behind however was dirty and led to that being as bad as it was. Just my opinion and I have been drinking. NHL needs to look at it tho.
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