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Video: Kris Letang gets hit by Dallas Stars Eric Nystrom

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ByDoug MacRay

Feb 29, 2012

Eric Nystrom hits Kris Letang in the head. Mike Milbury thinks he will get a five game suspension. Eddy Olczyk thinks he won’t be suspended at all.

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102 thoughts on “Video: Kris Letang gets hit by Dallas Stars Eric Nystrom”
  1. He was trying to poke the puck around the guy and go and get it to make a play, I’m pretty sure that he was trying to avoid the hit so he could go and make a play, not because he was scared. By the way, can you not see? Nystrom’s right bicep, as they said, hits Tanger right in the face. It wasn’t intentional and it probably shouldn’t have been a penalty, but your comment is uneducated and stupid.

  2. letangs an idiot i guess if a guys flying around like that right at you hes going for the puck and not the body so just stretch yourself out there for a bit

  3. letangs an idiot i guess if a guys flying around like that right at you hes going for the puck and not the body so just stretch yourself out there for a bit

  4. fuck your asshole. im gonna right hook you so hard your brain ejects out of your ear and then im gonna spit on your tears and tell you to quit being a pussy and take a hit. k. bye. you suck. you never took a hit that hard, guarantee.

  5. @juzu4meisahomo fuck your asshole. im gonna right hook you so hard your brain ejects out of your ear and then im gonna spit on your tears and tell you to quit being a pussy and take a hit. k. bye. you suck. you never took a hit that hard, guarantee.

  6. @juzu4meisahomo, you’re the real pussy, how about you try coming back from a concussion and getting hit like that, I bet you’d cry like a LITTLE BITCH

  7. If you don’t think this is a hit to the face, or that this is not suspendable, then this message should be written in Braille, cause you’re blind!

  8. Letang avoided the hit like a pussy and got hit with a clean shoulder to shoulder hit so what are you talking about?

  9. Letang avoided the hit like a pussy and got hit with a clean shoulder to shoulder hit so what are you talking about?

  10. @ThePensBurgh Letang avoided the hit like a pussy and got hit with a clean shoulder to shoulder hit so what are you talking about?

  11. Depending on each case, 1-2 games still could be given as a warning, but what I meant was for the bigger case, especially when the head is the principal point of contact, plays like Mike Richards hit on David Booth, Mike Richards attempt at spearing Tyler Myers face, Patrik Kaleta Headbutts, stuff you shouldn’t see in the game, even if the player avoid it, if a player attempt to do nasty stuff he should get suspended.

  12. @breathingreflection Depending on each case, 1-2 games still could be given as a warning, but what I meant was for the bigger case, especially when the head is the principal point of contact, plays like Mike Richards hit on David Booth, Mike Richards attempt at spearing Tyler Myers face, Patrik Kaleta Headbutts, stuff you shouldn’t see in the game, even if the player avoid it, if a player attempt to do nasty stuff he should get suspended.

  13. The true problem is the change in equipment that has been made to shoulder pads. These hits were not a problem years ago. In the OLD days shoulder pads were very simple padding, now they are made out of a hard plastic material. If the NHL does not want to return to the simpler padding of years ago then all players should be required to wear full head gear ie metal face masks that protect the players chin, face, and temple areas. The other option is to play falg hockey!

  14. letangs head never changed elevation after he poked the puck… nystrom leaned towards letangs head ontead on playing the puck.. it was dirty in my opinion

  15. @220891nb letangs head never changed elevation after he poked the puck… nystrom leaned towards letangs head ontead on playing the puck.. it was dirty in my opinion

  16. steckles hit on sid was bullshit.. it was intentional… and for this one… nystrom leaned towards letangs head. it was dirty

  17. @penguins2946 steckles hit on sid was bullshit.. it was intentional… and for this one… nystrom leaned towards letangs head. it was dirty

  18. Or, in some more blatant cases, start at 10 games anyway–this will show that this kind of play will NOT be tolerated. I wonder if this will come up in the next CBA talks–if it does, the NHLPA will certainly not support it, though they really should if they’re actually concerned about player safety.

  19. @Kandor69 Or, in some more blatant cases, start at 10 games anyway–this will show that this kind of play will NOT be tolerated. I wonder if this will come up in the next CBA talks–if it does, the NHLPA will certainly not support it, though they really should if they’re actually concerned about player safety.

  20. Btw, Milbury is a total fucking clown and I hope he gets fired. I’m tired of his bullshit bigoted commentary and violent antics. It’s like he’s trying to be Don Cherry…who himself actually IS a clown, just look at his wardrobe and the content of his material. Only Milbury is actually dangerous. NESN seems to have distanced itself from him, and I’m glad.

  21. Yeah, I think for the actual dirty hits (unlike the one above, which wasn’t dirty), the consequences should be MUCH higher. There’s a reason that Cooke has been a schoolboy this year–the league and/or his own team got to him and basically told him that if he does anything this year he’s done. I wish I had been a fly on the wall for that meeting. I favor much harsher punishment for dirty players myself–start maybe at 10 games for the first hit by a serial offender, then increase.

  22. @Kandor69 Yeah, I think for the actual dirty hits (unlike the one above, which wasn’t dirty), the consequences should be MUCH higher. There’s a reason that Cooke has been a schoolboy this year–the league and/or his own team got to him and basically told him that if he does anything this year he’s done. I wish I had been a fly on the wall for that meeting. I favor much harsher punishment for dirty players myself–start maybe at 10 games for the first hit by a serial offender, then increase.

  23. I agree, it will take some excitement out of the game, but for the players safety, plus I think the players skills might get more attention, if you take out those hit out of the game. I think what Shanahan’s doing is good, I’m not saying he’s always right though, the only thing is I think the suspensions are too soft, instead of giving 2-5 games they should give 8-20 games, players would be more aware and may try to avoid contact in some situations…

  24. @breathingreflection I agree, it will take some excitement out of the game, but for the players safety, plus I think the players skills might get more attention, if you take out those hit out of the game. I think what Shanahan’s doing is good, I’m not saying he’s always right though, the only thing is I think the suspensions are too soft, instead of giving 2-5 games they should give 8-20 games, players would be more aware and may try to avoid contact in some situations…

  25. Okay it is letang’s fault that he tried to avoid a hit and he accidentally got clipped on the chin? Its really neither of their faults, it was accidental, just like the steckle hit on crosby. But nystrom should have been more aware of his hits and not to hit in the head

  26. I think that Nystrom got a fair initial penalty for his hit on Letang and as for a suspension he should get at least 2 games if not more since I’ve seen players get fines and suspensions for doing far less. I know people say the Letang’s head was down and yes I agree that he made himself vulnerable by going for the puck but at the same time the initiator of the hit has a responsibility too. He has the choice to play the puck or the player or try to avoid contact, thus if a hit goes wrong, as this one did, the initiator of the hit should bare the consequences of his actions especially since you can see that Nystrom avoids playing the puck when he lifts up his stick away from it and continued to skate toward the player. Each player in a hit like this bears an equal responsibility for the hit and Letang paid his price by being knocked out of the game and maybe more so Nystrom needs to pay his just due too. Bottom line is if you don’t want to take a chance of a penalty, fine, or suspension play the puck not the player and try to win by shooting goals not by knocking players senseless

  27. imo this is just an unfortunate hit/incidence. I mean Nystrom did hit Letang on his chin, but to me it looked like he was just targeting the chest but as Letang reached for the puck he puck himself in a bad position. If there is be to a suspension i say 2-3 games at most…..just my opinion here of course.

  28. I normally agree with Roenick but not this time because it was not his chest that got hit. I don’t know Nystroms intentions, but I do know that obviously he wasn’t coming down to make a play/battle for the puck.He knew what he was doing. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was trying to take him out because he knew it was gonna be a long night battling with Kris.Where is the consistency with the NHL? This makes no sense. If this was Cooke, he would have been out for sure.

  29. @letang58tangers I normally agree with Roenick but not this time because it was not his chest that got hit. I don’t know Nystroms intentions, but I do know that obviously he wasn’t coming down to make a play/battle for the puck.He knew what he was doing. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was trying to take him out because he knew it was gonna be a long night battling with Kris.Where is the consistency with the NHL? This makes no sense. If this was Cooke, he would have been out for sure.

  30. @letang58tangers YES PLAYING THE F’N PUCK (which I thought in the game of hockey, that’s what you’re intended to do) Nystrom had no intention to play the puck. He drove 200 feet just to make a hit (which is fine if it’s clean) Once he seen Letang reach down for the puck, he should have eased up a little. He knew damn right that he was gonna hit him square in the head.

  31. I normally agree with Roenick but not this time because it was not his chest that got hit. I don’t know Nystroms intentions, but I do know that obviously he wasn’t coming down to make a play/battle for the puck. He knew what he was doing. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was trying to take him out because he knew it was gonna be a long night battling with Kris.

  32. YES PLAYING THE F’N PUCK (which I thought in the game of hockey, that’s what you’re intended to do) Nystrom had no intention to play the puck. He drove 200 feet just to make a hit (which is fine if it’s clean) Once he seen Letang reach down for the puck, he should have eased up a little. He knew damn right that he was gonna hit him square in the head.

  33. The NHL is absolutely ridiculous. If you watch this closely, Letang got hit in the face (chin mainly) by Nystroms right bicep and elbow. No he didn’t extend his arm, but he didn’t have to because Letang was playing the puck.

  34. Nystrom could have tried to play the puck rather than go straight at Letangs face. Probably what Letang thought Nystrom would do since they were playing hockey. I’m so damn sick of good players being concussed.

  35. @jordanhill493 it wouldn’t have happened if Letang hadnt tried to jump out of the way at the last minute. its not like Nystrom extended his arm to plant an elbow on his head. this is totally letangs fault. if he had just kept riding the boards he still woulda been hit but it wouldnt have been nearly this bad.

  36. @jordanhill493 no way. Letang put himself in that position by trying to jump out of the way. He still woulda gotten trucked but it wouldnt have been this bad. Letang made the poor decision of trying to jump around at the last minute. totally on him

  37. fucking douche bag he may of put himself in a vulnerable spot by any shot to the heads is cheap. It’s especially worstr because Letang already had an cocussion. like cmon and if ur gonna do that quit. those are the kind of reason they took hitting out of some league dumb shit like that

  38. You could argue it both ways here, you could say that Letang placed himself in a vulnerable position by trying to poke the puck around, thus leaning forward. But you could also argue somewhere around :36 or :37 that (if you look closely) it kind of looks like Nystrom put his elbow/bicep right into Letang’s face. I can understand why no disciplinary action was taken. However, whether there was intent to injure on this play or not, hits like these can turn out very dangerous.

  39. @lovedreamhope21 Ok I’m a Pens fan and I agree this wasn’t a dirty hit, just an unfortunate situation, but are you really still on the Cooke shit? Way to stay in the past douche bag

  40. @Kandor69 That would take a lot of the excitement out of the game. It’s a fine line that the NFL is trying (and failing) to walk. My biggest issue is that Shanny blatantly factors in injuries into his suspensions, and I think this is WRONG. I don’t agree with waiting until somebody gets REALLY hurt in order to suspend. If the hit’s dirty, it’s dirty, and punish it as such even if the player got up and skated away after.

  41. Guys have been suspended for not moving their entire arm, while other were not suspended when they moved their arm. Suspension really comes down to Nystrom’s relationship with Shanahan, not anything with the hit. Shanahan will probably say no suspension because Letang toepicked and drove his own head into Nystrom’s elbow.

  42. fine dont suspend him or be upset but next time cooke knocks someone out I don’t want to see people up in arms, we can’t let all our stars keep getting knocked out with concussions

  43. Hard to say there was intent there. Nystrom did nail Letang in the head (face) with his forearm but he didn’t seem to extend his elbow out to hit him. I doubt Letang knew Nystrom was coming as it looked like he was focused on the puck. His head definitely was down and as we all saw last year with the Raffi Torres hit on Brent Seabrooke in the playoffs, it’s always a good idea to keep your head up coming from behind the net. This is a hard one to call, it could go either way.

  44. It’s hatrd to take anything Milbury says seriously. Remember this clown went into the crowd and beat a guy with a shoe. Honestly, who uses a shoe??

  45. @LordAkaneon Fair enough. But hang on, you just said and i quote ‘his elbow and bicep are right UNDER letangs chin’ now you are saying you want to ‘lift my elbow into your face’? which is it…. right below the chin or lifting onto the face?

  46. @jebusthefirst To make it fair, I’ll sit down in the corner for 2 minutes after I jaw you, and you can deal with your concussion on your own time. Pretty fair right? Now just come over here so I can bust your head wide open.

  47. @lovedreamhope21 Totally agree with you on that one.Also is not partly Letangs problem? A. for not being wholly committed and B. for not preparing himself for a hit close to the glass?

  48. Notice also that Nystrom doesn’t lead with his shoulder – he tucks his shoulder in. At :45 his elbow and bicep are right under Letang’s chin

  49. 1. Point of impact is Nystrom’s right elbow to Kris Letang’s face/head 0:28. 2. Letang was injured on the play (probably aggravated the concussion he suffered earlier this year) 3. A Roughing minor was assessed to Nystrom 4. Nystrom was suspended for 2 games on April 17, 2011 for a similar hit.

  50. Sorry losers. Nystrom never left his feet, elbow never came up, wasn’t blindside. Letang had the puck and his head was down. Clean check. No suspension, shouldn’t have even been a penalty and Milbury is atill an idiot.

  51. Checking from behing is illegal, because the player is vulnerable, and by getting hit from behing he could go head 1st in the board, so it makes it dangerous, and when you hit a player on his chest, anything could happen, the player could try to make a pass or loose the puck and try to get it back (head down), shoot the puck (like the Pacioretty / Letang incident), or just be smaller then the hitter, and still get the shoulder on the chin, so I believe it makes it a dangerous hit…

  52. @breathingreflection Thats what I meant by extend his body, that he leans when he poke away the puck. We see too much damage (injuries) done this way, I think the NHL should redefine what is a legal hit and what is an illegal hit, I think there’s already some progress, but there’s always room for improvement. The best way I see to avoid more head injuries, would to only allow shoulder to shoulder hits…

  53. First off the hit is clean no ifs ands or buts about it.Second Pittsburg is the LAST team that should complain about head hits considering they pay/play the dirtiest player in the league, Matt Cooke.Lastly the NUMBER ONE rule in hockey is to KEEP YOUR FREAKIN HEAD UP!! if you don’t that’s your fault.

  54. @Kandor69 I agree. The head was not targeted. Principle point of contact was the chest. Letang leaned forward and made himself vulnerable. If Shanahan suspends Nystrom I’ll surely have no clue as to how he’ll interpret Rule 48 next–it seems to vary way too much.

  55. I think he will get away with it, this is very similar to the Malone Campoli incident in the beginning of the year, as Letang extended his body to reach the puck, just prior to the hit.I believe Shanahan will say something like: he (Letang) put himself in a vulnerable position just prior to contact, by extending his body…

  56. Eddie wouldn’t side with the Pens team if his life depended on it. He hasn’t liked them since they fired him as coach. Eric Nystrom should indeed get five games imo. It is no different than other hits which have earned five this season.

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