It was the right bicep as Pierre states that makes the contact. He actually kept his elbow tucked in before and during the hit. It was only afterwards that the elbow extends out a little bit.

Letang was reaching, therefore putting himself in a vulnerable position, just prior to the hit to chip the puck past or obtain puck possession which makes it fair for Nystrom to try and take him out of the play with a hit. He does get him in the head but the onus was on Letang to not put himself in that vulnerable position. Shouldn't be a suspension in my eyes.

He reached to the puck head low with Nystrom coming at him. There's a lot smarter ways to play that situation. Coach Bylsma agreed with me.

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Well that being the case the onus should've been on Nystrom to play the puck not the man. Letang did not have the reach necessary to maintain puck control so he poke checked it. I've seen this play many times and the oncoming player let's up to play the puck. Suspension worthy or not it's still garbage.

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Yeah I agree it's not pretty, but it is within the rules IMO. It's interesting to think of the play if Letang didn't lean and reach for the puck. Then Nystrom probably hits him still, without a headshot, but then he probably gets called for interference since Letang isn't making a play for the puck.

I understand you guys saying he's putting himself in a vulnerable position, and that he's fair game for a hit because he's playing the puck. But how does that get Nystrom off the hook... if he was going for a hit, shouldn't he be playing center-mass on Letang? The only part of Letang he could even reacah to make contact was his head.... If he wanted to hit him, he should have lined him up properly, instead of making contact with the ONLY part of Letang's body available - his head.

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I guess my best response would be that it comes down to timing. Nystrom commits to the hit at the same time Letang starts to reach for the puck. So depending on if Shanahan views there was enough time for Nystrom to pull back from the hit then maybe there is an argument there. You have a good point though, there wasn't really much of anything else available to hit when the hit occurred.

Edit: Sorry if this discussion on the hit is frustrating people wanting to know if there are injury updates on the status of Letang.

I will comment on this post as the "other Letang post" is gaining too much momentum

Just watched highlights on TSN..even some of the panelist are calling it a clean hit. After viewing and reviewing it, it did look like a clean shoulder to upper body hit.

My initial reaction as well, was that there was no intent to target the head. Then again, you dont need to be hit on the head to suffer another concussion.

*Deep sigh* Hope Letang recovers from this one. This is bad for the game. Sick and tired of these head injuries.

Anxious to see how Shanahan rules this one.

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i just want to know if i should pick up Niskanen....again.....like i did th elast time Letang got, well you know (refuse to say it).

but the discussion is good. its always interesting to see how different people view these types of things. i am on the side of they are both at fault in one way or another. i think Nystrom should have played the puck, but he is a hit first player (as was reported just following the play). i also think players reaching for pucks in a manner that lowers ones head should think twice. but uits easy for me to say that on my couch watching. been a long time since i played and when i did i was safe in my crease with all those pads.

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Looked dirty to me... the elbow drifts out just before the hit... not flying elbow territory, but it was extended to make the hit. Letang was leaning down when the hit started, I don't buy the 'sudden change' argument as it wasn't that sudden.

Meh, don't like it at all... the arm was in by his body and he moved it back out to make contact... and the only contact would be to Letang's head. I'd say sloppy more than malicious, but dangerous nonetheless.

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I was wrong. My initial take was that this was a predatory shot to the head. After watching it again a few times, it does not deserve a suspension.

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