Vegas’s Zach Whitecloud Hit on Toronto’s Matthew Knies Was Textbook

The Hit By Zach Whitecloud is Not That Controversial

Depending on who’s side you are on, we will get to the hockey world’s take on social media in a minute. This is a textbook clean body check. Everyone says that Knies’s head is the main point of contact. It is not. The main point of contact is Knies’s right shoulder and right arm. Zach Whitecloud follows through the body.  In addition, Whitecloud does not leave his feet to make the hit. Unfortunately, Knies left the game.

Is this a double standard based on what happened Saturday night with Ryan Reaves of the Maple Leafs and Darnell Nurse of the Edmonton Oilers? Nope, it is not. Reaves’s main point of contact is the Nurse’s head. While Reaves tried to make contact with the body, he missed. Ryan Reaves paid the price and was handed a five-game suspension from the Department of Player Safety.

The officials on the ice reviewed the hit, and the situation room determined it was a clean body hit. Thus, the result is no supplementary discipline. And by the letter of the law and the rulebook, this is a good hit. This is a reminder that hockey is a physical sport, and the results can be bad if you do not protect yourself.

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It is a reminder that it is easy to rely on clips on Social Media to make a point. Tim Peel and Dave Jackson told Full Press Hockey that the situation room was there to assist the officials. In addition, the freeze frame and slow motion are good pieces of the pie, but not the whole pie. And everyone on social media uses the free frame to make a point.

While most know the rulebook, fans and even those who work in the game need to educate themselves on the rules even more by reading the rulebook and watching what is on NHL.com to understand better what is being called.

Social Media Takes Sides

Again, depending on which side you are on, it was either a clean hit, or it shouldn’t have been a penalty and suspension.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the hit by Zach Whitecloud on Matthew Knies.