One of the things about this incident that is bothering me is how many people are saying that Evans was in a "vulnerable position". This may be true but no one has delved deeper to mention why/how he got into a "vulnerable postion". The answer to that is as clear as how devastatiing that hit was and that is, "Evans knowingly and willingly put himself in that position" all of which could of been avoided if he didn't erroneously think that someone might not try and stop him from putting the puck into an empty net.

With all that said, I think it was a devastating hit, but was charging for which he was penalized. Other than that no head shot, no intent to injure (intent to stop yes but that is far from injure), no launching himself at the opponent.

Will he get suspended; likely, but based on his history and unless they find hidden sea scrolls that uncover where a suspension for this warranted it should be no more than 1 game.
- tornado24

So players shouldn't try to score goals now? Cuz that's what he was doing

Unfortunately a real person was hurt. So that's why the outrage. We are judging the result not the intent.

If a player gets up and skates away, no outrage.
Was it excessive? Sure. Was it dirty? No. Charging Yeah, I'll agree to that.

Lets stop looking at the results and look at the intent.
No head contact check
Didn't leave his feet check
Was it a hockey play or intent to "teach a lesson"? Hockey play, prevent a goal.
- 50 Mission Cap

Intent doesn't matter.

What he meant to do is irrelevant. What he did should be punished.

And why should he be suspended? Dirty hit.... thats an opinion seeing as the hit is clean. Who cares if its uncalled for or not necessary... this is hockey. Same hit during the game is a huge hit. And Shea Weber playing good guy... lol... lets refresh his playoff smashing of Zetterburgs head to the glass breaking his helmet... give me a break... Edmunson, hmmmm.... classy guy in St. Louis, well behaved in public...but once again playing the saint.... this isnt even worth weighing as suspension worthy... hate to here the crying if Scott Stevens was playing today.... and comparing this to Kadri, please..

In this case I think intent and act matched. Goal was scored- it was after the play ended ... dirty hit. End of story.

I understand the desire for an eye catching headline, but this is silly. We could continue to argue whether or not this hit is within the rules, but he didn't leave his feet before impact. The nhl player safety department is a clown show, I'm not sure that anyone disagrees.
The nhl should just get rid of hitting and start playing Flag hockey. Blaming Schief for hustling back and taking the body when a player had the puck a split second before is absurd. Why not just let the kid keep his head down and score and take the heat for being lazy and allowing the goal?
It was a heavy hit, initial impact wasn't to the head. The player also didn't protect himself. This isn't all on Mark, Evans could have taken the puck into the corner instead but he wanted to be a hero.
I didn't want to see anyone injured, but letting him take the goal because he's in a bad position? thats not hockey either. Figure it out, no suspension needed.
Mike Commodore said it best, have a look at his twitter.

I understand the desire for an eye catching headline, but this is silly. We could continue to argue whether or not this hit is within the rules, but he didn't leave his feet before impact. The nhl player safety department is a clown show, I'm not sure that anyone disagrees.
The nhl should just get rid of hitting and start playing Flag hockey. Blaming Schief for hustling back and taking the body when a player had the puck a split second before is absurd. Why not just let the kid keep his head down and score and take the heat for being lazy and allowing the goal?
It was a heavy hit, initial impact wasn't to the head. The player also didn't protect himself. This isn't all on Mark, Evans could have taken the puck into the corner instead but he wanted to be a hero.
I didn't want to see anyone injured, but letting him take the goal because he's in a bad position? thats not hockey either. Figure it out, no suspension needed.
Mike Commodore said it best, have a look at his twitter.
- JetsAvs

Go see Barnaby's twitter while you're at it.

And why should he be suspended? Dirty hit.... thats an opinion seeing as the hit is clean. Who cares if its uncalled for or not necessary... this is hockey. Same hit during the game is a huge hit. And Shea Weber playing good guy... lol... lets refresh his playoff smashing of Zetterburgs head to the glass breaking his helmet... give me a break... Edmunson, hmmmm.... classy guy in St. Louis, well behaved in public...but once again playing the saint.... this isnt even worth weighing as suspension worthy... hate to here the crying if Scott Stevens was playing today.... and comparing this to Kadri, please..
- angryagain

Perfect example of a single digit IQ right here.

Wow. Over 330 comments? What's the record Ek? Can you sweeten the prize and something else to that mask?

I understand the desire for an eye catching headline, but this is silly. We could continue to argue whether or not this hit is within the rules, but he didn't leave his feet before impact. The nhl player safety department is a clown show, I'm not sure that anyone disagrees.
The nhl should just get rid of hitting and start playing Flag hockey. Blaming Schief for hustling back and taking the body when a player had the puck a split second before is absurd. Why not just let the kid keep his head down and score and take the heat for being lazy and allowing the goal?
It was a heavy hit, initial impact wasn't to the head. The player also didn't protect himself. This isn't all on Mark, Evans could have taken the puck into the corner instead but he wanted to be a hero.
I didn't want to see anyone injured, but letting him take the goal because he's in a bad position? thats not hockey either. Figure it out, no suspension needed.
Mike Commodore said it best, have a look at his twitter.
- JetsAvs

I am sure you would be fine if a player does the same to Connor after a late game goal. After all, he deserved it right? Hope karma finds your side.

Unfortunately a real person was hurt. So that's why the outrage. We are judging the result not the intent.

If a player gets up and skates away, no outrage.
Was it excessive? Sure. Was it dirty? No. Charging Yeah, I'll agree to that.

Lets stop looking at the results and look at the intent.
No head contact check
Didn't leave his feet check
Was it a hockey play or intent to "teach a lesson"? Hockey play, prevent a goal.
- 50 Mission Cap

I won’t argue that the resulting injury on the play definitely influences how people define the hit. But you, like many people , are contradicting yourself. You can’t say it’s a charge and then call it clean, if charging is illegal. Part of it is how you define a dirty or clean hit, which has become subjective. It seems like a lot of people are associating dirty, with targeting the head or leaving feet, but that’s not reality. I would also argue that making an illegal play, charging, is not a hockey play, since it is not within the rules. I or no one else can theoretically say what his intent was, however, I do have eyes and a half working brain, which tells me he made no play on the puck whatsoever, which should have been his target, and was going for the check no matter the position Evan’s was in. That to me = Dirt
How he should be disciplined is another story and up to the crappy league

Wow. Over 330 comments? What's the record Ek? Can you sweeten the prize and something else to that mask?
- Kooleus

Hi kids.

Eklund you are clueless that was a legal body hit

Unfortunately a real person was hurt. So that's why the outrage. We are judging the result not the intent.

If a player gets up and skates away, no outrage.
Was it excessive? Sure. Was it dirty? No. Charging Yeah, I'll agree to that.

Lets stop looking at the results and look at the intent.
No head contact check
Didn't leave his feet check
Was it a hockey play or intent to "teach a lesson"? Hockey play, prevent a goal.
- 50 Mission Cap

Well said.

Wilson gets nothing, clean hockey hit , you people act like he committed murder

ZERO games , then when the puck drops tomorrow soundness goes out and beats the poop out of Edmunson,

So he's supposed to not try to score and possibly let WPG come back and score? This is the same backwards thinking saying what MS did was OK because he was trying to prevent a goal. Are you going to say Steve Moore put himself in a vulnerable position because he turned his back to Bertuzzi. MS made no attempt to stop the goal. Why would you try to prevent a goal with your body instead of your stick when the stick would get to the puck quicker than your body to his body?
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

What is this, your first playoff hockey viewing? People routinely get punched, speared, butt-ended, slashed, elbowed, and cross-checked just for standing in front of the net, let alone when the puck actually winds up there. There's even an 'unspoken' rule that you're fair game up to a second after you've lost possession, so checking is hardly just a matter of separating the player from the puck. Physical intimidation and playing right on the line of a penalty call is pretty much 3/4 of what playoff hockey is about, especially near the goal. So cut the whole "what was Evans supposed to do" crap. Evans knew he was taking a major risk by trying to sneak the EN goal in, and Scheifele didn't hold back in laying the body on him as part of trying to stop him. The outcome was bad, and nobody wants to see people injured... but if Evans gets back up and celebrates the goal, we're probably not even talking about a penalty, let alone a suspension.

When insults are the only arguments coming out, there are no arguments here... You like hard physical hockey, that's fine, I prefer clean hockey with beautiful plays and goalie saves, that is also fine. That doesn't make any of us idiots, sissies or whatever names came out here. I think that was a dirty hit with intent to injure and no intent to stop the goal, you think that was a clean hit, I'm can deal with that, but each side should stop at correct arguments. When your only argument is to insult one another, I'm wondering who is the idiot in the bunch....
- doum79

1 game

I am sure you would be fine if a player does the same to Connor after a late game goal. After all, he deserved it right? Hope karma finds your side.
- Fonzi

I didn't say he deserved it. where'd you dream that up?

What RULE did he break? The answer is NONE. He stopped skating at the top of the circle. Primary point of contact was the chest. The time between the puck leaving Evans stick and the initiation of contact was less than .2 seconds. No RULES were broken here. If you don't like it, maybe try TennisBuzz instead of HockeyBuzz because that was a clean hit.
- Kcannon98

This is what I kept asking because he did not from what I saw actually charge from the way I know the rulebook.. I was told(not sure if it is accurate)NHL made a change to charging to do with a player coming from above the hash marks and hitting a player below the goal line.

For me it was a clean, devastating hit the way I understood the rules.

What is this, your first playoff hockey viewing? People routinely get punched, speared, butt-ended, slashed, elbowed, and cross-checked just for standing in front of the net, let alone when the puck actually winds up there. There's even an 'unspoken' rule that you're fair game up to a second after you've lost possession, so checking is hardly just a matter of separating the player from the puck. Physical intimidation and playing right on the line of a penalty call is pretty much 3/4 of what playoff hockey is about, especially near the goal. So cut the whole "what was Evans supposed to do" crap. Evans knew he was taking a major risk by trying to sneak the EN goal in, and Scheifele didn't hold back in laying the body on him as part of trying to stop him. The outcome was bad, and nobody wants to see people injured... but if Evans gets back up and celebrates the goal, we're probably not even talking about a penalty, let alone a suspension.
- khawk

Sergachev's attack on Frank Vatrano is not routine. It was vicious and one of the worst things I've seen in like days. How the NHL still allows Sergachev to play is mind-blowing.

Sure looked like the point of contact was shoulder to head, partly because Evans was bent over while trying to reach around and get the puck in the net. If the NHL is serious about eliminating headshots to protect players, this is a big suspension. And it was a predatory hit, meaning MS went from pursuit to hit mode at the top of the circle when he changed directions to line up Evans. It's understandable given the timing/stakes, but that doesn't absolve him of responsibility imo.

Sheifele didn't even try to poke check him, he went straight at a defenseless player and after the puck was already in the net.

That ass wipe better play with his head up, if the league doesn't take care of Sheifele, the players will ... mark my words!

Intent doesn't matter.

What he meant to do is irrelevant. What he did should be punished.
- BINGO!

Intent as a way to judge guilt is built right into our legal system.
Of course intent matters. I'm not saying accidental things may not need to be punished,

If player X gets up and skates away, it a highlight not a trial.

Eklund you are clueless that was a legal body hit
- FlamesFan1230

You are clueless, Scheifele got 4 games.

People in this blog:

He has no history of murder, therefor, he is guilty of murder but also innocent of a crime and free to go.