Very proper breakdown. I say this is a damn good example of how to explain rule 48. Great video heck of a job Eck.

Wings fan here. It was a good hit, just a very unfortunate one seeing as we now have about 8 of our regular players injured. Hoping Hronek and Larkin can come back soon

Considering Hroneks position he earned that hit. Not the injury that’s an unfortunate side affect but my dude can’t be going up the middle of the ice with his head downs and looking left. You know Reaves is on the Ice you should always be looking for where he is.

Open ice hit, didn’t charge, glided in and laid him out square. Where’s the controversy? The guy didn’t protect himself, that’s it.

I played football before the concussion thing was respected. I really do think a lot of us have severe damage from it.

Tom Wilson got suspended for 20 games on the exact same hit on Sundquist. Fascinating how people interpret certain situations.

As a wings fans I didn’t think it was dirty I was just hoping Hronek was okay because this team is starting to pile of up with injuries. Apparently he wanted to go back out but obvious reasons couldn’t because the whole concussion protocol. It’s weird because Hronek skates up with his head up forward then looks to the left for a split second and then looks forward again right into reaves. The quick look to the left was a mistake lol it looked like he saw the whole ice but for some reason he took a quick look to the left/behind himself

It's a very scary hit, however its a perfectly clean hit. Like you said, it's actually impressive Hronek did everything a hockey player SHOULDN'T do when taking a hit.

Even beyond my own experience playing hockey my whole life, as a Zamboni Driver of 4 years now, I've personally seen a LOT of hits, good and bad (mostly bad), from squirts to college level. I knew this hit was clean, or at the very least not malicious, the first time I saw it. Everybody screaming for a suspension, even after seeing the slow-mo replay, comes off as the type of parent to harass the referees at a peewee game because they think they know better. ESPECIALLY on the NHL reddit page, whiners top to bottom.

Buddy has the puck for more than 3 seconds. An eternity in hockey. If you can't get your head up and see what's coming in that time, I don't know what to tell ya.

Sometimes I forget you only have 55k subscribers. This is top quality content.

Yes Hronek was looking away from Reaves with his head down. I like the big open ice hits like this but I feel that Reaves could made this bone crushing hit without contact to his head. He had plenty of time to adjust to hit him lower. This is the exact hit the league is trying to get rid of.

I was at that game for my birthday. Got my drink and was heading to the aisle and waiting for play to stop. I’m telling you the second I cracked open my drink, watched that hit unfold. It was a banger. Still calling it as I see it. Clean hit. Devastating, yes. Dirty, no. It kinda sucks to see the POC because the Detroit player was hunched over, but Reaves could have done a lot worse in that scenario. Clean hit, just a huge body check and an injured Wings player. Hoping he gets well too, regardless of the hit you still have to care for the player. ❤

This is just super unfortunate, and Hronek put himself in a super dangerous situation. Should've known Reeves was there and you HAVE to keep your head up if you're going up the gut like that with him on the ice. I would've liked to see Reeves aim for more of the shoulder than the head, but you can't fault him too much for that given the speed of the play and how far out in front Hronek had his head. Hopefully he recovers quickly - he's been having a terrific season.

The Detroit Player was looking towards his teammates instead of turning his head and looking forward, clean hit by Ryan, this is a clean hit.

I think something that’s often overlooked when people call these plays dirty is that when you hit you have to hit hard. I remember in my first few years of contact hockey taking it light on some people and being the one on my ass, ever since then i learned you have to hit hard even if it looks like you’re in a good position

I'm a Red Wings fan. Players going down awkwardly is part of the game. When a player has the puck, and there are 2 opposing players in his vicinity, scary collisions happen. Sometimes you see players take a scary hit to their knees on a play like this.

2:20 given this shot, yeah, there’s no way head contact is avoidable. Hronek -or anyone for that matter - cannot be skating through the middle of the ice, NOT looking ahead of them when there’s a player like Reaves on the ice, and not expect to get absolutely decked. It’s a clean hit.

Haven't seen a guy leave himself so wide open to being utterly blown up like Hronek did here in awhile. 0 awareness.

As a Czech I’m obviously bit biased towards Czech players and want them to do well in NHL. However this was 100% clean hit and I’m very surprised that any experienced NHL player would put themselves into vulnerable postiton like this, especially when beast like Reaves is on the ice.

He put himself in that position. There wasn’t a way that reaves could hit him that he wouldn’t have hit his head. Some people might say “Then don’t hit him.” But it’s not Reaves’ responsibility to wait to lay a hit until he puts himself in a better spot. That’s all on Hronik.

Clean hit. Viscous hit. Gotta keep the head up in the NHL

Old Ranger fan, I miss Ryan on our team..he's a good guy. Also miss the Minnesota North Stars....Dino Ciccarelli, Mike Modano, Mike Gartner, Derian Hatcher, Brian Bellows, Brian Lawton...great days those were.

Reaves rocked him and it was perfectly clean, Reaves has always known how to hit and imo does a good job of keeping his hits within the rules for someone of his stature. That said, the truth is that if the NHL wants to protect players from concussions, they need to adjust the rules to make hits like this illegal. Yes Hronek should've had his head up ice, but players will always end up in vulnerable positions with their heads down, its unavoidable and always has been, and players have always been punished for it. Once you're in the situation, the only player who can control the severity of the hit is the hitter. You don't make this kind of hit without knowing how vulnerable the player is, Reaves could just as easily have made a play on the Puck and potentially gotten a chance, but he had the hit lined up from 20' out and he finished it cleanly. I'm not sure that it should be removed from the game, but I think its good the community discusses this kind of hit every time we see one. Its important to keep in focus what potentially dangerous aspects of the game are worth preserving, as well as look for ways to reduce player risk.

Clean hit at open ice. Nothing wrong here.

Good, clean hit. Keep your head up; Hockey 101

Reeves is known for practicing hitting where it stays within the grey area. Purposeful with plenty of opportunity to steer around the egregious hit. 5 game suspension for NOT using judgement.

Clean hit. Straight at him, gliding in, feet on the ice, kept his arms and stick down. Hronek had all day to see Reaves coming. Fact that he didn't is not the fault of Reaves.

As a life long Wings fan I see this hit as clean. Hronek was skating with his head down.

Hey eck how's your day? Just wanna say your videos are awesome, short and easy to understand

Hockey players are told to keep their heads up their entire lives. This is why. Clean hit.

It’s dirty or it’s not hockey penalties are facts you can’t have and opinion when it comes to penalties. It was clean and if you read the rules like you did everyone else would know that. This was a clean hit and you can’t have an opinion on that. This is one of the cleaner hits I have seen in the NHL in a long time. It is kinda hard to avoid his head when he is in such a vulnerable position. So overall what I am trying to get at here is that was a clean hit people might not agree because they don’t look at the rule book or slow down the hit on video. It was a clean hit and you truly can’t say otherwise.

As a Wings fan looks clean to me. In todays NHL players are becoming complacent and less self aware of putting themselves in a dangerous position. 1990's hockey you had to have your head on a swivel and eyeballs in the back of your head. I remember Pronger taking a run at Yzerman. Stevie ducked the hit and landed on Prongers leg tearing his ACL.

Clean hit. Great channel you’ve got here! ❤

Legal, but incredibly dangerous as well. They need to find a way to limit/eliminate these open ice hits as they put players’ well being at risk. Then game is plenty exciting without them.

There is literally nothing wrong with this hits as you explained with the rules and stuff, not just that look where reaves arms are for the hit and how long his glide is from before his hit

Red Wings Twitter is fuming, they all need to watch this video and shut up about this hit. Clean and unavoidable, great breakfown

Reaves knows everything you are saying about the Detroit player as well and he has the discretion to make the hit or at least let off on it as well . But it is still a fair check other then the head contact. But of course it players like Reaves Kadri Thauchuk etc that push the limit on these types of plays love them or hate them!

Great breakdown. This is what I’ve been saying everywhere people have been saying this is a dirty hit.

Not a Reaves fan, but that was clean. Hronek was leaning forward while skating with the puck. Reaves didn't go for the head at all. He just followed through with his hit and it was just unfortunate that Hroneks head was level with Reaves shoulder. However, if the Wings had a Lucic or Gudbransson type on the team, Ryan may have let up a bit on that. The NHL made a big mistake taking the enforcer out the league. Guys like Reaves are now fearless of any repercussions for stuff like this knowing nobody is on the roster to make them answer for it.

Totally clean if you ask me. But I'm also torn on the concussion situation. Yes, it's a terrible injury, and i by no means wish for players to get hurt. But it's one of those things where you understand the risks when you sign those 7 figure contracts. I love big hits like these, and i think they are a huge part of setting hockey in it's entirely own category when it comes to sports.

I was at this game. this hit was absolutely insane, along with the other fights and hits

marginally good hit inside the rules, but you have to look at reaves and decide was it necessary. usually he's just on a tear putting up points, making incredible plays etc. slowpoke cementhead aside though, gotta love those tribute unis.

Long time wings fan and Detroit lover . That was CLEAN

Curious to see your take on the STL EDM game

Clean as could be hit. You nailed the points. The rule is a good one as well. Good to see discretion was used here.

Was a clean hit and the NHL agreed. They looked at it from every angle and didn't see anything. I can see how one can get upset since BIG open ice hits are getting a bit rare these days as the era of the "enforcer" style of play is pretty much done. Had the play been "dirty" or with intent-to-injure, the league would have issued a fine or suspension. Like my coaches always said back in my playing years, "keep your head up"

Looks legal according to current NHL rules.. Two years ago USA Hockey implemented a rule at the youth levels that would make this an illegal body check -- if the player delivering the check does not have his stick down below his knees (indicating some intention to actually play the puck) and/or if the player receiving the check does not have complete possession and control of the puck at the time the check is delivered, it's a penalty. I'd bet that rule will one day come to the NHL and then this would be a penalty because Reaves has his hands up and thus zero intention of personally gaining possession of the puck.

I think this was a textbook example of Hronek just not paying attention... Hope he's okay but I don't think it was dirty There's a solid 2 seconds of Reeves lining him up from directly from the front and Reeves doesn't even have to change his trajectory yet Hronek still skates directly into Reeves' shoulder. It wasn't a blindside, it wasn't targeting his head, it was just a player putting themselves in a terrible position by not paying attention.

Hroneks drove himself directly down the train tracks into that collision. Reeves is the size of a locomotive, I'm not sure how he sneaks up on ya.

There's nothing I want more than big hits back in the game. One thing that had me not watching the U21 stuff was when Anthony Camara absolutely flatlined a Slovak on a clean hit and got a suspension for it.

Caps fan here, clean hit by Reaves. I understand that players need to be protected, but hitting is one of the things that makes the NHL entertaining to watch.

What I find crazy though is that there's no provision for a major or game misconduct for an illegal check to the head, according to the rule that was shown in the video. So theoretically even if a player goes out to head hunt they can at most just get a two minute minor? That's pretty wild tbf.

In this NHL head hits on Red Wings are just fine

Reaves being a winger, I imagine he’s not always looking for the big open ice hit. That was my problem with Scott Steven’s, was that he had the intent to hurt people. Just because a hit falls within the rules, doesn’t mean it’s okay for a player to ruin a different player’s career once a year. What’s a guy going to do with his life if he has severe brain damage? Just because a guy takes the risk of playing hockey doesn’t invalidate the need to respect their human dignity. (Update)Yep, just watched some clips of Reaves. He is a headhunter for sure. I can see why the Wild picked him up, as they have been pushed around in the playoffs a little too often. I think if you’re going to hit like this, then a guy has every right to duck the hit despite complaints that now Hronek is trying to take Reaves knees out. Reaves puts himself in equally vulnerable positions and guys should be allowed to defend themselves equally.

Straight up, a good hit. Two basic rules of youth hockey: keep your head up and your stick on the ice.

clean hit

Well done showing Kariya’s Off the Floor, On the Board goal! Keep up the good content!

I understand people thinking it was dirty in real time but the replays made it pretty clear to me that it was a clean hit, a super violent, but clean hit

In contrast, Yamamoto tonight got a penalty when the Blues guy basically hit Yamo's shoulder while Yamo was skating away. Astounding!

Why no one talks about the shoulder pads these players wear now is baffling. virtually every single hit that results in a concussion is from shoulder contact. Take the weapons off these guys’ shoulders already.

That was a text book check. When you have the puck, head on a swivel. Live driving a car, this guy spent too much time looking behind him and was completely unaware of what was happening in front of him. With hits decreasing, players have gotten careless when it comes to their own safety.

My only argument against this ruling is in the first subsection where, to me, and I know this can be argued, it looks like Reaves deliberately leads his elbow into Hronik's head. As stated I know this point can be debated and overall I think this was a wonderful breakdown of the rule. Good work, great video.

You should have your head up at all times. I get why Hronek was looking back, he wanted to make sure the back checker wasn't going to strip him of the puck but that was more than a glance. I would never turn my head with Ryan Reeves on the ice. Hockey is a physical sport and Reeves hit him hard but clean. I used to play with a bunch of guys who got used to cry anytime you made ANY contact and I constantly reminded them it was part of the game. It's like boxing : defend yourself at all times. Nobody likes to see people getting hurt but you can't or shouldn't skate full speed up ice on a rush looking behind you.

Best part of the video: Compilation of Seider blowing people up who are coming in for hits on him.

Best hit I've seen in years. I want Reaves back on the Blues.

Definitely good hit. Pretty embarrassing that every single hit now is always being scrutinized🙄

All you need to do is rewind this game 35 years and Reaves would have to answer to Probie . That would knock him down a peg. As of now he's the last true heavyweight. He basically can run around and do whatever he wants ,consequence free.

Hronek looked up and thought "oh.......... fuck"

I'm not a fan of either team, I just wanted to say that while I agree with most of what you said (especially about Hronek doing himself no favours), I disagree with one point you made about Reeves not aiming high. Reeves is taller than Hronek to start and as you said, Hronek is bent over the entire time. If Reeves had aimed upwards, he would have missed over the top entirely. By going level against a shorter and crouching opponent, he is aiming directly at the head. You can, and arguably should, crouch down when throwing an open ice hit to maximize both your own stability and the impact of the hit but Reeves stayed level which kept him at head height. Therefore, I believe it is illegal, though the punishment shouldn't be as severe as usual because of the mitigating factors that you mentioned.

Roenick indeed didn't protect himself but he absolutely did NOT lean more forward when the hit was coming. Reeves absolutely head hunted him.

can't wait for a video on the oilers game tonight

Just because someone got hurt, that doesn’t make it dirty. Unfortunate for Hronek, but you can hardly blame Reaves just because he’s tall. Clean hit, good breakdown.

Was a good hit, i learned in pee-wee too keep my head up. Player deserved it he is in the NHL

Just went to the Oilers game and came home to this video and the refs were absolutely terrible Binnington held McDavid and didn't get a penalty and McDavid was a clear target

The best thing to come out of that game is, Reaves had 2 big hits. After the wings tried to stand up, everyone forgot Reaves was playing in the game.....until karma kicked in and he missed a WIDE OPEN EMPTY NET!! At least Probert could score!

Clean, solid hit.

This is the going to be on the biggest NHL hits of all time compilations forever.

Wings fan also! Clean hit. Sucks he got hurt but it's hockey. Get your head up!

I am surprised by the comments calling this a good hit. But I guess it makes for great posturing. "Oh, look at me I know better those complaining about this head hunting and I am certainly smarter then one of the top defensemen in the league." Other than his value for threat of injury, why is Reeves in the league? He's like 0.1 point per game and 9 penalty minutes for every point he produces. BTW, did you see that one back in the day where Steve Moore put himself in a vulnerable position to Todd Bertuzzi?

Hit is legal per the leagues rule but shouldn't be per what we know about CTE. Any head contact should be a penalty even if incidental to make players more mindful of this type of hit. Reaves did something exactly within the rules so there's nothing illegal about the hit, plus Hronek was being careless going up the ice. No penalty is the right call, but the wrong rule IMO.

That hit was a beauty and as don cherry would say "thats why you keep your head up kids"

Had a big debate on this on Facebook. Thank you for perfectly explaining this, it covers every point I made in that thread. Needless to say I linked this to the bozos 😁

The only thing I find annoying about this as a Wings fan is that we have another injury and, more importantly, Reaves ran away. Clean, if unlucky, hit.

As Jaimie McLennan would say, it was "a bit greasy" but ya, can't believe how much Peronick (sic) failed to protect himself. If it was the 90's and it was Scott Stevens instead of Reaves, his career might be over.

It's literally the first rule of contact hockey. Keep your head up.

Reaves was licking his chops, keep your head up!!

Hitting IS a skill and one hardly anyone has

Came for the starwars and you sprinkle hockey content on top. ❤❤❤

Reaves definitely puts his upper arm/shoulder into his face. With the closer explanation of the rule I believe it's a legal hit however I don't believe it should be. It should be that the only circumstance for principal contact to the face/head that doesn't draw a penalty is when the puck carrier spins or otherwise moves their head into the contact imo.

That hit was a truck going northbound on a southbound freeway, look out! Any Wayne Gretzky’s 3D hockey fans out there?

I think you talked about this in a very good way. The rules are clear, this wasn't a dirty hit. As alway a nice video and very constructive to a good dialogue. The thing I think a lot of people have a problem with, is the NHL saying they care about head injuries when this is allowed. Don't get me wrong I like hoceky for being physical and there being big hits but you can't come out and say that you care about concussions and having hit like these IMO.

I think the pendulum will swing back from the young players crossing through the neutral zone without a care. Eventually when it’s what everyone is doing there will be a resurgence of big body neutral zone defenders to punish the new style of play. Almost exactly the same way the newer faster players came in to change up the game from the bigger more physical guys.

I don't know if it should be up to players to "protect themselves." Maybe it should be up to the hitting player (Reaves) to be "aware" of smashing his shoulder into someone's head - after all, Reaves saw this coming, Hronek didn't. The NFL has a rule along those lines, I think. Hockey doesn't have to be a "violent game." Maybe we're too accepting of that. For instance, I'm pretty sure the international game is less violent. I should mention I'm a NJD fan and I was there through the Scott Stevens years. I liked when my team won cups but I didn't love Stevens laying out other teams' best players, which he routinely did in playoff series.

Vicious hit by Reaves but not illegal. You gotta keep your head up in the NHL.

I have TWO takes on this. One, I'm completely in agreement with Brad from the Winged Wheel Podcast. Is it a legal hockey hit? In the NHL, YES. Should it be? ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY NOT. Yeah, Hronek looked back for some reason, we can't know why, he shouldn't have, but Reaves needs to identify that his target is now vulnerable, and he should hinge his hips or bend his knees more. It's like if you go in to a bar, and you get in a bar fight. The guy pulls out a knife and you ask, "What, are you gonna stab me?" Even if you egged him on, and he stabs you, he's the one on the hook for assault with a deadly weapon. It's also notable to point out that Hronek held his head exclusively after he found himself upright. That means the most trauma went to his head. In the IIHF this is an IMMEDIATE and unquestionable 5 minute game misconduct, there's no arguing with the ref, you're just out of the game. Take two: Sure, it's a clean hit from a glance within a vacuum, buuuuut... We know the issues with CTE, and despite what everyone says, Reaves has a standing history of injuring players, particularly by causing head injuries, and frequently taking things too far. As a hockey player, that's all he does. He hurts your best players, the 'enforcer keeps the other team in check' thing actually just causes 'nuclear deterrent' situations. Who can step closest to the line of 'full roster brawls' without actually triggering a full roster brawl. This hit makes 4 plays that I can find within 30 seconds skimming youtube, of Reaves making head contact or intent to injure: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jJddmaZ1mZ_PYYk.html Match Penalty for "Intent to Injure" on Ryan Graves. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Z-B-lqyl2smRk5c.html 5 Minute Major and a Game Misconduct for Interference on Tom Wilson - of note, he's taking a blindside hit on a man that shouldn't have to expect a hit. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/q7iPm9mXnru1Xac.html Illegal check to the head on Jordan Gross - note that Reaves ELEVATES in to the head on this hit. This one is all the proof you need. Ryan Reaves goes on the ice with the intent to injure other players. Now for my summary opinion. This shit is bad for the game. The NHL is, at a fundamental level, selling 'entertainment', which is brought mostly through offensive play. Fans want goals, the NHL wants goals. Reaves, and players like him, contribute none of that, they take the highlight reel players out of the game. This check may NOT be illegal because of intentional tricky wording by the rule-book, but it should be, because unless you draw a very hard line of severe discipline for head hits, they'll be there forever. It's very lucky that Hronek was cleared for practice today, but repeated hits like that can change a man's life. CTE is a huge deal, I have it from hockey, the headaches are bad, but the forgetfulness and 'air-headedness' are worse.

The fact this is even a debate is the saddest reminder that the game I loved & grew up with is very quickly becoming a thing of the past. I understand safety is important, but this pattern of big guys hitting smaller guys hard automatically becoming penalties &/or suspensions is ridiculous, this is a contact sport & physicality is important part of our game

Can you please also do a video on the off side goal by Mcdavid tonight 😢

that left arm and elbow raises up and nails the guy

I don’t want to see anyone injured but that is a textbook clean open ice hit. Shoulder down, doesn’t extend his elbow after the hit, comes in straight in front of Red Wing player who doesn’t see it coming until it’s to late. Sorry but the Red Wing player has to be held accountable for having his head down and not being aware of what’s going on around him.