On one what? On a one game suspension for yesterday's hit on Khaira? Should be longer imo.

playing amazing this season

Wish he made $2 mil less so we could keep him long term and not have to try and move him in another year or two.

I disagree. Hitting is part of the game. Not all big hits are dirty, just like not all dirty hits are big. If we react as you suggest to all such hits, we may as well just make the game non-checking.

No one wants to see anybody get hurt, but open ice hits are still a necessary and valuable part of the game.

If they suspend him, which I think they might, I’m gonna be really disappointed. Trouba had no intention to go to the head and his posture was perfect for shoulder to chest. Khaira never picked up his head, plain and simple. Many hawks fans will argue he should have avoided the hit then, but those fans never played hockey to know you can’t avoid a hit when you’re committed at that point. Don’t punish trouba for khaira doing what you’re taught not to do as a kid.

Think you've got him until 24/25, tbh. That NMC/his gf (or wife now?) is pretty much the same situation as Ryan Miller sticking in California for the last handful of years of his career.

Most of us took at least one hit like this as a kid. That's how you learn to keep your head up...

Based on the speed of the play, there was no way to avoid the hit. Trouba committed, planted his feet (i.e., no charging or leaving his feet), and lowered his shoulder square up to Khaira. It's unfortunate that the pass was in his feet, but there was no targeting of the head and Trouba did not raise his arms and bring his elbows up. I hope the guy is okay, but I don't think it warrants a suspension (or fine, for that matter) - it didn't even warrant a penalty.

it would suck but a buyout seems likely we just cant afford him

Yeah, I didn't really consider that...Amazing how cap space just vanishes so quickly. Salary cap has to be one of the worst things in sports. Would much rather have a MLB-type system where there's a luxury tax. Teams should be able to pay to keep their best players.

Zero chance of that

Agreed on all counts. I actually remember taking a shot high when I was 19 playing in college and my head was down. Now granted I wasn’t injured thank the heavens above, but the guy was in penalized on the play. I remember getting up and thinking, “why did he get a penalty?” I honestly thought it was my fault. He had me lined up and I never looked up nor did he through a hand or elbow in my face, it was all shoulder.

It’s how you account for fairness for smaller market teams otherwise it would be an extreme advantage for large market teams. It’s also needed to do revenue share with the players.

Trouba's been suspended before for a hit to the head. That'll certainly be a factor even though I believe it's outside the window of a repeat offender. That doesn't make him a dirty player nor a bad person. Hitting is indeed part of the game. The person DOING the hitting needs to do it right regardless of intention. If he intended to his Khaira in the head...we're having a very different conversation. I have read some people suggest he was head hunting because (and this part is a FACT...not really debatable) the hit was a rising hit as the head got higher. If it was a level hit then it would have been to the chest. BUT to Hatter's take. That part is bang bang. I don't think he intended to hit Khaira in the head. That suspension would be crazy long and deserved if he intended to send someone to the hospital.



I disagree with the "taught to do as a kid". If you're a believer in continuous improvement...that means you're never satisfied with the way things currently are. I like hits. I like fights, but the reason I like fights is because you can face someone head up man to man and go at it...in lieu of injuries...Taking your aggression out on someone that's not prepared. Trouba saw a head down and went for it. YES, it's a bang bang play. Never said it was easy to lay a proper hit, BUT it's on the guy doing the hitting to make the right call...regardless of intention. You can't send someone to the hospital and let things stand. Trouba made a choice. This isn't like Corey Perry on Tavares. That's an accident. This was an intentional hit with UN-intentional consequences. He made a choice.

...

I mean this isn't what happened at all though. It was a bang bang play sure, but when the hit was layed...Khaira's head was up and looking directly at Trouba. The reason the hit was even to Khaira's head was because Trouba's hit was rising. If Trouba didn't raise the hit...it would have been to the chest. NONE of this was intentional. I get that, but it's on the guy doing the hitting to do it right. He didn't and he has a history.

Spezza just got 6 games with ZERO suspension history in 1200+ games...and this one's worse.

Okay, I had to go back and watch it AGAIN, before I responded. I just don’t agree honestly. Khaira’s head wasn’t up to the point that he knew what was coming. I truly believe trouba was going for chest and if khaira woulda had his head up that’s what would have happened. I do agree that it isn’t about the intention and that it’s about the act. Either way, trouba is playing tonight for the rangers and I do endorse it. It wasn’t from the blindside, boarding, behind, etc. so I don’t have much to rib the guy for. It was an open ice hit, and I got flashbacks to the Campbell on umberger hit in this one. I’ve been hit like this plenty of times too, but I never blamed the other player for it.

As for constant improvement, what exactly are the areas that you’re talking about? Trouba fought stillman and “justice” (I guess) was done? I phrase it as a question because stillman didn’t exactly fight but more grapple him. There’s that came out of this that I’d change though. Big open ice hit, fight that followed, finished.

Healthy convo here and we've had these before.

To me the "head up" is less about Khaira's awareness. He very clearly wasn't paying attention to his surroundings and his own well being. That's not the point though. To me, It's that while his eye and focus were downward. His head was actually up. So if your head is up....It's just a high hit. Trouba's not a bad guy. He doesn't deserve Tom Wilson treatment. It's just that imo (to which I 100% respect yours) he needs ANOTHER reminder that these hits aren't allowable. He sent someone to the hospital because he hit another guy high.

Respectfully, I get that he sent someone to the hospital, it’s tragic and I wish nothing but a speedy recovery for khaira. But we can’t act like injuries happen only from dirty hits. However, I still believe I’ve seen much worse. Just my opinion, but I finally watched the spezza one when you mentioned it. That was straight up pathetic. He dove into that kneeing incident. Trouba very clearly had him lined up and expecting to be square to him with his head up. Spezza just said “yeet” and paid the consequences later.

I don't know...fairness for smaller market teams probably wouldn't have someone like the Yotes being forced to spend $16 or so million bucks this year on bad contracts just to get to the cap floor doesn't seem to be helpful. And yes, I'm absolutely against tanking, but if you're not profitable, you're not profitable. The value that the picks that they received to take on those contracts won't be seen for a few years at minimum, which means they've be right back in the same situation next year.

I guess I'm pro-player and anti-owner though...there's certainly two sides to it, I just absolutely hate the idea that, using this thread as an example, we'd all decide "Trouba is playing extremely well, but we're going to have to buy him out because we can't keep him (Or someone else) because he's "overpaid" and won't fit long term cap-wise". Like, to me, that's foolishness. The cap was put in place to save owners and managers from themselves, yet we're still in the same situation. It's basically just a tool to supress player salaries.

If it were me, I'd propose a hybrid NBA/MLB style ceiling/floor. The NBA's system is complicated AF, but the main thing that I like is that it does allow teams to go over the soft cap to re-sign their own players. Maybe that's the solution? With MLB, there isn't a floor. Now, I'm kind of torn on this one, because I'm not a big "tanking" fan, but again, if you're a team that needs to roll with a $40-60 mil payroll for a couple of years to get your finances in order, you should absolutely be able to do that. Teams that are winning will always sell tickets though, so there's your reason for trying to be competitive right there.

When it comes to revenue sharing, I don't really see how this would affect that at all? A team that could extend their payroll a bit to keep their own players would be able to (arguably) sell more tickets, more merchandise, etc, which in turn would create more hockey related revenue to be spread about. There is zero advantage to the current system, aside from supressing salaries.

There's probably 1000 holes in my thoughts, but that's where I'm at

The Yotes weren’t forced to acquire any player. Per the CBA they negotiated they have to hit a minimum cap in order to benefit from profit share. Nor did they dish at 16M in cash which is critical to budget teams.

The cap was put in place because revenue share (same with escrow). They wouldn’t be losing this player if they planned correctly. The whole point of these smaller market teams is to get hockey into the hands of a new demographic and grow the business. While some teams like the Rags/Leafs rake in money others are in the red. I’d prefer a league where a team has to operate without significant advantages because let’s be real teams like Rags/Leafs already have them. They can offer lucrative marketing offers to their players to offset tax disadvantages and then look at NCAA players with Rags.

I’ve already addressed revenue sharing so I’m going to assume you don’t understand the relation between it and cap/escrow.

Apologies for bowing out of this early. I don't think there's anything to add at this point, but I wanted to say thanks to both of you for proving that we can disagree without getting into a heated argument. I appreciate that, so thanks.