Last Words on "The Hit"

Clean? Dirty? Necessary?

We've been getting a lot of good feedback on the Dion Phaneuf hit that injured (we won't say "KO'ed") Kyle this past week. We already expressed our opinion below and others polled seem to be split 50-50 on the 'clean or dirty' issue. We submit the above screencap, which is the moment just after contact, along with the opinions of two of our highly esteemed colleagues. Like with politics, people have their indomitable opinions and you can argue with them perpetually. However, the two gentleman presented below are well versed in ice hockey as both longtime players, fans, and scholars of the game. Whatever your take on the hit, you will do yourself a service by reading their postings. Intelligent opinions are always welcomed on both their sites and this one.

"Revisiting Hits to the Head" by Doug Davidson of 'Official's Outlook.' (Also included with his post are lots of additional good links).

"Okposo Carted Off on Stretcher; Isles Lead 3-2 Midway Through" (with follow-up comments) by 'Islanders Outsider' Ken Rosenblatt.

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It should be noted that an Okposo and Tavares-less squad won the preseason rematch against Calgary on Saturday (9/19) night. 4-2 was the final score. Jon Sim seems to be having quite a camp, even though we can't find a verified boxscore for the game anywhere.

The Isles play another "home" game in Saskatoon on Sunday (9/20) night, this time against Edmonton. We'll have any news that emerges.

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UPDATE on Kyle via Newsday's Katie Strang.