columbus blue jackets Archive

In what is seemingly becoming a regular occurrence, another NHL player was leveled by a scary hit last night. The Blue Jackets’ Jason Chimera was skating down the right side of the offensive zone when Rob Scuderi cut him down with a low hip check.

The term “hip check” is used loosely though.  Scuderi hits Chimera so low that the play could definitely be interpreted as tripping.  As you can see, the low hit flips Jason Chimera and he seems to land on the ice with his face/head.  No penalty was called on Scuderi for the hit.

The no-call is somewhat understandable because this was not a textbook tripping play.  However, the technique employed in the hit should make this an easy call for the referees.  Typically, hip checks pin an offensive player’s mid-section to the boards or the aggressor simply takes a skater out with a hit ABOVE the knees.  The hit in question could be classified as either tripping or roughing.  However, the NHL has specifically created a rule called “clipping” — which I admit I’ve never seen called in any game I’ve played in or watched.  By rule, Scuderi should have been penalized for the low hit and even could have received a major penalty and a game misconduct.