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Drew Doughty Injury: New Angle of Hit from FS West

by CrownedRoyal on Oct 24, 2010 2:13 PM PDT

During last night's game vs. the Colorado Avalanche, Fox Sports West showed a replay of the hit that injured Drew Doughty that had not been previously released.

I THINK I can see why the NHL ruled that it was incidental contact. The play got broken up and the puck went back behind Doughty. If Cole was somehow so focused on the puck that he didn't see Doughty and they simply turned into each other, OK. This has to be what Cole and the NHL are claiming.

I'm not sure I buy it though. Watch Cole's head during the entire play- he is looking at Doughty, the puck carrier, the entire time. If he knew where Doughty was AND was watching him throughout, how can it be incidental?

Also, take a look at this clip that I enhanced:

Watching Cole's head after Doughty gets rid of the puck and just before impact, you'll notice that he put his head down, bracing for impact. Meanwhile, Doughty never saw it coming.

It also seems that he lowered the shoulder a bit in order to deliver the hit. This does not seem like incidental contact to me.

Is this sour grapes? Yes. Drew Doughty is the Kings' best player. I didn't even mention the fact that the hit was LATE. Well after he got rid of the puck.

Doughty is clearly stunned after the hit as you can see. What you don't see is that fact that he finished his shift and broke up a play in the defensive zone, skating off only after he cleared the puck.

Get well soon, Drew.

This article was originally posted on CrownedRoyal.com, a Los Angeles Kings blog, and can be found here.

This item was written by a member of this community and not by an author of JFTC.

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Comments

Thanks for the clips, and nice anlysis, but I disagree with you on one point.

Doughty definitely saw the hit coming at the last second (7 second mark on clip two), but the problem was that he had no time to react. I don’t think Cole targeted him but instead saw the collision coming with more time and employed his body in anticipation.

I was screaming for suspension at first but now I’m not sure.

by JZarris on Oct 25, 2010 10:50 PM PDT reply actions

To be honest, I’m back and forth on it.

Maybe Dougthy turned into him, but the fact remains that Cole clearly saw him the entire time and made no effort to get out of the way. Not that it is entirely his fault if someone runs into him, but if he lowers the shoulder and makes contact with the head (accidentally or not) he should be penalized in some way, if in fact this is the type of thing that the league is trying to address, which recent days suggest that it is.

Thanks for reading.

by CrownedRoyal on Oct 26, 2010 5:51 PM PDT up reply actions

What does doughty think

what does doughty think.Especially if he reads all these kings blogs about kings fans telling other kings fans just drop it and stop your whining.i cant imagine other teams talk like this when their players get injured.Many things i see in this video gets to me upset about our fans who i think have not even looked at this video angle like i have for days.hockey is hockey but Man looks like Cole lowers his head and hits him with his helmet,among many other things that is gets to me.Punishment whatever i just want kings fans and the league to give doughty the respect as a player he deserves when they are injured.Thanks for taking the time to break down this angle.

by luap on Oct 27, 2010 2:05 AM PDT reply actions

I gotta say...

Now that I see this angle I can totally see it. Cole got ready for that check and his body follows through. His head even comes up a little like hes stretching his back to move his head. Possibly incidental and a last second reaction though. Even if it was intentional its hard to tell if it was malicious. If his intention was to hurt an unawares Doughty he could’ve done a lot better job of it under those circumstances,

Also, take your meds luap.

by Hambone* on Nov 4, 2010 5:02 PM PDT reply actions