POLL: Antti Miettinen has a Concussion: Dirty Hit?

by BReynolds on Oct 29, 2010 1:47 PM CDT

Russo is reporting that the Wild believe Antti Miettinen has a concussion, and that they believe it is a result of the hit from Dustin Brown on Monday. At the time, we certainly felt like the hit was shoulder to shoulder, though it did come from the blind side, on an unprotected player. We felt that the refs made the right call on the ice, at full speed, and that the five minute major and a game misconduct were the right call.

Here is the video:

While it still looks to me like there is no contact to the head, I was reminded by a few people on Twitter that there does not necessarily need to be a hit to the head to induce a concussion. This is what is the scariest part of these brain injuries. They can come from almost anything, and they can go undiagnosed for days.

Miettinen was back on the next shift, and appeared to be fine. He played the rest of the game, but must have developed symptoms later in the night or during the week. Listed as "ill" for last night's game, Miettinen is now out "indefinitely."

While I am strongly in the "punish the offense, not the result" camp when it comes to supplemental discipline, we pose the question to you, Hockey Wilderness:

Poll

How do you feel about the hit with the new information?

They made the right call then, it is still the right call now. Unfortunate it caused a concussion.

65 votes

They made the right call, but a concussion means Brown should be punished further.

5 votes

It was a dirty hit then, and it is still a dirty hit. Brown should have been suspended in the first place.

23 votes

93 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 9 comments | 0 recs |

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Comments

Not a dirty hit

Foolish, but not dirty. Unfortunate result, but likely more about his gear and the Wild’s ability to bring in guys with mushy heads.

Proprietor of Hockey Wilderness - We take Minnesota hockey WAY too seriously.

by nathaneide on Oct 29, 2010 1:49 PM CDT reply actions

Disagree

Watch that clip and then go back and watch the Richards on Booth hit. There are only 3 things different:

1) Brown wasn’t as overt in leading with the shoulder as Richards on the way in
2) Miettinen had stopped to shoot which mean he just got knocked over instead of taking the impact of his forward momentum plus the hit.
3) Miettinen popped right back up.

I’m no expert, but on the replay it sure looks like Brown gets his arm up. I still think this is a dirty hit because it’s coming from the blind side, he starts off low and pops up to add more force to the hit and also gets the arm up which ends up making it a hit to the head.

by SpaethCo on Oct 29, 2010 2:26 PM CDT up reply actions

He clearly got him with the elbow

But I don’t think that’s where he was heading. Mittens got down otherwise it would’ve been shoulder to shoulder. I think it was reckless more than dirty.

Proprietor of Hockey Wilderness - We take Minnesota hockey WAY too seriously.

by nathaneide on Oct 29, 2010 2:34 PM CDT up reply actions

I think the lunge right before the hit makes this a suspendable hit. Even though there was a very small amount of time to react, Brown needs to be smarter than that.

Owner of The Haves & Havlats in the Hockey Wilderness League

by ADN on Oct 29, 2010 5:43 PM CDT up reply actions

Bummer

Mittens was actually playing fairly well this year; not top-line well but respectable. Ohh well. If it means the kids (Wellman and Gillies) get a chance to play for a while it could be a blessing in disguise since Kobasew looked serviceable on that first line and the whole team just seemed to gel better without Mittens and BTE.

by MinnesotaRage on Oct 29, 2010 2:10 PM CDT reply actions

By the way

Notice that they pulled the canopy when Brown was ejected. See, it can be done IF THERE IS TIME.

Proprietor of Hockey Wilderness - We take Minnesota hockey WAY too seriously.

by nathaneide on Oct 29, 2010 2:33 PM CDT reply actions

ckean hit

Brown had already committed to the hit when Miettinen bent down to take the shot. Yes, arm and attached elbow were up, but likely not enough time to get them back down if he realized Miettinen had changed position. Would have been a shoulder to shoulder check otherwise. There was no intent to injure on this check. It was a hit gone wrong in a game that is played at a speed that can be faster than your reaction time and body’s ability to readjust positioning. If it registered to Brown that Miettinen had changed position in the 0.2 seconds before contact, still wasn’t enough time to change position.
Hit gone wrong with bad consequence. But wasn’t meant to injure Miettinen and not a dirty hit IMO.

by brigid22 on Oct 29, 2010 3:09 PM CDT reply actions

The right call was made...

Brown is a hitter, 49/50 hits he is clean and unquestionable. I was at the game, and I didnt think that was a bad hit, I was more concerned about the hit by brown on Zanon. after seeing the replay, it was the right call. it was shoulder to shoulder more than shoulder to head.

I think players need to start realizing that hits from behind or on the "blind"side, are going to be suspend-able. Had mittens not gotten up, he might have been suspended, but since mittens played the rest of the game, nothing further IMO, was justified.

by wild32384 on Oct 29, 2010 7:22 PM CDT reply actions