During Wednesdays Blackhawks vs. Red Wings preseason game, the Hawks Ben Smith was knocked out cold by Brendan Smith. Brendan Smith of the Red Wings hit Ben as he was in a one on one situation at the Wings side of the ice. The hit definitely looked illegal and like a case of head hunting. Brendan was handed a major penalty and escorted off the ice.
We asked our in house NHL expert (Sean Keenan) his thoughts on the hit:
Ben Smith was the victim of a headshot tonight against the red wings. Ben Smith is projected to play on the Blackhawks 4th line this year. He came into local folk lore last year when he scored a game tying goal against the Canucks last year in the playoffs. IMO the hit was relatively legal. It wasn’t a blindside hit and there didn’t seem to be any foul play.
[youtube width=”640″ height=”390″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj-_C1qyFrg[/youtube]
