Hockey is the best contact sport on the planet. It combines amazing skill with breathtaking speed all while players use physical force to knock each other off the puck and out of the play. It is exhilarating to watch, except of course when ruthless illegal hits take place.
Shane Doan and Martin Havlat are both elite NHL players and key parts to any success the Coyotes have. The hits they made in Tuesday's playoff game against the Kings were unacceptable and they should both serve a one game suspension.
Havlat's hit is the more obvious suspension. Dustin Brown had his back turned the entire way to the boards and didn't ever actually touch the puck. Havlat hit him up high and put Brown in a very precarious position. He does not have a history of illegal hits, but these are the areas the NHL needs to make a big effort to clean up. There was zero excuse for that kind of hit, and it truly puts someone's career and even life in danger.
Doan's hit was another that is unacceptable. Regardless of when Trevor Lewis decides to turn his back to protect the puck, players cannot leap into hits. Forwards turn all the time to create space and time when a defender is skating towards them. If Doan had made a clean play on Lewis, he would have been lower on the body and probably even wrapped up Lewis taking him to the boards legally rather than bouncing his face off the dasher and picking up a major penalty. Both plays are 100% preventable on the players part, and the NHL must take immediate action to curb these infractions. Hockey is a better game when it's a clean game.
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