Trouba's hit on Khaira

[Brewin Flames]

Chicago Blackhawks' Jujhar Khaira taken off on stretcher after hit by New York Rangers' Jacob Trouba

 

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10:34 PM ET

• ESPN News Services

CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks forward Jujhar Khaira was stretchered off the ice after he was leveled by New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba on Tuesday night.

The Blackhawks said Khaira suffered an "upper-body blow'' and was taken by ambulance to Northwestern Hospital for further testing.

 

"He's up, he's talking, he's very responsive,'' interim coach Derek King said after Chicago's 6-2 loss. "I think he wants to get back on the ice. He's done some tests already, as far as what the doc told me, but he has some more tests to be done. So we won't know the extent of the injury until after these tests.''

 

Khaira's head was down as he gathered in the puck 6:10 into the second period, and Trouba appeared to drive his right shoulder into his chin. Khaira's head bounced hard off the ice, and there was no sign of any movement as the Blackhawks and Rangers scuffled nearby.

 

A stretcher was wheeled onto the ice, and medical personnel worked on Khaira as each team looked on from the bench area. A handful of his teammates and the Rangers tapped the stretcher as Khaira was taken off.

 

"Personally, I was pretty shaken,'' Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said of the hit. "I'm not going to lie to you. Just glad to hear he's doing OK.''

The Blackhawks' Riley Stillman fought Trouba about two minutes later.

 

"It's a bad effect. I didn't feel too good and I know our player didn't feel too good, either," New York coach Gerard Gallant said. "It's a part of hockey, it's a big hit, but I don't think it helped the game. To see a guy like that, it's hard to look at.''

 

Khaira, 27, has two goals and no assists in 17 games in his first season with the Blackhawks.

[Math]

Absolutely unfortunate, but the hit was clean. The forthcoming fight between Stillman and Trouba was however absurd: why should Trouba be fought if it was 100% legit and no intent to hurt despite the consequences ?

[mojo1917]

7 minutes ago, Math said:

Absolutely unfortunate, but the hit was clean. The forthcoming fight between Stillman and Trouba was however absurd: why should Trouba be fought if it was 100% legit and no intent to hurt despite the consequences ?

I'm not a fan of fighting after a clean hit either.

 

I disagree that this was a clean hit. 

Looked to me like Trouba's shoulder's primary point of contact was Kharia's face.

Also, Trouba then ran at Debrinkat after everyone just watched a dude get stretchered off.

 

Good for him for answering and whooping Stillman's ass though.

 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Personally thought the hit WAS clean, outcome aside, as Trouba not only seemed to keep his arm tucked to his body, but at no point seemed to aim his limb towards the head.
Looked like it was mostly arm/shoulder to chest, with Khaira's head catching some of it due to his height compared to Trouba.

Also, Trouba's reaction afterwards wasn't the type from a man who was being maliciously predatory then admiring his handiwork.
He looked genuinely concerned.

Khaira simply did not take into account who was on the ice and where everyone was.
He stopped looking ahead for a bit WHILE his body was still moving forward, and that was all the time needed for Trouba to close in and make contact.
Kinda like walking or even driving a vehicle, moving forward, then looking off to the side when you shouldn't have....then something either hitting you or you hitting something.

I suppose the so-called "code" called for someone to fight Trouba and for the NY defenseman to "answer", but yea, that is kinda ridiculous that he had to fight over what I considered a clean, NHL big boy hit.

Supposedly players "know" when something is done with bad intentions or not.
If that were true then these fights after legit hits wouldn't happen like they do.

But emotions run high, teams and players don't want to seem "soft", so when something like this happens, even if the player hitting wasn't being dirty, fights happen, unfortunately.

Not a fan of either team in particular, and I really do hope Khaira is alright, but IMO, Trouba's hit was fine, and Khaira, well, he needs to look at where he is going and just who in the hell is around him at all times.

The NHL player safety board may look at this differently, due to the outcome, and if Trouba is punished by the league, it is just further proof that hockey may be going in the direction of flag football.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

From NHL . com:
Good to hear Khaira will ultimately be alright, although he has to go through concussion protocols now.

 

CHICAGO -- Jujhar Khaira was released from the hospital Wednesday, one day after the Chicago Blackhawks forward was taken off the ice on a stretcher following a hit by New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba at United Center.
 

"Despite the significant injury, his prognosis is excellent, and we expect a full recovery," Blackhawks physician Dr. Michael Terry said. "At this point, it is too early to put a timeline on return to play."
 

Khaira is in the NHL concussion protocol and was placed on injured reserve.

He received a pass from Seth Jones in the defensive zone and was looking down for the puck when Trouba stepped up from the blue line and checked him in the second period. No penalty was assessed on the play.
 

Khaira fell backward onto the ice. The medical staff called for a stretcher after checking on Khaira, who was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

"He's up, he's talking, he's very responsive and I think he wants to get back on the ice," Blackhawks coach Derek King said after the 6-2 loss. "He's done some tests already as far as what the [doctor] told me, but he has some more tests to be done. So we won't know the extent of the injury until after these tests. ... But he's talking, he's coherent, I guess. It's a scary situation to see."
 

The game was delayed with 13:50 remaining in the period. The Rangers scored the final four goals of the game in the third period.

"Didn't see much, to be honest with you," New York coach Gerard Gallant said. "I saw it on video after, looking if he stepped up and the guy had his head down bad. You just hate to see somebody get hit that hard. In my eyes it was all very clean, it's just he had his head down big time looking at the puck and 'Troubs' stepped into him.
 

"It's a bad effect. I didn't feel too good and our players didn't feel too good either. It's a part of hockey and it's a big hit. I know there is momentum in games, but to see a guy like that, really, it's hard to look at."

Khaira, who signed as a free agent with the Blackhawks on July 28, scored two goals in 17 games prior to Tuesday.

"Personally, I was pretty shaken. I'm not going to lie to you," Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said. "I'm just glad to hear he's doing OK. It [stinks] that happens sometimes."
 

The Blackhawks recalled forwards Mike Hardman and Philipp Kurashev from Rockford of the American Hockey League on Wednesday and assigned defensemen Wyatt Kalynuk and Ian Mitchell to Rockford.

Chicago plays at the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN2, NBCSCH, ESPN+, NHL LIVE).

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Meanwhile, Jacob Trouba continues his Reign of Hitting Terror.
Tonight, in the game against the Avalanche, he blew up Nathan MacKinnon, and YES, that hit was clean as well, and MacK had to get removed from the game and the initial report was HE is in concussion protocol.

Of course, Gabriel Landeskog went after Trouba after he KO'ed MacK.
Landeskog did get an extra two minutes for instigation.

Tell you what.... I will nominate Jacob Trouba for the Kronwall award right now!
I don't like guys having their livelihood  threatened, but Jacob Trouba plays the game hard, and so far, plays it right, and he shouldn't shy away from being that kind of Kronwallian intimidator on the ice.

Everyone playing against him?
Pay &^%$ing attention out there, dammit!

Edited December 9, 2021 by TropicalFruitGirl26

[Math]

Interesting insight brought out by TVA Sports: the first to blame is the NHLPA who failed to protect the player. Khaira has a huge history of concussions (and severe ones) and according to them, he should never have been eligible to play after his last concussion where he totally blacked out after a fight against the Flames.