Here's the moment everyone in the NHL is going to be talking about in the morning: Willie Mitchell's clean, but devastating hit on Jonathan Toews in Chicago on Wednesday night as the Blackhawks hosted the Canucks.
The hit, which came with the Canucks trailing 2-1 in a game that they eventually won 3-2, has already been talked about as the turning point in on NHL On The Fly: Final, especially as the hit came straight out of a shorthanded situation for Vancovuer, with Mitchell making the hit right after coming out of the penalty box. Certainly, the hit was textbook clean, despite the fact that it left Toews stunned and stumbling. Mitchell led with his shoulder, didn't target his opponent's head and his skates never left the ice. Toews head was down and he was skating on train tracks. I know in the past others have commented on hits like this one with the admonition that you, "need to keep your head on a swivel." In this case, truer words were never spoken.
UPDATE: It's important to point out that the Blackhawks retaliated against Mitchell in the immediate aftermath of the hit and the refs stopped play, something which resulted in wiping out a Vancouver scoring chance. Though the Canucks would get a power play out of that fracas (a Kris Versteeg double minor was served by him and Patrick Kane), Mitchell, who never committed a penalty, was sent to the box for roughing. Go figure.
ANOTHER UPDATE: I recorded this game to DVR, but I'm only getting to it now. On the ensuing power play after the Mitchell hit, Dave Bolland delivered a very nasty slash to Henrik Sedin's wrists. It was easy to tell it hurt, because Sedin let out a yelp that was picked up by TSN's microphones. I shouldn't have, but I laughed when I heard it. Now I feel shame.
Tags: Chicago Blackhawks, Jonathan Toews, Vancouver Canucks, Willie Mitchell
