UPDATE(9:05 PM EST) -- Salmela has refractured broken nose and lost several teeth. Will not return tonight, but will be okay. (per Jay Grossman)
Newly acquired Anssi Salmela was streaking down the right wing and cut across to score a nice shorthanded goal. For Salmela, it meant the beginning of a new career after leaving Atlanta in the Ilya Kovalchuk deal. Seconds after the goal, however, Salmela’s silky smooth score was all for naught, as a Jeff Carter hit left Salmela without movement.
After the hard hit, Salmela appeared to have struck his head on the ice. He laid on his stomach motionless for a very long time, and was eventually taken off the ice on a stretcher. He was able to move his legs fine, but doctors and trainers appeared to be worried about a possible spinal injury given how careful they were moving him.
The hit was immediately in question as a dirty hit, cheap shot, or head shot. Judging by the replay, it was a shoulder on shoulder check by Carter and the injury was caused by Salmela’s head hitting the ice. Regardless if this hit falls in the proverbial “gray area” we’ve come to hear about with these hits that end with injuries, there’s no doubt that Colin Campbell will certainly be in contact with Carter about the play.
What do you think? Was this a clean hit or a dirty hit? Discuss it in the comments.
I will update this post later on when the details of Salmela’s injury is revealed.
Derek can be reached at derek@peteprose.com
Derek Boucher is a native of Toronto, Canada. He covers all sports for Pete Prose.
E-mail him at derek@peteprose.com 
The hit was questionable at best. It looks shoulder to shoulder but the follow through u can see him swing his elbow up and if ya slow it down u can see his head hit the top of the shoulder. Deserving of a fine, not a suspension, because of the elbow follow through
PS- you can always count on Flyers fans to show respect. I like how about 1/20 of the crowd gives a little clap. Jeez they are the worst
Take the chance and feel the pain baby! Keep your head up and always be aware of your surroundings. Clean hit and just good hard hitting Flyers hockey!!!!!
And AGAIN CARTER!!! this was third or fourth time this season. come on nhl what have to happen that this can bee taken out from nhl???
carter is little missy who have to play dirty to be able hit hard!
Look, I hate both teams, but that was a cheap shot, it’s headhunting 101, see a guy not looking at you, lower the boom. Those hits used to be fine in the 70s and 80s when the skating was not as crisp and guys weren’t 6′4″ and 235lbs. Somebody is going to get killed out there eventually if the NHL doesn’t curb these blindsided hits. Is it really a “necessary part of the game” as Ron Maclean or Don Cherry would tell you, no it isn’t. I can enjoy a game just as much without a big hit that sends somebody to the hospital. Come on NHL, get with it, the solution is simple, for every blindside hit, the player who does the hitting is suspended until the player he hit comes back. Done.
JEFF CARTER is a PIG!! :@ really dirty hit!
How can something be “head hunting” if no contact to the head is made?
could you really expect anything else from a dirt flyer?
I’m not sure how anyone with a pair of eyes can say that was a dirty hit. I’m not even sure if most of the people commenting on this article are literate. If you watch the replay, it’s a shoulder to shoulder hit, I can’t believe that people are complaining, you guys make hockey sound like fucking women’s lacrosse. Bunch of fucking pansies.
I think it was a cheap shot, but pretty clean. Blindside hits happen alot. I don’t like how he lowered the boom even after the shot was made, but I doubt he could tell it was a goal or not.
It’s just a cheap shot, period. Is it part of the “gray area,” sure. But that doesn’t make it any less cheap.
However, I think we have to separate the actual collision from the result. The collision wasn’t that bad. He just happened to land on his face.
Bill Graham atleast was half right even though he contradicted himself.
Its a clean hit, but a cheap shot? No sir. Salmela went head down into the slot with 3 flyers on his tail, he deserved it as much as lindros did for keeping his head down all of those times. But, this case isn’t anything like that anyways considering the shoulder did not hit his head.
What goes around, comes around. I recall Lindros hitting his opponents hard. Not sure if that had something to do with Stevens’ wicked hit (shoulder-to-head) that ended Lindros’ career. Hopefully Carter will look over his shoulder for the next assassin that may fly his way :<(
Scott Stevens’ hit was nothing like this one.
This was shoulder-shoulder, not shoulder-head. Jeff Carter cannot control what happens after he hits another player in the shoulder, period. Guys can have their own shoulder hit them in the head, guys can fall with huge impact on their own face, guys can crash weirdly into the boards, etc. What happens after a legal hit is never the hitters fault, sometimes bad things happen and in this case it did.
It sucks bigtime for Salmela, but you can’t place the blame on Carter for playing the game.
MMAWeekly.com scores the round 10-9 for Nover, but the fight 29-28 for Emerson.
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carter gave a clean hit… salmela should of kept his head up…every idiot who claims to be into hockey knows never put your head down…
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Clean hit or dirty hit. The difference in this case is as much as the difference between dog shit and cat shit and I don´t like the smell of neither one, the goal was already made. I think that in the heat of the moment Carter took out his frustration on not being able to prevent the goal upon Salmela with intention to cause harm and not even try to stop his actions and that´s what made it dirty. Life and game goes on and we certainly will see similar hittings in the future unfortunately. After all it´s just a boys game.
Come on, shoulder on shoulder hit? Watch it again, 4:17. Shoulder hits Salmela’s head, and after that, Salmela’s shoulder. Salmela seems to be unconscious BEFORE he hits the ice.
clean hit, however with clear intention to hurt the other player. this goes under the category disrespect towards other players,(= disrespect towards the game).
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