Funny how no one ever say Volchenkov hits too hard.

The guy hit was nothing out of the ordinary. The kid who got hit did the wrong thing.

I haven't seen Volchenkov throw that sort of hit though either to be fair.

When have you ever seen the A-Train slam into a guy from behind like that at that sort of speed?

IMO, this lends some legitimacy to the no-touch icing debate.

If you are trying to convince me, you are wasting your time...and the last part of your comment doesn't even deserve a reply.

This^^

I've seen hits from A-train that bothered me but not to the point were I don't even want to watch the replay.

Yup, it does.

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So your saying that the kid who got hit is at no fault? He saw the hit coming, turned his back to protect the puck and got crunched.

As for your high horse approach its better that you don't reply.

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shut the funk up when grown folk are talking and you just might learn something!

this wasn't an icing play. Fanelli is playin the puck to his teammate when he gets hit? no?

Yeah. He turned his back to the player slightly to make the pass to his teammate. It wasn't an icing or anything.

It doesn't have to be icing to raise debate on whether there should be icing or not.

The hit is very similar to that sort of play - defender waiting to get his touch on the puck, attacker screaming in to lay a hit and hopefully knock the puck loose.

I still agree with what 13 said - I don't see anything to suggest that this player was trying to headhunt, but that was the end result because of his speed and his form.

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Yep,

that pretty much sums up my opinion too. An unfortunate turn of events that results every so often when such a fast paced and physical sport is played.

While I wouldn't go so far as to say it was Fanelli's fault, I don't think the hitter is totally to blame either. It's an inevitable kind of injury, like a skate blade to the (unprotected) back of the legs... The real miracle is that some of these injuries don't happen more often, but the truth is that nothing can/will be done until they do.

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This wouldn't happen on an icing play, because in the NHL in a race for an iced puck you're not allowed to hit the other player

Why does anyone have to be to blame for it? No touch icing and hope for a full recovery... done..

And yet it still happens.. The senators did it a few times last year and got penalties for it.. Just because it is against the rules doesn't mean some players still do it.

By Jeff Hicks, Mercury News Services

Has Ben Fanelli been speaking in hospital?

“No,” said Rob Hooper, the agent for the Kitchener Rangers rookie.

Fanelli, whose head slammed into a Zamboni entrance glass support at the Aud on Friday in just his seventh Ontario Hockey League game, remained in intensive care at Hamilton General on Monday.

Fanelli has skull and facial fractures. His condition did not change.

The 16-year-old form Oakville was critical, but stable.

No news was not the good news all had hoped for.

“We’d love to be able to give more positive information,” said Hooper, of Kitchener.

“There’s nothing that would make me feel better than to tell you right now that progress is happening at a torrid pace. But that would be inaccurate. Things are moving along very slowly.”

The OHL has begun its probe into the hit that landed Fanelli in intensive care.

Erie Otters overager Mike Liambas, who checked Fanelli hard, is suspended during the review. Liambas, a 20-year-old from Woodbridge, was given a match penalty for boarding on the play.

During his four years in the OHL, Liambas has five goals and 357 penalty minutes.

The Rangers were part of an OHL conference call on the Fanelli-Liambas situation Monday afternoon.

OHL commissioner Dave Branch spoke with the Rangers staff as the league ponders a lengthy suspension for Liambas.

An in-person meeting with the Erie Otters has yet to occur.

“We’re moving forward,” Branch said of the investigation’s status.

Liambas hit London’s John Tavares in a similar fashion during a playoff game last March. Tavares went hard into the boards but was uninjured.

Liambas was given a double-minor for checking from behind on the Tavares hit.

But none of that concerns the Fanellis right now. They just want their son to recover.

“The only thing that’s going to make them feel better right now is if we can see some progress in Ben’s health,” said Hooper, who spent much of Sunday with Fanelli’s parents in Hamilton.

“That’s their only focus. There’s nothing else on their mind other than Ben getting better.”

Frank and Sue Fanelli both work for the City of Oakville.

Hooper said they are a little overwhelmed by the situation and wish to stay out of the media spotlight.

Hooper has spent time with Ben — a teen he describes as happy-go-lucky and articulate — in the ICU.

“It’s very tough,” he said of seeing Fanelli in such rough shape.

“Ben is a great athlete and a great person. You don’t wish this on any person or player.”

Fanelli, who only became a regular part of the Rangers lineup two weeks earlier, was just getting started in his junior career.

“He’d only dipped his big toe into the Ontario Hockey League,” Hooper said.

“That’s even more difficult. You know there’s so much hockey ahead of him. We certainly hope he can regain his health so he can come back and play. But it’s way too early to determine where this is all going to fall in.”

Agents deal with players in many situations as part of their job. On Friday, Hooper was rinkside as medical staff worked on Fanelli and prepared to take him to hospital.

“You become closer to the player and the family,” Hooper said. “You’re always trying to give them the best guidance you can possibly give them. Sometimes, when things like this happen, even though you can’t accept the blame, you’re always like, ‘Geez, did I bring him into the right league and put him in the right position?’ Yet you can never predict when things like this are going to happen.”

Hooper hopes he can bring more encouraging news on Fanelli’s recovery in the days ahead.

“We need positive news, first and foremost for Ben and his family,” he said.

“And secondly, just for the game of hockey. You hate to see this thing because incidents like this, it just doesn’t do anything for the sport.”

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Thanks for that article SA

Per Bob McKenzie's Twitter: OHL suspends Mike Liambis for balance of the season, including playoffs. Liambis is in his final OHL season so he is finished in the O.

Sigh.. it was a boarding penalty that went awry.. shouldn't end all chances of this kid having a career in hockey. He certainly didn't mean to severly injure the other player...

Wow, that's overboard IMO, but I'm not the one who calls the shots so it doesn't matter

David Branch (Commissioner of the Ontario Hockey League & CHL President) has a history of coming down hard on players who break the rules of the game.

It may have been an innocent play; but Ben Fanelli may never have a normal life again, so IMO the punishment fits the crime.

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I think there should be a lengthy suspension but I don't think it's Liambis' fault that Fanelli turned at the last second like that

I agree with SA, it's not like this is just a dirty hit. The actual hit wasn't bad, it's just that Fanelli made that last second move which made the hit MUCH worse. 9 times out of 10 that would have just been a big check, and both players skate away. This was more of an accident than a dirty play.

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