"Perfectly timed and well executed": Former NHL D-man makes his opinion on Zach Whitecloud's controversial hit on Matthew Knies extremely clear

By R. Nikhil Parshy

Modified Nov 22, 2024 11:30 GMT

Vegas Golden Knights D-man Zach Whitecloud's hit on Toronto Maple Leafs' Matthew Knies continues to draw opinions from the hockey community. The controversial check has polarized analysts and fans alike, as it was not deemed a major penalty on the field.

In the second period during Wednesday's game between the Golden Knights and the Leafs, Whitecloud impeded Knies near the red line. The Leafs forward immediately fell to the ground with his teammates rushing to his aid. Toronto's Simon Benoit would rough up Whitecloud after the hit.

However, the Toronto crowd was disappointed when the officials ruled the check as a minor penalty for Whitecloud. In fact, Benoit was given a double minor that ended up giving a two minute advantage to the Knights. Differing replays showed that Whitecloud's feet had not left the ground, leaving the matter ambiguous to judge.

There has been a lot of discussion about the hit already. On Thursday, former NHL defenseman Mike Commodore joined the conversation, stating on his X account that the hit was legal and the 27-year-old was well within his rights to make that play.

"I am a day late to the party… IMO that is a perfectly timed & well executed body check. Not even sure what the argument is here to be honest," Commodore wrote.

NHL Department of Player Safety releases explainer video on Whitecloud-Knies incident

Looking at the controversial nature of the check, NHL's Department of Player Safety released a video explaining the 'minor-penalty' ruling. In the first video of its kind since 2018, they compared and contrasted the nature of Whitecloud's challenge to recent checks that resulted in major penalties.

This included the Leafs' own Ryan Reaves hit on Edmonton Oilers' Darnell Nurse and LA Kings' Tanner Jeannot's hit on Vancouver Canucks' Brock Boeser.

The Player Safety Department focused on the point that in order to invoke Rule 48 - illegal hit to the head - two particular standards have to be met. One that states that the head was the major point of contact and the other that the hit was avoidable.

They added that Whitecloud's challenge went through the body and onto the head and there was no elevation on the D-man's end to elevate his feet in order to generate more power on the hit. This made the contact unavoidable and a regular ice hockey hit.