'I've Seen the Hit About 15 Times': Mattias Ekholm and Leon Draisaitl Understand the Human Aspect of the Hit on Mikko Rantanen
Mattias Ekholm spoke to the media last night following his hit on Colorado Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen.
EDMONTON -- "I hate to see that he (Mikko Rantanen) was stumbling getting out of there - I never want to hit anyone so they get hurt."
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5RH01UeONo[/embed]
That was Mattias Ekholm's first thought regarding his hit on Mikko Rantanen last night. The Edmonton Oilers ended up besting a tired Colorado Avalanche team by a 6-2 score. The Avalanche had played the Minnesota Wild the night before.
It was an entertaining game that featured a lot - Connor McDavid potting two goals, Evander Kane breaking his goal-less streak and Leon Draisaitl hitting two personal milestones.
All of that took a backseat to the hit and the health of Rantanen himself.
"First of all you don't want anyone to get hurt out there - especially head injuries," Draisaitl said to reporters (including The Hockey News) after the game last night.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jcm_ra2GCP0[/embed]
It's encouraging to see this kind of reaction to a hit of this nature. Hockey players are people first and foremost. Sure, they are competitive with themselves and each other - but that doesn't take priority over the health of an opposing player.
Ekholm doesn't believe that he can do anything different on the play - other than what he did, "I've seen the hit about 15 times in intermission, I cannot see anything different that I can do. I think it's a shoulder on shoulder [hit]."
"The play happened so fast...it just so happened to be that he wasn't expecting it. If you look on the replay, I'm stopping right before the hit. I could have gone right through him, but I thought I let up."
Ekholm has been in the NHL long enough to be understanding in this situation. He clearly explains his side of the event, and from looking at the clips you can see that his assessment isn't off base.
After the game, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told the media that Rantanen would be "under evaluation for a while."
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvCMLFtKTFU[/embed]
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