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Canwest News Service
The Vancouver Canucks don't think Willie Mitchell's hit on Chicago captain Jonathan Toews will affect tonight's rematch with the Blackhawks at GM Place tonight.
But don't tell that to Ben Eager and the Hawks, who just may be looking for retribution against the Canucks shut-down defenceman.
Mitchell had just exited the penalty box and caught the unsuspecting Toews with a thunderous but legal shoulder to shoulder hit that left him barely able to get to the bench. It helped spark the Canucks to a 3-2 road win on Oct. 21.
Toews missed the next six games with a concussion. He's been back in action since Nov. 9.
The hit on Toews got huge traffic on YouTube and was even one of several incidents brought up at the recent NHL GMs meetings.
Mitchell was concerned about Toew's condition following that game and wasn't in the mood to discuss it much on Saturday.
"It's just hockey, it was on the ice, it was a clean hit," said Mitchell, who's spoken to Toews since the incident.
"Ask Jon about it, he'll tell you that, too."
Head coach Alain Vigneault said he thought the two teams will have more pressing business tonight.
"It was a hockey hit," said Vigneault. "There was no intent to injure on Willie's part. It was just part of the game. Our focus is going to be on two points and I think that's what their focus is going to be on."
Vigneault said he's skeptical about talk of tightening the rules on body checking to reduce hits to the head.
"This is a physical game with contact and in that type of game there is going to be some injuries," he said. "I don't think it's something we should take out. You want good, clean hits. You don't want shots to the head or shots from behind, but when they are open-ice hits, that's what this game is all about. There are goals and saves, but a big, beautiful part of this game are the hits." — Jim Jamieson
