Scary scene in Minnesota on Tuesday as Wild defenseman Keith Ballard suffered what appeared to be a significant injury when he was hit into the boards by New York Islanders forward Matt Martin.
The incident happened behind the play, which was immediately stopped as Ballard appeared to be briefly knocked out and be in a great deal of trouble. He remained on the ice for several minutes. A stretcher was brought out for him, but Ballard managed to somehow stumble off of the ice to the locker room with the help of team trainers.
Here is a look at the play.
After Ballard dumps the puck into the New York zone, Martin continues toward him and hits him into the boards long after the puck was dumped. Whether there was any malicious intent behind it or not, that has to be considered a late hit.
In the aftermath of the Robert Bortuzzo-Jaromir Jagr (watch it here) hit last week there was a lot of discussion as to how much time has to pass for the NHL to consider a hit to be late (.50 seconds seems to be the unofficial-official standard). But the bottom line is you're not allowed to hit a guy that doesn't have the puck, and the whole concept of "finishing your check" doesn't give you the freedom to take a run at a guy after he's already given up the puck. If you have already started the process of checking a guy, and then he passes it or shoots it, you are allowed to "finish" that.
But if you start the process of the check after the guy has given up the puck, which seems to happen here, that is probably not going to fly with the league. Especially when there is a significant injury on the play and since Martin showed no sign of letting up.
There was no penalty called on the play.
On Martin's next shift, Minnesota's Kyle Brodziak fought him.
