Video: Brad Stuart's jaw broken on brutal Tom Kostopoulos hit

Yahoo! Sports

Sat Jan 08 12:47am EST

Video: Brad Stuart's jaw broken on brutal Tom Kostopoulos hit

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Brad Stuart (notes) broke his jaw on this brutal hit by Tom Kostopoulos (notes) of the Calgary Flames on Friday night. Warning: There was blood.

Via Red Wings blogger George Malik, comments from Detroit Coach Mike Babcock on Fox Sports Detroit:

"It was an awful hit, it's disgraceful, actually, all you have to do is hit the guy, not hit him in the head, so it's unfortunate that [bleep] like that goes on."

(Only he didn't say "bleep.")

Kostopoulos received two minutes for roughing, a lax punishment that one assumes will be rectified through the NHL's supplemental discipline process. Rule 48 banned "a lateral or blind side hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principal point of contact," and has already led to a handful of suspensions this season.

Argue the semantics of what constitutes a "blindside" hit; fact is that Stuart was facing away from center ice where Kostopoulos was charging, and the principal point of contact was Stuart's head.

Factor in the injury, because you know the NHL will, and additional punishment would seem unavoidable.

Winging It In Motown saw it this way:

Tom Kostopoulos's hit on Brad Stuart was dirty in my book. But since my internet was all wonky I really didn't get a good look at it and can't quite pass judgment yet. To me, it looked like a blindside hit and Stuart's head got the end result (whether "targeted" or not). Kostopoulos should get suspended but I'm more likely to win the lottery in Russia than Colin Campbell do his job.

The Red Wings topped the Flames in a shootout, 5-4.