Dallas Stars Daily Links: Another Fistric Hit Draws Attention

Here's a fun with Internet reporting moment for you. When does a so-called "flying elbow" not draw instant attention from the masses in this era of instant outrage?

The answer, at least in the eyes of a Nashville Predators Examiner.com blogger, came last Friday when Mark Fistric of the Dallas Stars laid a big hit on Shea Weber that has the Predators defenseman out with a concussion.

The Examiner is one of those "pay-for-clicks" sites out there that is slightly more selective than some other outlets when it comes to its writers but still has an interesting history of fact-checking issues. But for your amusement, here's the relevant section from their Tuesday article.

In the closing minutes of Nashville’s final game before the Christmas break, Weber was hit with a flying elbow from Dallas defenseman Mark Fistric. On the hit, Fistric’s elbow appeared to hit Weber in the lower part of the jaw.

Weber took part in a very brief portion of the team’s morning skate Monday before leaving the ice. Following the skate, Predators head coach Barry Trotz said that he did not know the status of Weber for the game, as he had not had time to talk to the training staff at that point.

And here is the hit in question.

Now, to the credit of most Predators fans, the majority of the reaction I've seen after the initial panic is that it was most likely a legal hit that came from Fistric reading Weber's pinch and catching him unprepared. It's certainly not a blatant flying elbow. And since practically no fuss was made about it until after the injury was apparent, I think it's clear that most people who are angry are more worried about the loss of Weber to injury rather than the hit itself.

Their range of reactions can be found here at On The Forecheck.

Weber might be back as soon as Friday, so there is good news for Predators fans. And as Fistric played in Monday's loss to the St. Louis Blues, there is almost certainly no supplementary discipline coming. The league almost always hands out its Shanabans before the offender's next game.

After the jump, catching up with the goalie moves that will be made today, Joe Nieuwendyk talks trade deadline flexibility and Razor knocks back some egg nog.