The incident happened a little over twelve hours ago as I write this, and there are already tons of posts all over social media talking about it. Many are condemning the hit, others saying it was a legal hit blown out of proportion, and still others saying we need more of it in the game. Sorry folks, but this will be #1 in that list. It started out as a Not Awesome on my weekly report but quickly got long enough that I felt it deserved its own article.

In case you didn’t see it, here is a link to a short video. Christian Del Bianco sent a long outlet pass down the floor to Steph Charbonneau, who was running forward but looking behind him so he could catch the ball. (I’ve heard such a pass referred to as a “suicide pass” for that reason.) Rochester goalie Rylan Hartley (himself a victim of multiple concussions) came way out of his crease to stop him, and laid a devastating hit on Charbonneau who had almost no chance to see it coming. Charbonneau got up and made his way off the floor by himself and he did play the rest of the game. Hartley was tossed.

In 2016, Colorado (now Las Vegas) goalie Alex Buque did basically the same thing to Calgary’s Karsen Leung (in fact, Buque didn’t come as far out of his net as Hartley did). Leung missed three games, played in four more that season, but was then forced to retire due to, as Curt Malawsky put it, “life-altering injuries”. That hit, which was legal at the time, ended Leung’s career. For those who have been around long enough, it also reminded me of a similar hit by Buffalo goalie Corey Quinn on Toronto’s Glenn Clark way back in 2003. Luckily Clark was OK and played the rest of that season and three more. Quinn got a major penalty (and served it himself, which was the style at the time) but was not tossed from the game.

Steph Charbonneau

For those saying Hartley’s hit was also legal, here’s the rule that was added the year after the Leung hit:

Rule 70.4 – Contact on a fast breaking opponent

A goalie or player must give a fast-breaking opponent the
opportunity to gain composure after receiving the ball,
provided the player being checked is not in a vulnerable
and or defenseless position, which may include a player’s
head being down or unaware of an impending hit, or
significant distance travelled by the player making the hit.
An appropriate penalty for illegal body checking shall be
assessed based on the severity of the illegal contact.

Aside: The wording of this rule is awkward and misleading. It’s clearly supposed to mean that the goalie/player making the hit has to ensure that the player is not in a vulnerable position before hitting him. But the word “provided” here seems to make it a condition, as in “the goalie must give the opponent the opportunity to gain composure if the player is not in a vulnerable position”, which implies that if the player is in a vulnerable position, the goalie does not have to give that opportunity, which is the exact opposite of the intention of the rule. The league should clean up the wording there.

Since this hit was basically a mirror of the Leung hit, it definitely meets the criteria for the rule. Charbonneau did not have “the opportunity to gain composure”, was “vulnerable”, and was “unaware of an impending hit”. Hartley travelled a “significant distance”.

One of the reasons many people (myself included) love lacrosse is the physicality. I don’t particularly like fighting but I’m all for some good solid (figurative) bone-crunching hits. On first blush, this looked like one of those. But it’s not – the whole reason for that rule change was to avoid hits that have a much higher chance of serious and permanent injury.

Of course, there are lots of people throwing around insults to anyone who doesn’t like the hit and calling for this kind of thing to be showcased and celebrated. Those people are part of the “pro athletes are required to threaten or sacrifice their own health for my entertainment” crowd and can be summarily ignored. We have to remember that lacrosse players are people first, not commodities.

In addition to Leung, players who have lost their careers due to concussions include Merrick Thomson and Ken Montour, and there have been dozens of others. For those asking “If I’m the goalie, what am I supposed to do, just let him catch the ball and score?” I say that if the alternative is the potential ending of a career (or two – Ken Montour never returned to teaching or lacrosse after his concussion), then yes, let him catch the ball. If you’re the goalie, whether he scores or not is up to you.