There weren’t many people who went out of their way to defend the brutal hit that Toronto Maple Leafs’ Ryan Reaves delivered to Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse over the weekend, and there still aren’t, but not everyone is willing to. make one one hundred percent of the blame at the feet of the man who delivered the blow.

Since Reaves received a massive suspension from the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety, there have been some commentators who have said that Nurse should also have done a better job of being aware of his surroundings and to protect himself. . One such commentator is veteran NHL analyst Don Cherry, who in his most recent podcast suggested that in his era of NHL hockey, any player who came behind the net the way Nurse did would be hit with great success.

“You know it’s a funny thing,” Cherry began his the latest podcast. “No one will ever come with their heads down like that because the wings would leave and as soon as they saw you do that once they’d get you next time.”

Although Cherry’s podcast was released after Reaves was suspended Sunday, it was recorded Sunday morning and Cherry accurately predicted how many games Reaves would get for his offense.

“He’s going to get 5,” Cherry said when asked about the pending suspension.

Cherry is admittedly more of an old-school hockey guy, but he was far from alone in his line of thinking. In the immediate aftermath of the shot, former NHLer Paul Bissonnette also criticized Nurse’s way around the net and continued to defend his position on social media over the weekend.

“Tough situation for Reavo,” Bissonnette said on Hockey Night in Canada. “It looks like (Nurse) was still in front of the corner you know you’re anticipating to round the net and maybe hit them in the face, in the ridge, and (Nurse) just never rounds his shoulder so he goes . his susceptible head.

“It’s just disgusting that he’s putting it right in the button,” Bissonnette added.

Bissonnette released a 3-minute long explanation of the hit after his appearance on Hockey Night in Canada, in which he again strongly maintained that Reaves had no ill intent on the play and was instead the victim of unfortunate circumstances. You can check out this explanation in the short clip below: