It’s a brand new week of NHL, collegiate, and global hockey, which means time to reminisce over seven days of the bone-crushing, cringe-inducing hits that make hockey the best sport in the world.

Unfortunately, this week the majority of hits can be filed in the “don’t do this” section of body checking.

Florida’s Connor Brickley dished a hard hit on Chicago’s Jan Rutta, catching him in the head and knocking him unconscious. After the game, Rutta called it a “welcome to the NHL” hit.

Jan Rutta got smoked. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/L0QWmYzA9Y

— Cristiano Simonetta (@CMS_74_) December 13, 2017

Colorado’s Erik Johnson plays a mean game and ultimately crossed the line with a big slash and late, unnecessary hit on Tampa Bay’s Vladislav Namestnikov.

Erik Johnson needs to be gone for quite a while. I have 0 tolerance for guys who just lose their cool and have no regard for the safety of other players. No excuse for that.https://t.co/TJ6xnXmfBZ

— Derek Jedamski (@D_Jedamski) December 17, 2017

Nashville’s Austin Watson landed this late, blindside hit on Calgary’s Garnet Hathaway.

Watson hit on Hathaway https://t.co/ZXLUXy1RBC #Watson #Hathaway #Flames #CGY #Calgary #NHL #Predators #Nashville #NSH #Preds #Hit @brooksbratten @AdamVingan @TheoFleury14

— Dva Experta (@Dva_Experta) December 17, 2017

Vancouver’s Jake Virtanen gets his stick up on Nashville’s Alexei Emelin, who is usually on the other side of hits like this.

From these two angles the Virtanen hit doesn't look that awful, but maybe another close in angle shows more? Either way, first passion we've seen all night. pic.twitter.com/tpfrguZ44x

— Wyatt Arndt (@TheStanchion) December 14, 2017

A simple yet forceful hit from Vancouver’s Brendan Gaunce sends Winnipeg’s Joel Armia to the ice.

I enjoyed this hit from Gaunce pic.twitter.com/CchEPjByMg

— Rob Williams (@RobTheHockeyGuy) December 12, 2017

Here’s a prime example of how not to hit, brought to you by an unidentifiable league.

A bigger hit than Disney on ice ?#IceHit #NHL pic.twitter.com/ILyrnwXrQB

— NedsAU (@NedsAus) December 13, 2017

By Jacob Messing

Have a question or a comment for Jacob? You can find him on Twitter @JMessing23.