Ryan Smyth Was Knocked Unconscious In Some Random Canadian League By One Of The Dirtiest Hits You'll Ever See

HockeyFeed- Beloved former National Hockey League forward Ryan Smyth was knocked out cold last night during a AAA senior game, and there has been considerable outrage on social media regarding the hit.

Smyth took an illegal elbow to the head from forward Kyle Sheen roughly midway through the third period of the match up between Smyth's Stony Plain Eagles and Sheen's Lacombe Generals.

While there were calls for a suspension against Sheen from the Eagles, who claim Sheen had targeted Smyth in the past, that outrage is likely to build to a fever pitch once the video of the hit begins to make the rounds.

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I am going to be honest, I have never heard of Senior AAA. I get the impression that it's Canada's much more skilled, much more competitive, much more prestigious, and much more organized version of high level beer league hockey. For that reason I have to believe that this disgustingly unnecessary cheap shot wasn't as out of the ordinary as it appeared to those that spend their time watching games between players that are held accountable for their actions.

I'm not excusing Kyle Sheen for being a reckless scumbag that still hasn't gotten over the fact that he never made a name for himself in any league that was actually relevant. However, this hit was delivered well after the whistle for one reason and one reason - jealousy. The person that threw it was envious that the person on the receiving end of it accomplished what he never could. Ryan Smyth scored damn near 400 goals in the NHL, and - while I appreciate that he loves the game so much that he continues to play it competitively - that only leaves him vulnerable to the cheapest of shots from a 'never-was' that is still spiteful that his dream was never realized.

Kyle Sheen is a 33 year old that doesn't even have a recorded statistic on HockeyDB since he was in his mid-20's. Knocking a local legend unconscious well after the puck went in the net is the most noteworthy thing he has ever done on a hockey rink. Exacting revenge on every person that was more successful than him has basically become his life's work, and apparently he doesn't care how many rules or jaws he has to break to do it. I don't have a problem with Ryan Smyth continuing to pursue his passion well into his 40's, but instances like this is why most NHLers hang them up once they realize their run at the top is over. It's just not worth it to put their health at risk against people that have nothing (including pride and shame) to lose. I'm sure Kyle Sheen has a hefty suspension coming his way. Unfortunately, it's one that won't cost him anything but his ability to keep playing relatively meaningless hockey for the rest of the season.

​Luckily the target of his blatant resentment is okay...

Thank you all for the well wishes. I'm home resting with my family & hoping for a speedy recovery. The EMT's and Eagles staff were amazing.

— Ryan Smyth (@RealSmytty94) March 13, 2017