Fans weren’t happy with New Jersey Devils forward Paul Cotter’s illegal check to the head of New York Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech this past weekend. Cotter is set to have a hearing Monday for the incident—but now, NHL analyst Paul Bissonnette has shared a bold take on the hit, and surprisingly, many agree with him.
The hit happened in the second period of Sunday afternoon’s game between the Devils and Islanders—a game the Islanders ultimately won 1–0. Cotter was charging after the puck in the neutral zone, but Pelech got there first. As a result, Cotter caught him high with his shoulder. He was ejected from the game for an illegal check to the head. Pelech left the ice bleeding and didn’t return.
The Department of Player Safety announced Sunday evening that Cotter will have a hearing Monday. On social media, many have criticized him for what they saw as a reckless and dangerous play.
Paul Bissonnette’s take on Cotter’s hit
The hit was also a hot topic during Sunday’s NHL on TNT broadcast, where Paul Bissonnette broke it down—and surprisingly, he defended Cotter, insisting the hit wasn’t intentional.
“As you can see, he’s puck-focused,” Bissonnette said.
“He thinks he can get to this puck first. He’s looking, ‘I’m going to get this puck,’ and he doesn’t realize Pelech is going to get to it first. He notices too late, and all of a sudden, Pelech has the puck and he follows through.
”A lot of people think he extended his arm, but from another angle, you can actually see it’s still tucked in. As they make contact, he’s on his right edge, so he shifts his weight. I think, as a player, when you’re chasing the puck, you’re more focused on getting to it than on what’s going to happen next.”
Bissonnette even used fellow panelists to demonstrate how Cotter had only a split second to react—and why the motion of his arm seemed natural in the context of the collision. The Spittin’ Chiclets co-host acknowledged the game misconduct, but his explanation of how the play unfolded earned praise online.
“Anyone who’s played hockey should be able to watch that play and see that Biz was spot-on with his take,” one fan said.
“I don’t see how you could call that reckless. It’s unfortunate, but no one could’ve avoided it,” another added.
“He isn’t wrong,” a third chimed in.
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