Sportsnet Broadcaster Sam Constentino Under Fire About Comments on Zach Whitecloud's Hit on Matthew Knies
Sportsnet panelist Sam Consentino took a lot of criticism last night after he explained the minor penalty call on Zach Whitecloud for his hit on Matthew Knies.
The Toronto Maple Leafs took down the Vegas Golden Knights last night, but lost forward Matthew Knies after he took a hit to the head during the second period.
This is the second headshot involving a Leafs player in recent days, but this one had a far different outcome than Reaves' hit on Darnell Nurse.
The Leafs enforcer was not only ejected from the game after the hit, but he also received a five-game suspension from the Department of Player Safety.
Last night, Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud received nothing more than a minor penalty for roughing.
During the intermission report, Sportsnet panelist Sam Consentino shared the league's opinion on the play, which drew heavy criticism from fans.
Part of the explanation was that Knies had his head down. While it is true that he was leaning forward, his head was clearly up, something fans pointed out.
One fan went so far as to call them out for just parroting the league's stance.
After all, it does sound like Consentino is more or less saying nonsense. We can all see the video.
His head was up. Knies' head was hit first. Whitecloud did leave his feet to make the hit.
Of course, fans compared the hit to Ryan Reaves' hit on Darnell Nurse just a few days ago.
Particularly, fans compared the discourse from Reaves' hit to that which we saw last night.
It is easy for fans to point out the hypocrisy. Consentino himself said that you have to be responsible for your hit in regards to Reaves, but didn't bat an eye at this one.
One fan went so far as to criticize Sportsnet as a whole for their coverage of the play.
They told them to take note of the comments on the post, which were virtually universal in their criticism.
That being said, it is unlikely that any of the panelists, including Sam, are in jeopardy of losing their jobs. Still though, it is tough defending certain plays when it makes you look dumb or worse, hypocritical.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Zachary Werenski | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
| Sean Monahan | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jesper Bratt | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Frederick Gaudreau | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Jack Hughes | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Nikita Kucherov | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Mackenzie Weegar | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Kent Johnson | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Alexander Wennberg | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Mitchell Chaffee | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matthew Coronato | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Marcus Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Nick Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Conor Geekie | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brandon Hagel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Stefan Noesen | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Corey Perry | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Igor Sharangovich | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dmitry Voronkov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 19 | 16 | 3 | - | 32 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||