10. Ryan Garbutt's Hit on Alex Burrows
In what may end up amounting to the greatest moment of Ryan Garbutt's career, he leveled the Vancouver Canucks' Alex Burrows.
In what may end up amounting to the greatest moment of Ryan Garbutt's career, he leveled the Vancouver Canucks' Alex Burrows.
Though this injury didn't look too terrible at first glance, the instant replay showing Eric Young Jr. drive his cleat through Tim Hudson's ankle would make even the toughest of observers grimace. It knocked out Hudson for the season, but fortunately he'll be able to return in 2014 for the San Francisco Giants.
In this February contest between the Detroit Red Wings and Los Angeles Kings, Drew Doughty drilled Pavel Datsyuk as he came across the middle, knocking his helmet off.
In the biggest home plate collision of the 2013 season, Desmond Jennings of the Tampa Bay Rays absolutely demolished Cleveland Indians catcher Lou Marson. To Marson's credit, he got up and stayed in the game, but he suffered a cervical neck strain that ultimately led to his placement on the disabled list.
In an NFL season that has been largely devoid of bone-crushing hits, William Moore delivered a big one on St. Louis Rams tight end Mike McNeill in Week 2. He flipped McNeill WWE-style into the air, resulting in him being injured for the next couple weeks.
During a May 13 game against the Los Angeles Dodgers where the Washington Nationals were winning 6-0, outfielder Bryce Harper made the surprising choice to chase a fly ball all the way to the warning track, running face first into the wall. Harper crashed and collapsed onto the ground, where he laid motionless before being helped off the field. Unfortunately, this collision had major consequences for the Nationals, as he had to go on the disabled list in June after unsuccessfully trying to play for the rest of May.
In an early-season matchup between the then-undefeated St. Louis Blues and San Jose Sharks, Maxim Lapierre put a damper on the night by checking Sharks star defenseman Dan Boyle into the boards from behind, which required him to be stretchered off the ice and resulted in him missing the next two weeks. Somehow, Lapierre, who has a previous history with questionable hits, was only suspended for five games.
In a year that was largely free of home-plate collisions, baseball's biggest injury controversy in 2013 stemmed from line drives being hit straight at pitchers' heads. J.A. Happ of the Toronto Blue Jays and the Tampa Bay Rays' Alex Cobb were both drilled by liners straight at their faces. Interestingly, both incidents took place at Tropicana Field. While Happ sustained greater injuries, Cobb's shellacking was more slightly cringe-worthy, as an Eric Hosmer liner hit him square in the face in less than a second.
Garvin's hit on Huber, which occurred during an Antonio Brown punt return, left the Bengals punter with a fractured jaw and cracked vertebrae, which ended his season. It's created controversy over whether the play was illegal and should have been called as a penalty, but one thing we can all agree on was that it was absolutely destructive.
While it's easy to forget that this hit occurred in 2013, considering that it happened during the New Year's Day Outback Bowl, Jadaveon Clowney's absolute destruction of Michigan running back Vincent Smith may go down as the greatest hit ever. Luckily, Clowney did this during the 2012-13 season, as it was speculated that this hit may have gotten him ejected under the new NCAA safety rules that were instituted for 2013.
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