Originally Posted by vanillaice

Actually I did play defense for my high school hockey team and various pickup leagues after that. Have you? Wait, that's irrelevant, let me ask a better question, do you have eyes? Ok, good. So you can see from this video https://youtube.com/watch?v=eXi7TM7moP4 he got rid of the puck at the edge of the B, yet Rome had time to stop, and hit him in an upward motion roughly 10 feet away, almost 2 full strides. That gif you're showing doesn't even show Horton with the puck and still shows him nearly taking 2 strides.

Look at that video, he had plenty of time to let up on the hit. Should he have hit him at all? I don't really have a problem with the timing. Like everyone is saying, it was a tad late, but we see checks being finished more-so in the playoffs, that's life. The problem was that he seen Horton wasn't looking, had time to react to it, but chose to lay into him in the upward motion aiming AT HIS HEAD.

Your gif clearly shows his shoulder laying into Horton's head. Horton is 6'2 and Rome is 6'1. It's not like Chara out there who's shoulder is at everyones head level. It's not easy to hit a guy in the head an inch taller than you in the head unless you intend to. That's the dirty part you're clearly not understanding.