Throwback: Chris Neal hits Johnny Boychuk so hard both men go down.

For this throwback we are going back a little over 8 years to February of 2012 when the Ottawa Senators faced off against the Boston Bruins during the regular season. This game is a special one because it featured one of the most violent collisions we've had the pleasure of witnessing during a National Hockey League game, something more akin to a pair of freight trains colliding than an NHL hit. 

The man responsible for this hit was long time Ottawa Senators enforcer Chris Neal, a pretty tough customer, and on the receiving end of the hit was veteran NHL defenseman Johnny Boychuk who at the time was playing defense for the Boston Bruins. Although Neal was the man who delivered the hit you have to give full credit to Boychuk here for being tough as nails as not only does he absorb the massive hit and only seemed to be winded after the fact. There's no doubt Boychuk took the worst of this one, but Neal paid a heavy price on this hit as well. 

As you will see in the video below, Neal managed to sneak up on the unsuspecting Boychuk thanks in large part to an unintentional screen that Bruins teammate Benoit Pouliot set for Neal. Pouliot not only prevented Boychuk from seeing Neal up the ice, but also conveniently moved out of Neal's path to Boychuk once Neal had committed to making the hit.