World Junior 2015: Switzerland's Phil Baltisberger stretchered off ice after blindside hit (VIDEO)

If there's a worse example of a predatory hit than the blindside headshot than the one Russia's Anatoli Golyshev perpetrated against Switzerland's Phil Baltisberger on Sunday, well, you wouldn't want to see it.

Baltisberger, who is playing in his fourth world junior championship for the Swiss, had his head turned to look for a pass when he was struck in the head by Golyshev, who had shifted over to cut off the passing lane. Baltisberger, a lanky defenceman who is four inches taller than than 5-foot-9, 174-pound Golyshev, appeared to be completely unsuspecting and not braced for contract. The head/neck area contact is pretty obvious.

Baltisberger, who is a member of the Ontario Hockey League's Guelph Storm, needed to be removed from the ice on a stretcher. His brother, fellow hockey player Chris Baltisberger, indicated that his 19-year-old sibling was not seriously injured.

Golyshev received major penalty and game misconduct for checking to the head and neck area. The International Ice Hockey Federation will surely review the play.  

The IIHF's tolerance for headshots is much stricter than the Canadian Hockey League, never mind the NHL. This was clearly an instance of taking advantage of a vulnerable player, although it's easy to be the expert while watching a slowed-down replay.

Four years ago, Slovakia's Martin Marincin received a four-game ban for a blindside headshot on Team USA's Jason Zucker. That happened in a different game situation but was involved some of the same elements, namely an likely unsuspecting player who did not have the puck.

On top of losing Baltisberger, the Swiss are also trailing Russia 5-0 in the Group B game. Switzerland scaled some new heights when it beat the Czech Republic on Saturday, but this must be like the lowest of the low. And what Golyshev did was pretty low, too.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.