The piece of the article below came from: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=AqS3neBDByoJndytgT5YLgR7vLYF?slug=nc-threeperiods102110 by Nicholas J. Cotsonika
The NHL has a unique dilemma because the game has gotten faster beyond the growth of the players. Rule changes instituted after the 2004-05 lockout have eliminated the clutching, grabbing and overall interference that used to slow down the pace. The product has never been better, but one byproduct is getting worse.
Im not with you here Nick, I've seen brutal hits through the 90's. I don't think you are doing this but I hope you aren't justifying the harm caused by players as... because they are too fast? Silly. These are NHL players that can stop, start and turn on a dime. Sure an occassionally collision might be out of the ordinary. But the hits are not byproducts. Players are responsible for the their actions. And when they can't be responsible the rules will hold them accountable. Change the rules.
“The speed of the game is the reason why we’re seeing injuries,” said Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville. “But I think we like the speed of the game, because it creates so much excitement and unpredictability. I think hits, you don’t see as much hitting, but the ones you do see sometimes can be a little more excessive than they used to be.”
Gosh Joel, what were the injuries from the 90's from... excessive weight from clutching and grabbing?
Concussions always will be an occupational hazard in hockey as in football. You can’t strap on metal blades and fly down a hard sheet of ice, surrounded by boards and glass and opponents, and not understand the risk.
I might die driving my car or flying in a plane. I can even choke to death on water. Death is an occupational hazard of life. Risk can be reduced by rules and respect. Think about it.
“I think it’s always going to be unlucky hits out there,” Hjalmarsson said. “It’s going to be tough to change. It’s such a fast sport, so it’s tough to make those decisions in a split-second. And sometimes it may look bad out there even though the intention is not bad at all.”
It will be tough change but change is alwasy accepted. Look at the griping about the change around clutching and grabbing. It is gone and the changes have been accepted.
Hjalmarsson considered his hit on Pominville among the unlucky variety, and Quenneville supported him, pointing out players have some responsibility to put themselves in position to protect themselves – and that Hjalmarsson was doing what he was supposed to do. “If you coach that situation, (Hjalmarsson) going into the puck carrier like that, that’s probably how you want him to do it,” Quenneville said.
There is truth to that. Just as there was truth to what Phoenix Coyotes captain Shane Doan(notes) said after he was suspended for three games, saying he hit Anaheim Ducks winger Dan Sexton’s(notes) hands, not his head. (Sexton’s stick is what hit his head, and he was not injured.) But there is a reason the NHL saw both incidents differently, and there is a reason why the players were suspended. There are the specifics of each incident. Then there is the big picture, the culture.
The issue was debated at the World Hockey Summit in August in Toronto. It was debated again at a hockey concussion summit this week at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. At both events, there were good data, good debates and good intentions. But on the ice, the solution needs to be practical and realistic.
Equipment is a catch-22. The more it protects, the more it makes players feel invincible. Fines take money out of a player’s pocket. But suspensions take money out of a player’s pocket and the player out of the lineup, affecting the player plus his teammates, his coach and everyone else connected to the organization.
This is the conflict at the professional level. If you institute a rule that you know will work, you will also hurt the franchise. We aren't idiots. Suspensions of a significant length is the answer. Ouch but not during the play-offs. See the problem?
Suspensions aren’t perfect, but they’re the most effective tool. It has to get to the point where it is clearly in everyone’s interest to do everything possible to avoid even the unlucky hits.
I agree on suspensions but disagree on imperfect. They are perfect because they are effective.
When the NHL instituted its post-lockout rules in 2005-06, there was a long line to the penalty box and a lot of grumbling. But eventually, everyone accepted the new reality and adjusted. Now that the NHL has instituted its new head-shot rule this season, there already have been fines and suspensions and grumbling. But if the league stays with it, eventually everyone should accept this new reality and adjust.
They grumbled and adjusted.
My interest in the NHL is because it influences youth ice hockey. Brutal hitting is not hockey. The NHL players not only have a responsibility to their league but to the youth ice hockey players.
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