It’s not often that we’ve gotten on a soapbox for any particular issue, but we think about something this serious, it’s long overdue that we did.
According to a story at TSN.ca the NHL GM’s meetings have produced this piece of regulatory legislation regarding hits to the head:
“A lateral, back pressure or blindside hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and or the principal point of contact is not permitted.
A violation of the above will result in a minor or major penalty and shall be reviewed for possible supplemental discipline.”
So if a player, like one time Wolf Pack center, Marc Savard, (See left) is almost completely decapitated by a clear shot to the head that was intended to injure gets a two or a five-minute penalty then surely he would think twice before doing it right? Yeah sure he will.
If removing these blatant shots to the head was something that these GM’s really did want to remove from the game, then the more appropriate wording would have been more like this:
“A lateral, back pressure or blindside hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and or the principal point of contact will not be permitted or tolerated.
A violation of the above will result in immediate expulsion from the game, a major penalty shall be assessed to the team violating the aforementioned rule, and if after review by the league it is deemed that the hit was intentional and not accidental, the offending player shall be immediately suspended from playing the in the NHL without pay until the injured player is able to return to action, no matter how long that recovery period lasts. The offending team’s roster spot shall remain open and not be refilled until that suspension ends. Should the league deem the hit accidental, the suspension shall be a minimum of ten games and possibly longer at the NHL’s discretion.”
Now, had the league written something like that, that would have eliminated the hits to the head.
With the athletes in the league getting bigger, stronger and faster on their skates something has got to be done or someone is going to wind up crippled or possibly killed. How would you like to be the parent of a player that is maimed or killed and knowing that the person who did that paid the price by getting two minutes in the penalty box? Seems reasonable to me…
There should be a “zero-tolerance” rule in place for any hits to the head.
If you spent any time watching Olympic hockey, you could see that when the game is played correctly and the talent level is there that it is by a country mile the best sport in the world to watch. When the Matt Cook’s or the Todd Bertuzzi’s (see right in case you’ve forgotten) of this world are allowed to play in the game we all love so much.
By the way Ranger fans, if the hit on Savard seems strikingly familiar, perhaps a review of this video might help you memory.
This has got to stop. It’s up to the league to have the “brains” pardon the pun, to take some action before the next action they’re taking is explaining away a hit that resulted in something far worse.
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Also in the recommendation is the request for the AHL to return to two referees in at least 40% of their games. That’s an excellent suggestion that we fully support.
Comments (2)
Stevesays:
March 10, 2010 at 11:17 PMThe thing is, if you start dishing out majors left and right everytime somebody bumps their head, you’re just that much closer to non-contact hockey. For years I’ve watched the physicality and grit that once defined the sport I loved, dissipate almost to the point of non-existance thanks to the post-lockout rule changes that left players in fear of touching anything because it might put the other team on the over-emphasized powerplay.
We’ll get one thing straight. Matt Cooke is a puke, a pest, with little honor and even less accountability. I have no problem with this hit however. He finished his check, which hockey players are taught to do in peewees. His shoulder was down, elbow in, and he actually swung around Savard to get him more from the front/side rather than the back. Unfortunately for Marc the majority of impact was bicep to head as his shot carried his head forward and he had no time to protect himself. This is Cooke backchecking hard, and finishing a check on a star player, which is what you have to do, or they’ll gladly fill up the scoresheet all night.
This whole “ban head shots” movement is just as bad as the virtual “no contact icing” we have now. I’ll gladly suspend a guy who takes 5-6 hard strides and finishes a hit with his arms up, with deliberate high contact, with pure intent to injure. Which, funny you mention the Olympics because it seems as soon as you took fighting out of the equation, we saw lots of guys’ true colors on the ice in Vancouver. Tollefsens brutal “headshot” elbow to Bartulis, Pitkanen sat a game for an elbow which I still have not found video of, and A LOT of stickwork and slew footing was going on throughout the tournament.
Everybody wanted a fast, wide-open, Euro style game in a North American rink with 6′ 4″ players coming out of the lockout. What they forgot to consider was how hard these guys are going to collide when you crank up the pace. Couple it with the deteriorating respect the players have and the near elimination of the policing enforcers and extra calling of the instigator in a powerplay friendly environment just adds fuel to the fire. Why else would the Bruins only say some bad words and give a Cooke a facewash after he put Savard on a stretcher? Nobody was willing to take a 7 minute pk and get thrown out of the game over a revenge fight against the poster children of the new NHL.
You’re absolutely right about the rule book being the problem. But it’s a problem because in an effort over the last 2 decades to make this game family friendly and non-violent, the NHL, and all the other leagues that followed suit have just made the working enviroment a lot more dangerous for all players involved. You would never run a star player in the 70’s or 80’s, and if you felt invincible enough to do so, somebody was coming for you, whether it was just seconds after, or they would let you dangle until the moment was right, and revenge would be extracted. Guys didn’t play stupid because they knew better, and those who did weren’t around very long. Take the game out of the hands of the officials, Gary Bettman and Colin Campbell, and you’ll see things improve real quick.
Mitch Becksays:
March 10, 2010 at 11:34 PMSteve,
You present your argument well and make some logical conclusions, however I still completely disagree with you. To me, this was CLEARLY an intent to injure and it wasn’t the first time he’s done it either. Watch the other video of him doing almost the exact same thing to Artie Anisimov.
Secondly, remember that ultimately this is a game. Bottom line though is that it’s a game being played for money. That doesn’t mean that this needs to turn into some sort of Roller-Ball on ice. You can still have a hard-hitting, exciting game without hits that might potentially be crippling or worse, deadly.
In terms of the Olympics, the slew foot by Dan Boyle was and is totally unacceptable. The game was in Canada though and there was no way that it was going to be called against a Canadian player by refs who were afraid they’d get killed on the way out. Trust me, if it went the other way and Boyle were on the receiving end of it, the Refs would have called it in a second. It was a shameful play by an otherwise excellent player and he should have been suspended for the rest of the tournament for doing it.
Let me get back to my previous point and that is that there is a gigantic difference between hard-hitting action and shots that are too risky and dangerous. Hits from behind, blows to the head and things along those lines MUST to be removed from the game before someone gets killed. Read Bill Guerin’s feelings about it at TSN. I would suggest to you personally thought if hockey isn’t violent enough for you that if you haven’t already, then you should look into being a fan of MMA and UFC… It sounds like that’s the kind of thing that you would really enjoy.
As for me, I’d rather watch a hockey played like they do in the playoffs or at the Olympics, where those kinds of things just doesn’t happen because, for the most part, goons like that are not on the ice. I prefer to watch the best skills of my team beat the best skills of yours. I have zero interest in some sort of Darwinian slug fest.
But the bottom line here is a lack of consistency by the front office and the referees in prohibiting things that are going to cause some person to get maimed or killed.
In my opinion, Cooke should be removed from the game immediately for a long suspension. Just because a rule isn’t in place to bar hits to the head, it doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be within the Commissioner’s prerogative to suspend a player from crossing the violence line. The same has been done, and rightly so, for players who’ve put hits on players like Patrice Bergeron and others who’ve caused serious injury with reckless hits. The complications associated with these hits stay with the injured player the rest of their lives. To me, the bigger picture, the rest of the player’s life, has FAR more value and import than whether or not the game is tough or violent enough.
I hope you won’t read this response as being condescending or angry. As I stated, I thought you stated your case well. I just completely disagree with you about it. The bigger picture here is worth more than just hits, goals and assists. These are, for the most part, young men; human beings playing a game for money. If there are no standards other than, “Well, Player A can hit Player B and potentially crush his skull and ruin the rest of Player B’s life” or the poor bastard might score a goal… You know what, there’s always a chance to score another goal or win another game, even if it’s next year. Compared to the damage it can do to a human life, I think I’ll make the FAR better choice and take that kind of hit out of the game.
Incidentally, I didn’t mention it in the piece, but I will here; where is the Players Association in all of this? You would think they’d be the first ones to stand up and want to look out for the well being of the players themselves.
Anyway, despite not agreeing with you Steve, I’m glad that you posted your opinion.