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Matt Cooke’s hit is center stage at GM meetings

Image (1) Cooke-thumb-250x166-6811.jpg for post 170

The NHL General Managers are meeting this week, Monday through Wednesday, to discuss and debate a number of issues related to the league. Some of the topics include a possible playoff qualification round, a ‘coach’s challenge for video review” and the tie-breaking formula. But it seems -- as it should be -- that the issue getting the most attention this week has to do head shots, and Matt Cooke’s from yesterday is up front and center.

From TSN’s Darren Dreger:

Monday’s meetings consist of a variety of presentations relating to the issue of head checking, concussions and the NHL’s ongoing concussion management program.

The NHL has invited a medical team that specializes in concussions to speak and there will also be extensive video presentations isolating both legal and illegal contact with the head.

Here’s the issue: currently, hits to the head by a shoulder are considered legal, while elbow hits are not. But what about upper-forearm hits? Are those shoulder or elbow hits? Matt Cooke certainly got his arm up on Marc Savard, but he didn’t blatantly put the point of his elbow into this temple.

That’s the issue that will debated and it’s expected that there will be a new rule proposal to come out of these meetings that clarifies exactly what is illegal about these checks.

While they’re at it, how about coming up with a standardized system of punishment for illegal hits, so it’s not just left up to the whim of Colin Campbell and his wheel of justice. That’s a concept.