By: gbh999

gbh999 — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:57:43 +0000

Hockey is a full contact sport. If you play the game, chances are good that you will get injured, getting checked. I remember playing peewee hockey, where you first get introduced to hitting. The coach, used to always say, “keep your head up”. The fundamentals that you learned in the years before peewee and bantam hockey, are supposed to help you mature into a well rounded player. Keeping your head on a swivel, helps you to survive the game.
Giving a player a penalty for executing a good hit is not the answer. I know the reaction felt when you watch the replay of one of these devastating hits. It brings out the calls of head-hunter, cheap-shot-artist, or worse. But you can’t just give the injured player a pass, for not watching out for what is going on around him, on the ice. Just because he passes the puck, doesn’t mean he can’t get hit during the flow of the play. If a player is set to receive a pass in the opponents zone, he should be aware of the surroundings on the ice, because it is up to the defence to make sure that the rhythm of the play gets disrupted. That is their job. Break up the play, transition, and go on offense. All of this is done at high speed. That is what makes hockey such a dynamic game.
Putting in new rules, to handle perfectly legal hits to the head, will only add to the detraction of the game. Take the new rule that deals with hitting from behind, (boarding). You see some players, mostly European who have the practised skill at drawing a penalty, because of the interpretation of this new rule. They go along the boards, controlling the puck. When the defense goes to challenge him, at the proper moment thay turn their upper body, so it looks like the defense, is hitting him between the numbers. The player then goes head first into the boards, goes limp on the ice, and it looks like he is injured. The ref is pretty well gauranteed to call a penalty for this fiasco. The game is stalled, while this player is helped to the bench, holding his head, his face grimacing in pain. The offense then goes on a power play, sometimes for 5 minutes, depending on how good of an acting job, the player sold the ref. More times than not, the player that was injured, comes onto the ice to take his turn on the power play. The fans see the play for what it is. Just a dive. But the new rule has tied the ref’s hands. Like I said, this type of interpretation of the rules, is harming, more than helping the game. You will slow down the game. This game is poetry in motion. Don’t try and turn it into an afternoon of free skating at the local rec centre.
In closing, If the NHL is serious in trying to clean up the game, they have to get the junior leagues in Canada, to implement rules to try and clean up the game. Good luck with that. A ticket to a WHL game in western Canada, is the best $17 you can spend on entertainment. I give you as an example, The Chicago Blackhawks. Pretty exciting hockey team to watch. In fact that team is on the verge of a dynasty. More than half the players come from the WHL in Canada. So, before you kill the golden goose, think long and hard, about the ramifications of any more new rules, that will slow this wonderful game down.

By: Zach

Zach — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:25:26 +0000

There is a very easy way for the Bruins to handle this. Take care of the problem themselves.
The Bruins play the Penguins again this season and will most likely be out of the playoff hunt, no thanks to this hit. Why not make a fraction late, deliberate shot to the head to a Penguins player. It would have to be the same kind of hit that Cooke landed on Savard. The NHL can’t suspend you for it because they have set a precedent or else they would look like they are playing favorites.

Comments on: Peter Chiarelli speaks on the Cooke non-suspension

By: gbh999

By: Zach