Comments on: Another night, another questionable head shot: Ryan Malone crunches Chris Campoli

By: icelovinbrotha215

icelovinbrotha215 — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 01:27:04 +0000

And it will have a large affect in youth hockey. USA Hockey is following suit. Now you can only check in Bantam and Midget. And they are calling all ‘head shots.’ Even if the checker’s hands are tucked in. Even if the checker just happens to be taller. It’s tough for checkers to be checkers. And yes, players with the ‘Matt Cooke’ mentality deserve to be punished by this new ruling. I just hope the NHL (Shanahan in particular) don’t go overboard.

By: stakex

stakex — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 18:26:31 +0000

Exactlly. Again, there is nothing wrong with the NHL cracking down on blind side hits to the head in which a player has no chance to protect himself… but a hit like this? It should be perfectly fine since the player with the puck has every chance to avoid it and protect himself if he has his head up. Your 100% right, giving guys the green light to skate with their head down (which is what the NHL is doing by banning hits like this) is going to lead to MORE injuries…. not less.

By: icelovinbrotha215

icelovinbrotha215 — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 18:04:15 +0000

You are old school. And you know what? You are right. Puck handlers need to be held accountable for their positioning on the ice. The NHL is now sending a message to all the amateur players that they don’t need to worry about keeping their heads up when skating through the middle. More people will be hurt because of the ‘head shot’ ruling.

By: hank10

hank10 — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 15:11:59 +0000

Just ask Eric Lindros. If he remembers.

By: lesleyvissersfacelift

lesleyvissersfacelift — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 10:30:22 +0000

I’m with Stakex on this one. I love what Shanahan’s done so far, but I don’t think Malone should be suspended. Campoli had his head down while skating up ice and it looks like principal point of contact was chest or shoulder.

By: stakex

stakex — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 04:04:29 +0000

Theres no doubt that it was a hit to the head, but its hard to tell if the principle point of contact was in fact the head from the camera angles in the video. It almost looks like he hit shoulder first, and then the head. Not to mention there is in fact a last second duck by Campoli.

Side Note: Call me old school, but if your skating like that with your head down…. its your own damn fault if you end up looking at the lights. I’m all for suspensions for blind side hits to the head (like Matt Cooke on Marc Savard), but at a point players have to take responsibility for their own safety, and this is a great example. If Campoli had his head up, this hit never happens.