Head shots in the NHL
Posted Dec 16, 2011 10:17:47 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
No one has ever said that hockey is not a physical game.
But head shots and thus concussions are becoming a big problem in the National Hockey League. Arguably the world’s best player, Sidney Crosby, is back on the sidelines after taking an elbow to the head, in what looked like a “routine” play on the ice earlier this month.
So what is it about today’s game that is seeing more and more head shots, and thus more and more man games missed? Hockey News columnist, Adam Proteau tells 570News that it’s an array of problems.
“Equipment is still an issue, size of the rink is still an issue. To me it has to be about education, it has to be about harsher supplemental discipline, fines and suspensions for players.”
Proteau goes on to say one thing the NHL should try implementing is a mandatory sit out period for player with head injuries, to allow them to properly recover.
Other factors surrounding this issue is the fact that the philosophy of the game has changed. That’s at least according to hockey analyst for Rogers Sportsnet, Mike Brophy who tells 570News that players are bigger, stronger and faster than they have ever been. He says if you take those things and add to them a demand for physicality from coaches in the game, you get a recipe for disaster.
“Now when you watch hockey games, everybody follows through on their checks. There is so much more casual, what we consider casual hitting, than there used to be and guys are just so much more vulnerable.”
Brophy adds that getting rid of the centre ice line and coming down on obstruction in the game, means that players pick up more speed and the collisions are that much harder.
Proteau says Maple leafs G-M Brian Burke has a good idea on how to slow players down to cushion contact.
“I think Brian Burke’s idea, the “Brain Burke Bear Hug Rule”, where you would be allowed to put a hand on shoulder of the player coming into your zone for one or two seconds to slow them down, or guide them into the boards. That to me seems like a fair compromise.”
On the equipment issue, it’s really a catch twenty two if you think about it. Equipment is meant to protect players from impact. But have technological “improvements” made it more dangerous? Brophy says, the NHL needs to take a close look at equipment.
“The league will hold up different types of pads that they are looking at but I haven’t seen anything implemented yet, where you are using soft cap shoulder pads or soft cap elbow pads. To me this is one area that could make a significant change in the game.”
Proteau says the current style of the game will be a difficult one to change. He says the NHL should keep it simple and focus on protecting their biggest assets, the players.
eric.drozd@rci.rogers.com
