Head Shot Discussion

[SLY]

Ok seriously, I am so sick of seeing people bitch about the hits on Sidney... They were both legal hits. The hit on Stuart was not legal... Now I agree with the Versus panel last night, make it mandatory for players to keep their sticks down at all times... That will keep the hits at shoulder level and down. That is the answer, this way there will be no more grey area. If the player gets a concussion from that hit, oh fucking well, thats hockey.

The constant banter from fans and the league is just really getting annoying, and its time to just make a clear cut mother fucking rule to end it. Players lift their sticks too much, causing high sticking and hits to the head when the stick is raised... Thoughts?

 

[Bizzle McDizzle]

I am totally all for them.

 

[Bizzle McDizzle]

no wait.

was confused.

was thinking of "money shot"


Head shots are bad.

 

[sbb122]

Any hit to the head needs to be penalized/reviewed for suspension, none of this "blindside, lateral, east west "shit. Incidental hits should be 2 minutes tops, if it can't be avoided. ie.. Steckel/Crosby, Thornton/Perron. A hit to the head is a hit to the head and needs to stop. Plus the concrete laden shoulder pads being worn today need to go as well. Just my opinion.

 

[SLY]

I dont know which is the best answer but something needs to be done, because its really destroying hockey talk... I'm getting sick of listening to any NHL news outlet, cause its all I hear about.

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

I think it's hard to make a broad rule because there are hits to the head and then there are heads to the hit.

What I mean is that sometimes a guy moves to make a totally legit shoulder check and the hittee, in the process of trying to avoid the hit or make a move on the puck, moves his head into the line of fire. I think it's unfair to punish the hitter in this case because he was lined up for a legal check.

I also disagree with penalizing any hit to the head that results from incidental contact. Incidental is incidental. If there was no intent and no negligence (like an errant high stick), there should be no penalty. Ever. Period.

 

[BostonAJ]

Plus the concrete laden shoulder pads being worn today need to go as well.

That made me laugh.

It's kind of weird that the issue has so recently been a major problem. The NHL has been around for damn near 100 years, but all of a sudden players are getting concussions every other day. It's not like we didn't have fast and hard hitting hockey players before five years ago. But something has changed.

 

[SLY]

I just feel like adding all these little intricate loop hole rules and leaving shit for interpretation is destroying the game.

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

I just feel like adding all these little intricate loop hole rules and leaving shit for interpretation is destroying the game.

My issue is with leaving the interpretation 100% up to Colin Campbell.

I would rather have a committee based suspension system. Something like where 28 of the 30 GMs (excluding the two teams involved) all cast a secret ballot for if/how much of a suspension.

Throw out the top and bottom 4 to get rid of your outliers, then take an average of the remaining 20 where a no suspension vote counts as a 0.

0-.75 average, no supsension
.76-1.75 average, 1 game
...and so forth

 

[Bizzle McDizzle]

like the NFL in their current campaign against leading with the helmet

there are just times when your lead with the shoulder, and circunstances beyond your control cause a helmet contact.
Same as SFITS said above, intention could be clean, but the result bad because of something someone else does, making "intent" completely impossible to judge with the exceptions of extremes like McSorely/Brashear (hard to call that non-intentional). Shit, you can even look at Bertuzzi... Boneheaded play, but I think we can agree his INTENT was probably not "I'm literally gonna break this guys neck".

There will never be a happy medium. shit will happen. someone will get unjustifyably punished/fined/expelled/blackballed/tossed/expunged/expatriated for a hit that started out clean.

Within ten years, stomach to stomach checks and pinky to ankle tackles will be all that is left as "legal" contact anyway.

 

[sbb122]

That made me laugh.

It's kind of weird that the issue has so recently been a major problem. The NHL has been around for damn near 100 years, but all of a sudden players are getting concussions every other day. It's not like we didn't have fast and hard hitting hockey players before five years ago. But something has changed.

AJ, i'm not sure if you are agreeing or disagreeing, but do you recall what the pads being worn were like 15-20 yeras ago? They are nothing like the sledgehammers being worn today. If you don't think that is a variable that plays into the amount of concussions in the league today i honestly don't know what to say.

As for my original post, i left out one importnat thing. Players don't have the respect for their fellow players anymore.

 

[SLY]

My issue is with leaving the interpretation 100% up to Colin Campbell.

I would rather have a committee based suspension system. Something like where 28 of the 30 GMs (excluding the two teams involved) all cast a secret ballot for if/how much of a suspension.

Throw out the top and bottom 4 to get rid of your outliers, then take an average of the remaining 20 where a no suspension vote counts as a 0.

0-.75 average, no supsension
.76-1.75 average, 1 game
...and so forth

not a bad idea... it'll never happen though. not with Bettman and his butt buddies running the show.

 

[BostonAJ]

AJ, i'm not sure if you are agreeing or disagreeing, but do you recall what the pads being worn were like 15-20 yeras ago? They are nothing like the sledgehammers being worn today. If you don't think that is a variable that plays into the amount of concussions in the league today i honestly don't know what to say.

Oh, I totally agree with you. Today's "protection" are veritable weapons. If someone bumped into me with those shoulder pads it would probably hurt.

 

[IPostedWhat]

I say if anyone on the Sabres hits someone in the head, it's ok, but if the hit is on a Sabres player, then it's a suspension.

 

[SLY]

lol

 

[beantownmaniac]

That made me laugh.

It's kind of weird that the issue has so recently been a major problem. The NHL has been around for damn near 100 years, but all of a sudden players are getting concussions every other day. It's not like we didn't have fast and hard hitting hockey players before five years ago. But something has changed.

Derek Sanderson said it long ago, "ever since they required players to wear helmets, high sticking and hits to the head have increased". I believe that to be true.

 

[elocomotive]

That made me laugh.

It's kind of weird that the issue has so recently been a major problem. The NHL has been around for damn near 100 years, but all of a sudden players are getting concussions every other day. It's not like we didn't have fast and hard hitting hockey players before five years ago. But something has changed.

Primarily what has changed is our knowledge of the potentially dangerous long-term effects of concussions. They were long thought to be a short-term ailment, but new research has confirmed that concussions can lead to an increased likelihood of getting certain brain diseases and can cause (or lead to) more permanent neurological problems. So, I think it's less that head shots (and concussions) are anything new under the sun, and more that the public is more aware of the danger of them.

And it isn't just hockey that is using this information to protect it's players - the NFL added a rule this year to protect "defenseless receivers," part of a trend of rules to protect players in that sport as well.

 

[Darkstone42]

I like to throw this out there every now and then.

Have the players wear their helmets properly. If the helmet isn't sung, and the chin strap isn't tight, the helmet becomes kind of useless. I don't think a single player in the league wears his helmet properly.

 

[TheRobotDevil]

Head shots definately gotta go but what ever happened to those new helmets they were working on.they had this big push for them last year and I haven't heard anything about them since.

 

[beantownmaniac]

I like to throw this out there every now and then.

Have the players wear their helmets properly. If the helmet isn't sung, and the chin strap isn't tight, the helmet becomes kind of useless. I don't think a single player in the league wears his helmet properly.

Good point Darkstone