The National Hockey League insists that it is doing everything in its power to reduce injuries and concussions in the game of hockey. Yet, in this past shortened 2013 season, in a 12 day span, 10 players went down with concussions and players were injured left, right and center. Let’s also not forget the tragic deaths of three players, known as Enforcers or Fighters, Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien and Wade Belak. All committed suicide during the offseason in 2011 because of an overdose on pain medication, and depression. Add the so called “goaltender safety”, the head shots and hits from behind that leave players concussed and unable to play for a period of time to the equation, and ask yourself again, if the NHL is getting any safer. Players aren’t feeling safe, as told in interviews, and know that every time they step onto the ice, there is a chance they will get hurt, or worse, end their careers.
Players are people. They bleed, cry, love, hurt, like any human does. They go onto the ice, as a career choice, as a form of sport entertainment. But, is that an excuse to put the careers and sometimes lives at risk for entertainment? When asked, players of the Montreal Canadiens, thought there could be so much more done to protect the men who skate on the ice. Fans, everywhere, would agree.
Head Shots/Hitting From Behind
In the 1923-24 season, the National Hockey League introduced a rule where any player on the ice who deliberately injured or disabled an opponent would receive a game misconduct, be fined no less than $50, and must meet with the League president who would assess additional punishment. This rule is still around. Today, you receive a 10-minute misconduct and a game misconduct, which was introduced in the 1991-92 season. The offending player gets a disciplinary hearing with the head of the Players Safety Department, who decides if you get a suspension or not. However, it is remarkable how many players receive no punishment at all! They do the damage, leaving their “victim” injured or concussed, receive the match penalty, but don’t receive a suspension. Apparently, there are factors in all this, a big one being if you are not a “repeat offender”, meaning if you have never done anything wrong, you have a higher chance of being excused.
Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty wouldn’t be able to tell you what happened to him March 8, 2011 in a game against the Boston Bruins, because he was out cold. During the game, while Pacioretty was handling the puck along the boards in front of the benches, Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara, who happens to be close to 6’7, rammed Pacioretty’s head into the stanchion at the end of the bench. “I don’t remember anything, to be honest,” Pacioretty recounted. “I remember waking up in the hospital the next day. Turned out I had a fracture to the 4th cervical vertebra (C4) and a severe concussion. My parents were at that game. When I woke up, my father showed me the replay. I asked him what Chara got for this. He looked at me and told me ‘Nothing’. I was in shock.”
Although those types of hits have been going on for a very long time, the NHL had done nothing to prevent it from happening again. After the hit on Pacioretty, the NHL finally decided to fix it, by making the stanchion curve into the bench area! The curve now leaves no danger to be hit into. They have also have tried to suggest to players that if you see the opposing player’s numbers on his back, do not hit him! It took the League that long, and for someone to get hurt that bad, to do something. The worst part was that Zdeno Chara got off with nothing. No suspension, no penalty. It was deemed “a hockey play”. When asked, if Pacioretty thought it was a hockey play, he simply answered, “No”.
Headshots and hitting from behind are considered intent to injure. Doing that in the street would get you arrested. But, on the ice, it was considered a hockey play. Now, should the League be pardoned for the fact that only in the last 3 years, they have decided to crack down on these terrible hits, enforcing a rule that was introduced back in 1923? Perhaps the real reason was because star player, Sidney Crosby, sustained a major concussion from being hit from behind. It’s hard to imagine, that a rule first introduced back in 1923, is only starting to be thought about today. Let’s hope a life isn’t lost first.
Goaltender Safety/Trapezoid
Goaltenders have always been the biggest victims in the game. They face on average 30 shots of rubber their way per game. Their job: To stop the puck. When hockey first began, goaltenders wore almost no padding, except for leg pads used in games of Shinny. Thankfully, pads evolved to proper leg pads, chest protectors, a catching glove and a blocker. But still, there was a time where wearing a helmet wasn’t even an idea. A goaltenders face, became a target. That is, until one goaltender stood up, to protect his own life and change the game forever. On November 1, 1959, during a Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers game, Canadiens goaltender Jacques Plante received a hard puck to the face by Rangers player Andy Bathgate. Since there were no backup goaltenders, the game was halted while Plante went in quickly for stitches. He resumed the game, wearing a fibreglass facemask. After that incident, Plante refused to play a game without it. It caught on quickly with other goaltenders, and now, in present time, goaltenders wear a full cage helmet.
Yet, goaltenders, who are now the most padded players on the ice, still don’t feel safe. Carey Price, the goaltender for the Montreal Canadiens, believes more could be done. “Because we are the players with the most pads on the ice, opponents think we still can’t be hurt,” Price said. “They take runs at us, chop their sticks at us”. Just this past playoff run, Price lost 2 teeth after being knocked in the head by a skate as a player tripped over him. “I feel maybe that the rules for protecting us goaltenders have decreased. Sure, there is the goaltender interference calls, but the deed is done by then. I sometimes feel certain players make it their goal, to take us out of the game. I miss the old rules, the ones that were there before I made the NHL.”
In the 1991-92 season, the League adopted a rule that the size of the goal crease be increased, that penalties would be assessed for crease infringements and unnecessary contact with a goaltender. But, the rule Price and many goaltenders wish would return is the other part of the rule that states a goal would be disallowed if a puck enters the net while a player of the opposing team is standing on the goal crease line, is in the goal crease or places his stick inside the goal crease. This rule helped protect goaltenders from being rammed into, obstructed and even injured. After the 1998-99 season, the rule was abolished as the NHL believed it was disallowing too many “good goals” by hockey’s greatest stars. This, of course, left goaltenders open to be rammed at full speed, while the attacking player receives a 2 minute penalty for goaltender interference.
After the lockout of 2004-05, the League introduced new rules in hopes of exciting the fans again. But to goaltenders, it made it a whole new game. There are some players in the league, who are very skilled in playing pucks in the corner to clear the zone. A few players like the great Dominik “The Dominator” Hasek and Martin Brodeur were forced to change their style of play, when the League introduced the Trapezoid. The Trapezoid is situated behind the net, cutting off the corners of the ice. This area is now the only area behind the goal line goaltenders are allowed to play the puck. If a goaltender touches the puck outside the Trapezoid (basically in the corners) they will receive a delay of game penalty. The thought of this rule was to protect goaltenders from being hit into the corners by attacking players. “When goaltenders go out of their crease to play the puck, they know the risks they are taking. So, why would you limit the area we can play in, when we know what we are doing?” Price said. When asked how he would change the rule to still protect goaltenders, he offered the simplest solution. “If a goaltender plays the puck behind the goal line or corners, make a rule that you cannot touch them. After all, goaltenders will go far out of their crease, even up the ice, in today’s game to play the puck anyways. What’s the difference?”
Fighting
John Ferguson, who played for the Montreal Canadiens in the 60’s, hated Eddie Shack of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Every game these two teams played, both players would fight each other. They would be sent to the penalty box, and after serving their penalty, they would step out of the box and fight all over again. This was considered “Staged Fighting” where it was basically planned. The second type of fighting is the spontaneous fighting, where tempers have boiled and a fight breaks out. An example is the Good Friday Massacre on April 20, 1984 when tempers boiled in a game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Quebec Nordiques. A bench clearing brawl broke out and 252 penalty minutes were handed out.
Whether the NHL likes it or not, fighting will always be part of the game. Currently, the League would like to end staged fighting. The question is, why start with staged fighting? Why not start with the spontaneous fighting? In the 1991-92 season, a rule was adopted that if a player had instigated a fight, he would receive a game misconduct. That should easily get rid of the spontaneous fighting, yet that rule is never used. Tempers boil, and fights break out. It happens in every sport. But in hockey, little do people know that fighting has a code.
Brandon Prust, who was acquired by the Montreal Canadiens from the New York Rangers in the 2012 offseason, made his way into the NHL by being a fighter. Though now he doesn’t fight as much, he knows all too well the proper way to fight. “For decades, there have been many great enforcers, or also known as fighters or goons. Some like to just pick a fight by throwing their fists, while some go by the code. The code was put in place by enforcers themselves, so they do not come off as goons, but more as gentleman,” Prust said. “The code is basically this: You go up to a player and ask if he would like to fight. I will admit, it is not always said in the nicest ways. If it is declined, you must back off. If it’s accepted, you must then remove your gloves and take off your helmet. Once the fight is over, you tell the other “Good fight” and head to the penalty box”.
At one time, being defined as a fighter meant it is the only thing you could do on the team. Although that role is now gone, it was once a hazard. Being known as a guy who scored infrequently, but finished a career with over 2,000 penalty minutes, was a role you had to play on your team. But, before 2011, nobody ever took notice. The spotlight on the enforcer role became brighter, after 3 NHL players labelled as enforcers, committed suicide in the summer of 2011. Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien and Wade Belak were great fighters, but the cost of fighting is believed to have cost them their lives. Nobody realized the pain these players faced, being known as just one thing, how it depressed them, and how pain killers took over their lives. The NHL was blamed for not watching over these players carefully, and not enrolling them into the NHL’s substance abuse program. Nobody should have to die first.
I'm Just Sayin': The NHL is claiming they want to make a fast paced, hard hitting game safer. The new rule of hybrid icing, which means instead of racing for the puck into the boards at high speed and risking the chance of injury, the whistle will be blown automatically to call an icing. Yes, this new rule will help reduce some injuries, but it will take much more to make the game safer. People question if it is even possible to make the game safer. After all, players know what they are getting into when they step onto the ice. The National Hockey League still lets too much go unpunished. Some people speculate that the League really does not want to change how the game is played, in fear of losing fan appeal, at the expense of player safety. Time will only tell what might come of the game. But you have to wonder, is it possible to make the game safer, without changing the game of hockey? Start enforcing the rules, and move on from there.
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