Taking Charge of Concussions...Hockey?

Question

All the recent talks of concussions and head shots has made me dizzy.  I feel like all of the sudden ( I know it's not all of the sudden) that everyone and their mother has a concussion.  What is the NHL to do about this?  Take away head shots, take away leading with your shoulder, not being able to hit anyone?  

I think they should honestly take a look at their own rule book first and mainly the charge.

42.1 Charging - A minor or major penalty shall be imposed on a player who skates or jumps into, or charges an opponent in any manner.

Charging shall mean the actions of a player who, as a result of distance traveled, shall violently check an opponent in any manner. A “charge” may be the result of a check into the boards, into the goal frame or in open ice.

A minor, major or a major and a game misconduct shall be imposed on a player who charges a goalkeeper while the goalkeeper is within his goal crease.

A goalkeeper is not “fair game” just because he is outside the goal crease area. The appropriate penalty should be assessed in every case where an opposing player makes unnecessary contact with a goalkeeper. However, incidental contact, at the discretion of the Referee, will be permitted when the goalkeeper is in the act of playing the puck outside his goal crease provided the attacking player has made a reasonable effort to avoid such contact.

So looking at a charge, basically it's what every 4th liner does every shift on the ice...They go out there and dump the puck in and hit the people, they finish their checks and there are many times when they can make a play on the puck but they rather check someone, because that's their job.  I think if the NHL actually took a look into charging (basically every Ovechkin hit) and would assess more penalties then players may think twice before hitting someone after taking 10 strides.... Hitting is meant to separate the man from the puck, not to dump the puck in and then go skate as fast as you can and kill someone.  

If you really put your foot down on charging you can make the game safer and not take the hitting aspect out of the game.  


BQ: Did anyone miss me?

Shakey Rustie · Accepted Answer

I hate to say it, but if the NHL really wanted to cut down on this huge hits that leave players getting carried out on stretchers, they would re-instate the 2 line pass. The game has opened up so much without it, however for every home run pass that connects, there is most likely a bone crunching hit as well. Of course that would slow down the game play a lot, and see an increase in clutching and grabbing, which may or may not be called effectively. 

Additionally, if you watch any rugby matches (which I highly encourage), the players police themselves quite fairly. There are no boneheads in rugby, simply because no one will tolerate such players. Hockey is nowhere near as violent as rugby, and yet the NHL has idiots running around, without any regard for safety of other players. Even Wayne Gretzky is calling for it, and it is about time that the NHL got rid of the instigator penalty. Players will be held accountable not only by Sheriff Shanahan, but also by his fellow players, knowing that he must answer the call on the ice if he does something stupid on the ice. 

BQ* I did, I left you three messages on your voicemail.

Leafsfan29-Embrace the drought! · Answer

The NHL defines "late" as contact more than 15 frames after the puck has left the hittee (30 frames per second, so roughly half a second).  Given that Ovechkin has popped his repeat offender cherry, if he were hitting people late he'd be getting clipped for it.  

A few things the NHL can, and should do:

1) Elimination of the Instigator Rule.  
2) Get rid of the trapezoid (let goaltenders play the puck and keep defencemen from having to go into no-man's land).
3) No-touch icing (I'm trying to figure out how long a certain octogenerian will spend the first intermission on Thursday carping about this).
4) Further enforcement of hits from behind (Shelley getting 10 games for clocking Darryl Boyce between the 4 and the 7 of his #47 is what I mean).

With no due respect to Mike Milbury, this won't cause people to confuse hockey with a non-contact sport.  

Having actually been taught how to check (and remembering it all too well, you're taught to aim your shoulder for the logo crest) I can say that aiming for the melon isn't part of that technique (and I'm glad to see minor hockey in Canada along with the OHL get on board about banning hits to the head).

I couldn't agree more about rugby.  If anything, the elimination of hard pads in the sport simply means you have to have proper tackling technique to bring the man with the ball to ground and can't just crash into him.

viphockey4 · Answer

Shakey and Leafs gave great answers. Bottom line as I have stated over and over is until (or unless) they do away with the instigator players have no fear of instant justice and will continue to play very dangerous and reckless hockey. They arent accountable to their peers....until they are again this wont stop regardless of what Shanny does. Think about it....taking out a guy like Sid is a badge of honor amongst the "play hard" kind of guy hanging onto his NHL job and effectively changes the teams chances of beating Pittsburgh (or ay teams star players). The other thing I rail on is the gear....take away the rock hard armor and you take away guys desire to hit really hard....as an older player I can assure you it hurts in the older gear for the hitter as well. Not so today. And I am intrigued by Shakeys suggestion of the 2 line pass....I need to ponder that for a bit though.

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Taking Charge of Concussions...Hockey?

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