The NHL Takes A Stand
By Editorial Staff
Concussions have been a long time problem in the NHL and has caused many players to end their careers early. Although it has been around for awhile now, of course it took someone like Sidney Crosby to finally bring attention to the issue. Lets not forget about Peter Mueller who was out for an entire season due to concussion symptoms.
A big change this off-season was when Brendan Shanahan took over Colin Campell’s position of the NHL’s Chief Play Disciplinarian. He is also the NHL Senior Vice President of Player Safety and Hockey Operations. He took on a tough position, seeing as many people criticized Campell’s poor decision making when it came to punishment (but who doesn’t love the NHL Wheel of Justice?). Well Shanahan has made his first big move towards preventing concussions when they released some new rules for the upcoming season.
Head shots. One of the biggest problems in any sport and can cause a player to have severe problems.
Rule 48: Illegal Checks to the Head
The NHL changed Rule 48 to make all hits where the head is targeted in an intentional and/or reckless way illegal. The player will receive a minor penalty and the possibility of further punishment is possible. The referee can use his judgment to determine if the player put himself in a vulnerable position prior to or simultaneous with being hit, as well as if the check was avoidable or not.
Head shots will never be completely avoidable, but these are some steps in the right direction to prevent some serious injuries.
Rule 41 — Boarding
Shanahan Explains:
“This season, a boarding penalty will be assessed to a player who checks or pushes a defenseless player in a manner that causes the player to have a potentially violent and/or dangerous impact with the boards. The word “pushes” was added to the rule and “defenseless” replaced the word “vulnerable.”
Now it is going to be on the player applying the check to ensure his opponent is not in a defenseless position. If he is, the player must attempt to avoid or at least try not to make such a big check. It has the same referee rules as Rule 48 did.
These new rules were sent via video to all 30 NHL teams. These two rules may not change a thing, but atleast they are TRYING to make head hits disappear and that is a start.
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