Excuse the passion kids, but the NHL needs a shakeup at the highest level; somebody's asleep at the wheel and the vehicle's careening out of control.
Players are bigger, faster and stronger yet the playing surface remains the same size, creating a scenario where higher numbers of high speed impacts will occur. It is imperative then that league management ensure that hits to the head that were allowed in previous eras are no longer fair game. Hit hard, but hit the body.
Here's the HUGE flaw in the NHL's reasoning this week, according to TheStar.com:
In his ruling, Colin Campbell said the league had to be consistent. Even though Cooke has been suspended for hits to head twice previously, the league VP cited Philadelphia’s Mike Richards, noting he was not suspended for a similar hit on Florida’s David Booth earlier this season.
“No one likes when a player like Marc Savard goes down the way he did. No one likes when a player like David Booth goes down the way he did. But we have to be consistent,” said Campbell.
“I know Matt Cooke is a repeat offender, he’s been suspended twice in the last year. I can’t suspend Matt Cooke for being a repeat offender, I have to find a reason. Right now our rules say that shoulders to the head are legal. Matt Cooke did not jump, and Matt Cooke did not do anything that we found illegal in his actions even though, again, you don’t like what happened.”
To compare Matt Cooke with Mike Richards shows a very short-term memory of the NHL. Hitting by skill players may sometimes involve an accidental injury to an opponent, but these guys generally have a career of tough, fair-minded achievements to illustrate their credibility. It sends a bad signal to goons that they're going to be treated the same as stars in these incidents. Not that Cooke is a goon, but his points to penalty minutes ratio over his career has been about 1:3, while Richards has been about 1:1.
Consider:
2nd offense - 10 game suspension, 5 games pay to NHL Injured Players Retirement Fund
3rd offense - 20 games, 10 games pay to fund
4th offense - 60 games plus any playoff games before the 60 regular season games are completed, 20 games pay to fund
5th offense - 2 year suspension
6th offense - career ban
You used to be able to chop the stick out of an opposing players hands and if he wasn't holding it strong enough that was too bad for him and his team. Now they call it slashing! What, did the poor little stick get hurt?
C'mon NHL, cut out the sissy calls, and protect your players with no-touch icing and a ban on head hits.
