Quote:
Originally Posted by Enoch Root
I was always on the 'keep your head up' side of the fence.
But here's the thing:
1) there are times when your head is down. It happens.
2) the game is way faster now
3) shoulder pads are made of hard plastic
4) we actually now have some understanding of concussions
The old 'keep your head up' argument isn't going to cut it if we want to actually do something about concussions. There has to be an onus on the player throwing the hit to recognize when a player is vulnerable and not drill him with a potentially career-ending hit.
This shouldn't be about whether or not the hit was clean (it was)
It shouldn't be about whether or not he had his head down and shouldn't have (he did, but the simple fact of the matter is that sometimes players do - sometimes players are in vulnerable positions)
It should be about whether or not we want to stop (or at least reduce) serious injury. Not just head shots. Not just dirty hits.
Injury.
Until people want to get off the old-school, keep your head up, train, injuries will continue unabated.
I have changed sides. I don't need to see a crushing hit so badly that I am willing to accept that people often get concussed from them. I am no longer will to throw a guy under the bus with the 'keep your head up' refrain, just so that I can watch a big hit.
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I hate to be that guy, but the only way to severely reduce concussions is to take away bodychecking. It's inherent to physical contact, and since hockey players are moving at high speeds, it is almost always a possibility that a concussion will occur. There is no way to keep bodychecking in the game and completely avoid all head shots or checks that injure the brain. Hell, even if you remove bodychecking, you can still be concussed. Lots of evidence that soccer players heading the ball can lead to CTE. It's just part of the risk of being an athlete in a contact sport.
Bodychecking is an important part of defending. I can't imagine what Hjalmarsson was supposed to do there other than separate the man from the puck. There was nothing there that made me think he intended to hurt him. He didn't overdo anything, he just finished his check. Rattie was in a vulnerable position. We agree on all that. If the main concern you have is injuries, then you have to outlaw bodychecking. If your main concern is reducing injuries while maintaining the essence of the game, then you have to allow that things like this will happen once in a while, and there's nothing you could have done to prevent it.
Honestly, the game has become so tame these days as it is, but now we're discussing whether a completely legal and clean play needs addressing. That's taking this issue too far for me. If they make it impossible to make an open ice hit by cracking down on stuff like this, then I will probably stop watching hockey altogether.