I have been a believer for a while now that they need to crack down on the slashing and if your stick hits any part of an opponent (other than their stick) in a slashing motion then it should be a penalty. Hooking went this way - you used to have a couple of hooks on a guy and get away with it. Now it is called if your stick goes into the mid section for a fraction of a second.
Taking out slashing would take care of so much the league is trying to do
- goal scoring should go up
- the speed of the game would go up
- star players miss less time
Ovechkins slash is a 2 minute penalty in slow motion but it happens hundreds of times a season and isn't called. I don't see it as a dirty play but a play he knows he has a 50/50 chance of getting away with to take away a Crosby scoring chance...who wouldn't make that play.
At the end of the day, it is a league problem and if the league doesn't fix it we will see the stars of the game injured.
|