Quote:
Originally Posted by Strange Brew
Maybe i should put it another way. When you play hockey, getting hit hurts. Sometimes a lot. That is a big reason why you skate with your head up when you have the puck. That is why you might be reluctant to play the puck along the boards.
Skating with your head up, with great vision and awareness, with speed and agility. These are skills I want to see rewarded in hockey. The best players can do this and avoid hard contact. Take away the physical deterrent, and now we have a bit of a different game.
I want to reduce the risk of injuries full stop and interested in ideas on how to penalize dangerous hits in a way that reduces their frequency and magnitude. But to get to a point where you no longer have to worry about getting hit when you're carrying the puck? I personally don't want that.
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Yes hit hurt but we are not talking about a clean hit here. We absolutely should be striving for players to not have to worry about taking a headshot when carrying the puck. What part about that hit was good for the game? The play had to be stopped so it's not like the hit was a turning point in the play. It was simply a goon injuring a player. The whole head down thing is nonsense. The NFL which has been much more progressive in player safety penalizes all unnecessary hits to defenseless players. It still hasn't changed the fact that wide receivers get hit in the middle of the field after catching a ball. It just means they are not getting laid out and carted off after catching a ball in the middle of the field. It's pretty clear there's still a large portion of the old guard that loves to see a player laid out on the ice and that's sad.