How should the NHL deal with Hits to the Head?
The discussion about whether NHL players should be able to hit other players in the head while checking that player has been heavily discussed since Raffi Torres nailed Jason Williams in the game Edmonton played against Detroit on November 8th at Joe Louis Arena. Here is the video in case you want to check it out again:
I think that Matt over at On the Wings has a pretty good take where he compares hockey to college and professional football. Football and hockey are easily the two most violent sports in the mainstream sportsworld. However I take a slightly different perspective on what the NHL can take from football in order to try and minimize the damage that occurs when one player checks another.
I think the league needs to look into developing better helmets. Every player in the NHL is required to wear a helmet. This is essential given how much more violent the sport has become. NHL great Bobby Orr has talked about how much the game has changed since he played 30 years ago. The physical aspect of the game is one of its great assests in my opinion. However the equipment that is used to protect players is seriously outdated. I don’t know what would work best, but I know that NFL helmets provide much more protection than NHL helmets. It’s not even close. So my suggestion to the league would be to develop better helmets - with visors being mandatory - in order limit the damage that is being done from these crushing checks.
A rule that forbids helmet to helmet contact is fine, but in the NFL many players still get concussions from the force of being hit by shoulder pads (the fundamentally correct way to tackle an opposing player). You cannot remove contact from sports like hockey and football. But what you must do is develop the best equipment possible in order to minimize the damage done to the men who play the game.
Jason Williams Raffi Torres Red Wings1 Comment(s)
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[…] Update (1:27 PM, 11. Nov): Dave at Gorilla Crouch has a good idea: “I think the league needs to look into developing better helmets.” That would definitely help, but I wonder how the players would react. We’ve already seen how little they want to have visors imposed on them, and a new helmet may get a similar reaction. - Matt According to CBC, the League GMs met in Toronto on Tuesday, and viewed a tape of various hits similar to that of Raffi Torres on Jason Williams. They were asked whether or not they thought the NHL was handling the issue of hits to the head properly. The answer, apparently, was yes. “… we have to be careful because we’re not allowing low hits, if we eliminate all hits to the upper body, what’s left? Hits to the belly button? We can’t forget we are a physical game.” […]