State of Love and Trust
First, we have some ‘heady’ work – that’s right, I went there – by Free Press hockey writer Tim Campbell on concussions this week. Then, Matt Cooke, acting like he’s on the WFP payroll with his impeccable timing, crushes Marc Savard into Grade 2 oblivion. For those looking for a Blind Side joke here, as the fumes of Oscar Sunday dissipate, please move on.
And then, through some other coincidence not attributed to Campbell or Cooke, the National Hockey League holds its G.M. meetings and on the list of things to talk about are head shots. That’s right; you got it – head shots. Blind-side variety. Good luck enforcing that without taking hitting out of the game. I can just hear the conversation on the golf course now: If we keep talking about it, we’re bound to come up with a solution on what a blind-side head shot is. Heads up, Burkie is teeing off.
As Elliotte Friedman so eloquently put it this morning, the issue of head shots and shots to the head is a complex one filled with many different layers. His solutions, which include the obvious (stiffer penalties, removal of the instigator rule) to the ‘why didn’t I think of that’ (owner’s self interest, softer equipment), are well thought out. The point that caught me with my head down, though, was the one called “Make the Victims More Aware.” An example:
The crackdown on interference (a good thing) allows forecheckers to arrive even faster. Defencemen who try to protect the puck facing the boards are going to get clobbered. The collisions look awful, but in many cases, it’s not anywhere near a deliberate attempt to hurt.
It’s not that sexy to say, but the honest truth is that more and more injuries are happening because players are putting themselves in vulnerable positions…It’s easy to blame the aggressor. But there are cases where they’re not at fault. Coaches/players have to a do a better job of realizing when strategy puts skaters at risk.
Friedman hits it right on the button.
A couple years ago, I talked to Mike Keane about this very subject. Doug Weight had just smacked Brandon Sutter with a clean, open ice hit when the Carolina forward tried to make a move on the Islander veteran. Weight’s shoulder caught Sutter right in the mush. If memory serves, while there was no penalty (it wasn’t a penalty), the uproar from the hit was deafening. You know the drill: Head shot outrage here, head shot outrage there.
Keane’s comments, as expected, were old school:
“I feel bad for players who get hurt. Obviously no one wants to see anyone go down and get knocked out, but I think, and I agree with (one-time TSN analyst) John Tortorella, when he says that it’s up to the players to be accountable for the situation they put themselves in. A lot of times, people point to the rules and assume players are going to abide by those rules. That if I’m vulnerable, no one is going to hit me. But that’s just not the case. Hockey is a fast game, and sometimes you’re going to get hit when you put yourself in a bad spot.
“A lot of players think they’re untouchable when they do that given the way the game has changed. Unfortunately, it’s been a rude awakening for them and a real tough lesson learned.”
When players put their trust, not to mention their health, in other player’s hands, they’re going to get hurt. A guy can’t assume that because he’s counted three defenders in the spots they’re supposed to be that he can skate into the middle for a better shot and not get hit by a fourth guy. When did players decide that it was OK to cut through the middle with their head down or turned to the side to admire a pass?
Let me put it another way: You wear your seatbelt, right? Of course you do. Even if it weren’t required by law you probably would still wear it. Why? Is it because you don’t trust your own driving? No, it’s because you never know when someone out there has had one too many pints of clouded judgment and they can’t be trusted to stop at that red light which is a block from that bar near your home.
