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Can The Head Shot Rule Be Implemented Quickly?
by Paul on 03/15/10 at 07:17 AM ET
Comments (3)
from Damien Cox of the Toronto Star,
...there are clearly forces within the league and union advocating urgency to get this new rule on the books fast. The league is obviously worried about optics and the gap of vulnerability that now exists between now and next fall, with so many important and intense matches to be played.
Last week, the Bettman administration was arguing that due process wouldn’t allow the rule to be implemented before this season ended. Today, they’re looking at ways to make just that happen.
But they need the players, specifically the five on the competition committee – Ryan Miller, Jeff Halpern, Jason Spezza, Mathieu Schneider and Brian Campbell – to agree to the new regulation. The committee isn’t set to convene again until June, by which time the league will have replaced two members from the management side, Kevin Lowe and Bob Gainey.
If the competition committee were somehow able to gather and give its thumbs up to the new legislation, the league’s board of governors would then have to give its final stamp of approval.
You’d think that in an era of email and video conference calls, this could all be done in a matter of days, and maybe it can be.
Then again, the union has no leadership at the moment, having decapitated itself in a spectacular episode of internal bloodletting last fall.
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Comments
The rule doesn’t have to be perfect or permanent. Ratify it for the rest of the season and give the officials something to call so that the excuse that it is a “legal” hit is removed. Show each team a video of the hits by Richards and Cooke and say this is illegal and the intent of the rule. Even if the on-ice official misses the call the NHL can come in and suspend a player that is dangerous because there is now a rule. End of story until the competition committee meets and the NHLPA can ensure that the rule is clear enough so that there isn’t an unwarranted supension a week.
Posted by hockey191 from montreal on 03/15/10 at 09:48 AM ET
There may be more to this, but remember when Sean Avery pulled that stunt in front of Brodeur in the playoffs a couple of years ago, facing the goalie and waving his stick around? Maybe they were only clarifying the high-sticking rule, but the rule banning those type of actions came into effect instantly, while those playoffs were ongoing. Why can’t a head shot rule be implemented now? It would seem to make sense.
Posted by detroitdan1982 from St. John's, NL on 03/15/10 at 11:26 AM ET
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Oh, for goodness sakes.
The next practice for each team, have the captain take a vote of yea or nay on the new rule. Little slips of paper in a box works fine. Count up the results and give the tally to one of the five players on the committee (six teams report to each). Then the five guys conference or email or DM or whatever and come to a decision based on the votes of all the players.
If the players all say “yes, we would approve of a rule that punishes attempts to inflict brain damage on us” then the NHL must find a way for it to happen. NOW.
The NHL talks endlessly about how tech-savvy their fans are - for once why not try using it yourselves for something other than “how can we block internet feeds so we can try to weasel more money out of someone who already paid for a service, despite the fact they don’t actually have the channel that the game is televised on anyway?”
It’s not rocket surgery.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 03/15/10 at 07:39 AM ET