Kukla's Korner Hockey
KHL hockey, the answer to the NHL’s injury issues? Probably not…
by George Malik on 01/21/12 at 03:12 AM ET
Comments (7)
Those who have suggested that the NHL needs to allow obstruction to creep back into the game, eliminate the instigator rule and widen rinks to slow down the game and allow the NHL’s big, strong, fast and hard-hitting players to earn better chances of avoiding head injuries might suggest that the KHL actually serves as a “model” for the future shape of NHL hockey. The KHL plays its games on 100-foot-wide rinks, it allows players to clutch and grab, and as Vityaz Chekhov has demonstrated, if a team wishes to load up on enforcers to police the game as they see fit, the KHL offers little resistence to that style of play. In a league where the pace of play resembles soccer more than it does hockey, former NHL’ers abound, and Atlant Mytischi’s Alexei Kovalev tells the CBC’s Paul Owe that the KHL presents a safer workplace for its players:
“The ice surface is a lot bigger so there is more space and more room for players that can be hurt [to] get away and skate away from getting injured,” the 38-year-old Kovalev said.
The KHL plays on international-sized ice rinks, which measure four metres wider than the North American rinks the NHL plays on. While both surfaces are the same length, international rinks also have larger neutral zones because the blue-lines are closer to the goal-line. Kovalev’s training coach Barry Brennan agreed that the larger ice is a factor in reducing injury. Brennan was the strength and conditioning coach with the Atlanta Thrashers before heading to Russia last off-season. He said the increasing speed and size of NHL players leads to more potentially dangerous hits on a smaller ice surface.
“I think that’s a big problem because today’s athletes, you know, compared to 25 years ago, they’re getting bigger, stronger, quicker,” he said. “And now, these bigger, faster, stronger guys are flying around with less room to move, so the collisions have greater impact.”
The story continues, but I’ll state my opinions on this subject bluntly:
It’s one thing to ask fans to pay $10-30 to watch, but neither you nor I would pay $50-100+ dollars to watch the kind of game that results in players returning to the NHL with all the success of Jiri Hudler last season. It’s slower, lower-scoring, trap-happy hockey, so when lesser-skilled teams play each other, the results resemble New Jersey Devils/Minnesota Wild games from the early 00’s.
I also find it pretty spurious to suggest that a league which doesn’t employ the NHL’s progressive concussion protocols is somehow safer than the NHL. We’re facing something of a quandary on this side of the Atlantic because, as Kovalev suggests, there is something to be said for the stupidity that is encouraging players to “finish” every check, no matter how slight, on this side of the pond…
“I think the bigger ice plays a role. You know, I’ve played in the American Hockey League for eight years, and every check, we’re told to finish them. And over here, if you go finish a check, you’re really far from where the play is at the moment,” he said.
That actually happens more often than we’d like to admit in the NHL, and in my opinion, the concept of checking as separating a player from the puck instead of the culture which encourages players to “punish” their opponents to the point of inducing injuries, simply because one can, needs to change, big time…But the NHL’s attempts to hold players more responsible for their checks under Brendan Shanahan, inconsistencies in applying supplemental discipline included, the NHL and NHLPA’s attempts to get rid of the offensive weapons that are shoulder and elbow pads based upon hard plastic as opposed to gear which doesn’t make checkers feel like they’re invincible while still protecting them as well as the current gear does (we’re almost 20 years into the “hard plastic” area, and advances in protective technology have to extend to more than just better-performing sticks and lighter gloves, skates and goalie gear), attempts to better diagnose and treat concussions as brain injuries which must be taken very, very seriously (working on better helmets included, but not suggesting that there’s one solution to the problem of decelerating the head when players also suffer concussions when they take blows to the jaw or plain old get their brains jiggled by inadvertent and genuinely accidental collisions) and even Don Cherry’s railing against the fact that the NHL and its players can’t simply counter greater responsibility for tossing their shoulders and elbows willy-nilly at opponents by instead low-bridging and kneeing their opponents instead of relying on ye olde butt check, applied to the middle of the body…
The NHL and NHLPA are moving toward a game which can combine the fantastic levels of speed, skill and scoring chances which a largely obstruction-free NHL provides, instigator rule included, without widening ice surfaces and without sacrificing player safety for the sake of the game being played at its absolutely, positively highest level in front of fans who pay through the nose to watch it.
I’d rather the NHL and PA look for progressive solutions to their problems than simply go the “easy” way by bringing more sleep clinic-worthy Devils-Wild, “Wrestling on ice” games back into the equation, and as we all know that the NHL has no plans involving taking away those $150+-dollar rink-side seats, that’s simply not an option.
Just as importantly, Sidney Crosby’s season-and-a-half-long battle to conquer his concussion issues has both raised awareness of the seriousness of treating concussions like brain injuries instead of bumps and bruises which can be shaken off while also emphasizing that the science thereof remains in its infancy.
Long story long, the NHL, its players and its fans are better served by the league and players not taking easy ways out. Solutions which address injury issues in a meaningful manner take more time, energy and effort than we’d like to admit, but they are the way to go.
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Comments
I definitely agree, especially about removing the trapezoid. We seem to forget that as much as it prevented forecheckers from plowing over defensemen, no trapezoid more than made up for the sacrificing of some scoring chances via said hits because so many goalies are more Dominik Hasek than Martin Brodeur in terms of puckhandling.
Posted by George Malik from South Lyon, MI on 01/21/12 at 05:06 AM ET
“Now, you have to process every hit that you’re about to make. It’s really, really hard.”
Dan Carcillo
Posted by tuxedoTshirt from the Home of the 1937 World Champions on 01/21/12 at 05:18 AM ET
KHL All-Star Game 2012
January 21, Riga, Latvia - Arena Riga
01/20
The Legends Game
Vyacheslav Fetisov Team (Russia)
11 vs 7 (5:1; 2:3; 4:3)
Helmuts Balderis Team (Latvia)
01/21
Master Show Skills Competition
Fastest Skater - Mikelis Redlihs
Longest Shot - Dmitri Kalinin
Puck Control Team Relay - Team Ozolins
Goaltender Competition - Chris Holt
Shooting Accuracy - Sergei Mozyakin
Hardest Shot - Alexander Riazantsev
Shootout Skill - Vladimir Tarasenko
Captains’ Duel - Sergei Fedorov
Fastest Skater Team Relay - Team Fedorov
01/21
Team Fedorov (East)
15 vs 11 (3:4; 5:4; 7:3)
Team Ozolins (West)
Game Report
http://text.khl.ru/en/33736.html
Goals
Team Fedorov
3 Brandon Bochenski
2 Alexander Ryazantsev
2 Alexei Kalyuzhny
2 Roman Cervenka
1 Alexander Radulov
1 Evgeny Kuznetsov
1 Vladimir Tarasenko
1 Jakub Petruzalek
1 Ilya Nikulin
1 Evgeny Medvedev
Goals
Team Ozolins
3 Sergei Shirokov
3 Mikhail Anisin
1 Vadim Shipachyov
1 Zbynek Irgl
1 Martins Karsums
1 Kirill Koltsov
1 Sandis Ozolins
Replays: KHL All-Star Game 2012
http://en.khl.ru/news/2012/1/21/24424.html
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1946F224320A6EF2
Posted by Tiago Cardoso on 01/22/12 at 06:15 PM ET
Team Ozolins [West]
Goalkeepers
30 Konstantin Barulin - Atlant Mytishchi - Russia [Fans’ choice]
31 Chris Holt - Dinamo Riga - USA/Canada [Media choice]
Defenders
10 Jere Karalahti - Dinamo Minsk - Finland [Fans’ choice]
73 Maxim Chudinov - Severstal Cherepovets - Russia [Fans’ choice]
07 Dmitry Kalinin - SKA St. Petersburg - Russia [Media choice]
28 Janne Niskala - Atlant Mytishchi - Finland [Media choice]
04 Kirill Koltsov - SKA St. Petersburg - Russia [League choice]
29 Karel Pilar - Lev Poprad - Czech Republic [League choice]
08 Sandis Ozolins - Dinamo Riga - Latvia [Team Captain]
Forwards
19 Mikelis Redlihs - Dinamo Riga - Latvia [Fans’ choice]
87 Vadim Shipachyov - Severstal Cherepovets - Russia [Fans’ choice]
22 Zbynek Irgl - Dinamo Minsk - Czech Republic [Fans’ choice]
52 Sergei Shirokov - CSKA Moscow - Russia [Media choice]
09 Tony Martensson - SKA St. Petersburg - Sweden [Media choice]
88 Mikhail Anisin - Vityaz Chekhov - Russia [Media choice]
93 Nikolai Zherdev - Atlant Mytishchi - Russia [League choice]
15 Martins Karsums - Dinamo Riga - Latvia [League choice]
13 Vyacheslav Kozlov - Dynamo Moscow - Russia [League choice]
Coaches
Milos Riha - SKA St. Petersburg - Czech Republic [League choice]
Oleg Znarok - Dynamo Moscow - Latvia/Germany [League choice]
Team Fedorov [East]
Goalkeepers
30 Mikhail Biryukov - Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk - Russia [Fans’ choice]
34 Michael Garnett - Traktor Chelyabinsk - Canada [Media choice]
Defenders
05 Ilya Nikulin - Ak Bars Kazan - Russia [Fans’ choice]
07 Mikko Maenpaa - Amur Khabarovsk - Finland [Fans’ choice]
38 Kevin Dallman - Barys Astana - Canada [Media choice]
81 Alexander Ryazantsev - Traktor Chelyabinsk - Russia [Media choice]
45 Vitaly Proshkin - Salavat Yulaev Ufa - Russia [League choice]
32 Evgeny Medvedev - Ak Bars Kazan - Russia [League choice]
Forwards
92 Evgeny Kuznetsov - Traktor Chelyabinsk - Russia [Fans’ choice]
71 Alexei Kalyuzhny - Avangard Omsk - Belarus [Fans’ choice]
88 Jakub Petruzalek - Amur Khabarovsk - Czech Republic [Fans’ choice]
47 Alexander Radulov - Salavat Yulaev Ufa - Russia [Media choice]
91 Vladimir Tarasenko - Sibir Novosibirsk - Russia [Media choice]
85 Roman Cervenka - Avangard Omsk - Czech Republic [Media choice]
10 Sergei Mozyakin - Metallurg Magnitogorsk - Russia [League choice]
27 Brandon Bochenski - Barys Astana - USA [League choice]
82 Alexander Frolov - Avangard Omsk - Russia [League choice]
18 Sergei Fedorov - Metallurg Magnitogorsk - Russia [Team Captain]
Coaches
Valery Belousov - Traktor Chelyabinsk - Russia [League choice]
Hannu Jortikka - Amur Khabarovsk - Finland [League choice]
KHL League Standings 2011-2012 [Regular Season]
01 SKA St. Petersburg 88 - Dmitry Kalinin, Kirill Koltsov, Tony Martensson
02 Traktor Chelyabinsk 84 - Michael Garnett, Alexander Ryazantsev, Evgeny Kuznetsov
03 Dynamo Moscow 78 - Vyacheslav Kozlov
04 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 77 - Sergei Mozyakin, Sergei Fedorov
05 Ak Bars Kazan 73 - Ilya Nikulin, Evgeny Medvedev
06 Dinamo Minsk 72 - Jere Karalahti, Zbynek Irgl
07 Amur Khabarovsk 71 - Mikko Maenpaa, Jakub Petruzalek
08 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 71 - Vitaly Proshkin, Alexander Radulov
09 Barys Astana 70 - Kevin Dallman, Brandon Bochenski
10 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 70
11 Atlant Mytishchi 70 - Konstantin Barulin, Janne Niskala, Nikolai Zherdev
12 Severstal Cherepovets 68 - Maxim Chudinov, Vadim Shipachyov
13 Avangard Omsk 68 - Alexei Kalyuzhny, Roman Cervenka, Alexander Frolov
14 Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk 64 - Mikhail Biryukov
15 Dinamo Riga 60 - Chris Holt, Sandis Ozolins, Mikelis Redlihs, Martins Karsums
16 CSKA Moscow 59 - Sergei Shirokov
17 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 55
18 Metallurg Novokuznetsk 55
19 Sibir Novosibirsk 51 - Vladimir Tarasenko
20 Spartak Moscow 45
21 Lev Poprad 44 - Karel Pilar
22 Vityaz Chekhov 34 - Mikhail Anisin
23 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 28
Posted by Tiago Cardoso on 01/22/12 at 06:18 PM ET
KHL vs NHL - Top 10 Teams
KHL
Salavat Yulaev Ufa
Atlant Mytishchi
Ak Bars Kazan
Metallurg Magnitogorsk
SKA Saint Petersburg
Dynamo Moscow
Avangard Omsk
Traktor Chelyabinsk
Dinamo Minsk
Amur Khabarovsk
NHL
Boston Bruins
Vancouver Canucks
Washington Capitals
Philadelphia Flyers
Detroit Red Wings
Pittsburgh Penguins
Chicago Blackhawks
San Jose Sharks
New York Rangers
Nashville Predators
Posted by Tiago Cardoso on 01/22/12 at 06:20 PM ET
Effect 4x16 - “KHL Challenger” (2008-2011) vs “NHL Monopoly” (1991-2007)
1893–1914 Challenge Cup era [amateur] (21 seasons)
1909-1917 NHA - National Hockey Association (08 seasons)
1912-1924 PCHA - Pacific Coast Hockey Association (13 seasons)
1915–1926 NHA/NHL vs. PCHA/WCHL [1915 Stanley Cup Finals era] (11 seasons)
**********1917-2011 NHL - National Hockey League [1927 NHL champions] (94 seasons)**********
1919-2011 CHL - Canadian Hockey League (1975) [1919 Memorial Cup] (94 seasons)
1921-1926 WCHL - Western Canada Hockey League (05 seasons)
1936-2011 AHL - American Hockey League (76 seasons)
**********1946-1990 USSR - Soviet Championship League (45 seasons)*********
**********1972-1979 WHA - World Hockey Association (07 seasons)*********
**********1991-1992 CIS - Championship League [soviet] (01 season)********
**********1992-1995 IHL - International Hockey League [soviet] (04 seasons)********
1992-2011 VHL - Major Hockey League [russian 2nd level] (20 seasons)
**********1996-2007 RSL - Russian Super League (12 seasons)********
**********2004-2005 NHL Lockout (01 season)********
**********2008-2011 KHL - Kontinental Hockey League (04 seasons)***********
2009-2011 MHL - Minor Hockey League [russian junior league] (03 seasons)
2012-2013 NHL CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement)
Posted by Tiago Cardoso on 01/22/12 at 06:33 PM ET
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I agree with your sentiments George. I am of the opinion that the newer gear (shoulder/elbow pads) are one of the larger contributors to head injuries facing players today. I also keep going to the trapizoid rule I’ve heard some writers mention. Allowing goaler’s the ability to slow down forecheckers would not be a negative thing either. But, finally, players not having to completely destroy the opposition at all costs is the reality of the problem the NHLPA faces as far as head injuries go. I have seen a few situations this season when a player has let up on a check because the hit was not nessessary, so maybe things are going In the right direction?
Posted by christpuncher from Detroit, MI on 01/21/12 at 04:44 AM ET