Good for McKenzie.  I’m sick of people pretending that being more strict with headshots will “ruin the game”.  Doesn’t everyone realize the league is much much much faster than it was when these knuckleheads played the game, and that headshots aren’t necessary at all.

Make it a 2 minute minor if someone comes in contact with another’s head (unless it’s incidental contact).  Concussions are way more serious than people realize - they can literally destroy your life, only you won’t know it until years down the road when the damage sustained to your brain takes its toll.

Posted by BuzzFledderjohn on 10/30/09 at 01:30 PM ET

I know concussions is an serious issue. No Hitting League? is that next? you can easy get a concussion from a very hard check along side the boards or in a fight. i know a concussion can effect an athlete’s life down the road.  where were these people 10-15 years ago when blows to the head where celebrated? you got to look at marketing of the league point of view. people want to see the explosive hit. it one of the few things you can do in this league anymore since bettman has turned this league into NBA.

sportscenter loves to promote those kinda hits. it’s one of the few things this league can get attention these days on national spotlight.

Another agrument you can look at his the players responsibility in these situation. i seen it over and over again everynight on center ice where players are putting their heads down and leaving themselves exposed to these kinda hits. these guy were taught in pee wee to keep their heads on swivel at all times.

technology is so far advance, why isn’t the equipment makers like a bauer or reebok not investing their money into creating an more efficient helmet to stablize the critical spots of the brain?

Posted by FlyersFan on 10/30/09 at 02:33 PM ET

where were these people 10-15 years ago when blows to the head where celebrated?

Our knowledge of the long term effects of blows to the head have come a long, long way in 15 years.  In the mid 90’s, a CT was a collection of maybe a few dozen individual images.  Now, a CT can include tens of thousands of images for a 3D reconstruction.  There are ex-NFLers in their 50s with alzheimer’s.  The world has changed in 10 years.

technology is so far advance, why isn’t the equipment makers like a bauer or reebok not investing their money into creating an more efficient helmet to stablize the critical spots of the brain?  

There aren’t *good* spots to hit and *critical* spots to hit.  The brain is floating in fluid, and a blow anywhere spreads the force in every direction.  They’re the same mechanics that allow hydraulics to work. 

The NHLPA should be the driving force for this, and they’re too busy with power politics to worry about the players.

Posted by MarkK from Maryland on 10/30/09 at 03:16 PM ET

Good post MarkK from Maryland.

Maybe it’s kind of useless (because I don’t have video of the 2nd one), but I’d like to point out the Richards/Booth hit, outlining Booth’s skating pattern down the ice, and also a play in the Flyers/Capitals game a couple days ago where Ovechkin used much the same skating pattern (cutting across the blueline into mid-ice), the difference being Booth passed, Ovechkin held onto the puck.

Richards had Ovechkin lined up in very much the same way, but Ovechkin tiptoed around him. Richards almost fell over from missing the hit, and Ovechkin continued on.

Posted by Nathan from BC on 10/30/09 at 03:35 PM ET

It seems like it shouldn’t be that difficult to penalize blatant headshots without “taking hitting out of the game”. Guys are getting heavier and the equipment - shoulder and elbow pads - are miles away from what the puny things many of used to wear years ago.

There are some that are working on improved helmets. Mark Messier comes to mind, with his M11 helmet that a dozen or so guys are wearing, but that can only go so far. Common sense should fill the gap.

Posted by shazam88 from SoCal on 10/30/09 at 03:57 PM ET

The idea that the NHL can’t include regulations on direct head shots without compromising its physical soul seems utterly ridiculous to me. Checks and hitting isn’t primarily about aiming for the head. In my opinion, punishing direct head shots wouldn’t detract anything from the physical aspect of the game and eventually allow players to extend their careers. Not to mention retiring with most of their faculties intact.

Unfortunately, I don’t think rule changes are in the immediate future unless someone of importance gets seriously hurt.

Posted by Moq from Denmark on 10/30/09 at 05:17 PM ET

Headshots and the blatant disregard of the long-term damage they can do comes closer to anything else to make me forget about paying attention entirely.  The idea that seeing a young man in his mid-twenties get blasted by the first blow that may ultimately result in damage that will give him the mind of an 80-year-old with dementia in a quarter century - or less - makes me sick.

If that kind of human destruction and waste of potential is the inevitable result of the sport, I can do without it entirely.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 10/30/09 at 07:49 PM ET