There are two types of plays in the NHL today that garner the most attention In terms of what is deemed a dangerous or reckless act. The hits we see on an icing and the steady stream of head shots. Ultimately any changes rest with owners, GM’s, the NHLPA and the competition committee. However I’ll play devils advocate to those groups and to my good friend Adam Bennett and offer what I think would be a solution for one of these reckless plays, reducing the alarming increase in head shots.
The worst rule in all of sports in the past 100 years has been the inclusion of an instigator penalty to those who are deemed responsible for starting a fight. In my view this has greatly affected the level of accountability of many players as they fly around the ice especially in this ‘ new and improved ‘ NHL with no red line, very little obstruction and the inability of a defenseman to hold up the opposition for his partner on shoot-ins.
This lack of accountability has led to a predatory type of player who excels in two areas; on the back check where we see players coming back into their own end with a lot of velocity looking for their opposition forwards in a vulnerable position and laying what usually is a blind side hit. And the hit on the dump in where a forward will race in unimpeded and hammer the defense unsuspecting or otherwise.
The number one thing to do is eliminate the instigator rule so that any gratuitous head shot is met immediately with a physical response that will net the aggressor nothing more than a five minute major. No fear of 2-5-10 or more. Secondly, I believe a new committee of former players needs to replace the existing disciplinarians who albeit have done a solid job but need to move on and allow a younger committee of recently retired players, ideally roughly five in number who can review hits to deem whether the head shot was gratuitous or of a force that far exceeded what was necessary. This was not a question that would have ever needed to be asked a generation or two ago but the game today has vastly different rules that have greatly affected the speed through the neutral zone and this has been the number one cause to the increase in these types of hits.
There was absolutely no reason for Mike Richards of the Flyers to hit David Booth of the Panthers in the head on that back check play in a game played in early November of 2009. There was no reason for repeat offender Michael Liambas to charge into Ben Fanelli behind the net in their OHL game with the force that he used. There was no reason for James Neal of the Dallas Stars to hit Derek Dorsett from the Columbus Blue Jackets from behind on November 18, 2009, high on the back that smacked his head into the glass especially when earlier in the game Dorsett wanted to fight Neal but Neal did not want to fight so instead this is how he responds. This type of play and the other hits need to be dealt with a significant suspension to send a message to the players that this gratutious, excessive force type of hit is not needed or wanted in the NHL. Until a message is sent or the players are allowed to properly send it as in the days gone by, this hits will proliferate.