By Stevo, AllHabs.net
MONTREAL, QC. — I was having a conversation with my nephew the other day, and I found myself talking to him about how the game of hockey has changed over the past few years. I was telling him about how goalies used to be able to play the puck in the corners, how they used to have bigger equipment, how a two-line pass used to be forbidden, the hookings and all. I then came to realize that the game sure has changed a lot since I used to play it as a kid.
Although I became a goaltender at a very young age, I was first a forward. (And a pretty good one at that!) I remember being taught at a very young age that I should always keep my head up on the ice. “Don’t get caught skating in the middle of the ice with your head between your legs” my dad used to tell me. “You’re going to get your head taken off,” he would go on to add.
I was taught to keep my head up, at a level where contact was not even permitted, but this was in preparation for the future. Preparation, knowing that some day, I would most probably be playing at a level where I would need to keep my head up, or risk getting bulldozered by an opposing player.
The facts are that I would go on to be a goaltender, therefore I never really had a chance to play “contact hockey,” although seeing Ryan Miller get pummelled to the ice by Milan Lucic brought back memories of my midget BB season of 1997.
We were in the first round of the playoffs playing against St-Hubert, I was playing for “Les Mustangs de Brossard.” In the third period, of the third game of a best of three, up by a goal, I came out to play the puck in a play almost identical to the Miller/Lucic incident. I was rocked by the opposing player who chose to play the goalie rather than the puck, and I cartwheeled like I never had before. The difference in my case was that I sustained no injury, although I will admit I stayed down on the ice until the trainer came to me.
The other major difference is that even with what was only a one-goal lead, both my defencemen went after the player who rocked me, and although they really didn’t fear anyone, they weren’t close to being in the same size category as the opposing player. What came out of it was a four-minute, and a two-minute penalty for each of our players, while the opposing player got a four-minute penalty. (Two for roughing the goalie, and two for roughing.)
We would go on to kill the penalty, win the game, and move on the second round, and eventually we went on to win the playoffs, and the provincials. Best hockey season of my life, and I was then drafted by Oceanic de Rimouski in the QMJHL, but I digress.
To go back to the game I got rocked, what I wanted to get to was the fact that after the game, everyone was talking about how we were moving on the second round. Nobody was talking about how the goalie (me), got rocked by an opposing player. It was just an event that had happened in the game, like any other.
With this in mind, I wasn’t surprised to see Milan Lucic not receive a suspension for his hit on Ryan Miller. I don’t recall any player ever being suspended for hitting a goalie, and it’s happened many times before, so why would have started there? In the concussion-sensitive age we are now in however, the incident got national attention, and that for many days.
I do have to say that I admired what Brendan Shanahan did, which was to speak to all the general managers, and have the majority agree that in the future, such an incident would merit a suspension. Whether people agree or not on whether it should be, at least now, it’s clear. (Until the next time a goalie is hit and the rule gets interpreted differently…) I’m all for making things safer for goalies, who often seem to be completely left on their own.
So back to players hitting players. (Because I completely deviated from the main point of this column) I have to say, I’m very confused. I’m confused because I’m not quite sure where Shanahan is going with his suspensions. I don’t quite understand why what appear to be very similar hits, are getting treated differently by those in charge of player safety. Of course, I’m talking about the Max Pacioretty suspension.
Twitter has been a fire storm since the suspension verdict came in last night. The mix of people who believe he should not have been suspended, combined with those who believe he should have been but not so harshly, further combined with those who believe he should not have been suspended, but are saying he deserved it, because they want to look good in the eyes of others, has really produced some nasty conversations.
I’ve tried to stay away although I must say the following tweet was a sentiment shared by many:
[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/#!/WinterLions/status/141319369249652737″]
Personally, I didn’t feel he should have been suspended, and many of you will say i’m a biased Habs’ fan for thinking so, so be it. I saw the play as follows:
- Kris Letang skated across the middle of the ice, and entered the Montreal zone.
- Max Pacioretty lined him up for the hit.
- Letang appeared to see Pacioretty, but appeared to believe he had time to take the shot. (My own interpretation)
- Pacioretty finished his shoulder check, which did not come from the blind side.
- Due to Letang’s natural skating and shooting motion (Or that of any player), his head was ahead of his body when Pacioretty came in for the hit, which is why the head sustained a hit, although it was never targeted.
Letang had this to say about the hit when interviewed after the game:
“I was taking a shot and had my head down. I guess he [Pacioretty] was coming across to finish his hit. But he apologized on the ice. He came over and we kind of skated around. He apologized, which was a great gesture by him.”
I don’t care so much about the apology, but Letang seems to focus a lot more on the fact his head was down, rather than resort to putting the blame on Pacioretty. Classy on his part, and maybe he feels differently behind the camera, but it appeared to me that Letang felt the hit he sustained was more his fault, than Pacioretty’s. Maybe I’m wrong.
So what’s the rule anyways? Well, let’s look:
Rule 48 – Illegal Check to the Head
48.1 Illegal Check to the Head – A hit resulting in contact with an opponent’s head where the head is targeted and the principal point of contact is not permitted. However, in determining whether such a hit should have been permitted, the circumstances of the hit, including whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position immediately prior to or simultaneously with the hit or the head contact on an otherwise legal body check was avoidable, can be considered.
After reading the rule, I would disagree that Pacioretty “targeted” the opponent’s head, and also believe that Letang put himself in a vulnerable position immediately prior to the hit. There’s something I’m not quite understanding here.
This leads me all to the following question. “What is the NHL trying to accomplish exactly?”
I’m all for player safety, and making the game safter, but i’ll ask again, what is the NHL trying to accomplish exactly? Eliminate all hits to the head, even when the argument can be made that the player sustaining the hit was the one who put themselves in a vulnerable position? I truly don’t see how this can be accomplished without eliminating all north/south hits from the game. I go back to a player’s natural skating and shooting position, where the head is always ahead of the body. This just makes it that a “frontal” hit if you prefer, will in most cases, lead to the head getting hit. Is the player no longer responsible for keeping his head up when skating across the ice? At all?
Nobody likes to see a player down on the ice and hurt, but let’s not forget that hockey is a contact sport. When you have grown men flying at incredible speeds across an ice surface, playing a sport where “hitting” each other is permitted. You’re bound to have injuries, and every now and then, you’re bound to see a player unfortunately get very hurt.
So where do you draw the line? What used to be a legal check, still is, but only if the opposing player doesn’t put his head down? That’s kind of what i’m understanding now.
At a time where the general hockey population has grown sensitive to hits to the head, I simply feel there’s been a dramatic shift, where players practically no longer have any responsibility for protecting themselves, and all the responsibility now lies on the player making the hit, in ensuring they don’t hurt the opponent.
I’m not going to argue the suspension, although I disagree with it, but I’d rather express the fact that I’m confused. I don’t understand where the game is going, and I’m not quite sure that the NHL has found the correct balance between player safety, and allowing the “contact” in “contact sport” to live on.
One thing seems clear to me, the inconsistency with which these types of hits have been handled by the player safety board so far this season are creating a conflict of interest. I’m not talking about conspiracy theories, but rather the conflict of allowing hitting in a game in some instances, while not allowing it others. The interest is having hitting in the game, the conflict is how to allow it.
Related Columns/Videos: