Fifth Avenue Forum

It'll never happen, but I'd love to see them just throwing one-game suspensions for all hits to the head.

There's already an undercurrent of people trying to push this in the league...we're probably about 3 to 5 years away, but there's some interest in going there...just need a little more attrition from old timers...looks like Lou Lamoriello and Brian Burke might be stepping away, that's two of them right there if they don't surface again...

Ultimately there's going to be plays where it unjustly takes a player out of the game/series/whatever, but it hopefully slows/stops guys from exploding high to flirt with the legality of a check in order to cause maximum damage.

I want to know how we got from hip checks and big open ice hits to everyone running around taking each other's heads off. It reminds me of the NFL in a way.

Two key things:

1. Hard-capped equipment creates this notion of invincibility. Back in the day, the contact was body on body...soft shell equipment, no visors, no helmets, etc. Players weren't lying on the ice with their mouths open to block shots like they do now. They weren't skating a thousand km/h to smash someone's face into the boards because it hurts...it hurts them, it hurts you, it hurts...high sticking used to be a major penalty because players were more cautious because they knew no one was out there with a bucket on...goalies played stand-up because nets were 4 feet tall and players were 6 feet tall...so in an act of self-preservation, goalies kept their head above the crossbar because pucks don't go up there.

Now, you got guys in body armor and they can just do whatever they want.

2. The short-shift game has caused the game to become too fast for its own good. Players have 30 seconds to go out there and go once up and once back. So you better make an impact, especially if you're a fringe player. So you go out there and try to destroy...something...a play, a chance, a pass, a human, whatever...it's a lot easier than creating...the short shift game became more popular as the use of helmets and visors increased...so hyper-speed + invincibility = injuries like we saw with Dumo.

Wilson hit dumoulin because he can’t distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate behavior in real time. He has created a new lowest common denominator for the “could he have avoided” qualifier because of his tiny tiny brain. That’s where we are today.

Wilson hit dumoulin because he can’t distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate behavior in real time. He has created a new lowest common denominator for the “could he have avoided” qualifier because of his tiny tiny brain. That’s where we are today.

Wilson is still smarter than Gudas though...

Wilson hit dumoulin because he can’t distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate behavior in real time. He has created a new lowest common denominator for the “could he have avoided” qualifier because of his tiny tiny brain. That’s where we are today.

Wilson hit dumoulin because he can’t distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate behavior in real time. He has created a new lowest common denominator for the “could he have avoided” qualifier because of his tiny tiny brain. That’s where we are today.

That's where I'm at. I get the short reaction time but it seems like every split second decision Wilson makes is in favor of finishing the hit, regardless of the vulnerable position the opponent is in or the dangerous position he is in.

Adam Herman @AdamZHerman
If you accidentally high stick someone's chin and draw blood, it's four minutes in penalties. Intention be damned. But if you hit someone in the face with your shoulder, there are 20 different layers to it that have to be analyzed before it is deemed a penalty. Seems backwards.

Adam Herman @AdamZHerman
If you accidentally high stick someone's chin and draw blood, it's four minutes in penalties. Intention be damned. But if you hit someone in the face with your shoulder, there are 20 different layers to it that have to be analyzed before it is deemed a penalty. Seems backwards.

Adam Herman, I agree with you.

It'll never happen, but I'd love to see them just throwing one-game suspensions for all hits to the head.

There's already an undercurrent of people trying to push this in the league...we're probably about 3 to 5 years away, but there's some interest in going there...just need a little more attrition from old timers...looks like Lou Lamoriello and Brian Burke might be stepping away, that's two of them right there if they don't surface again...

Ultimately there's going to be plays where it unjustly takes a player out of the game/series/whatever, but it hopefully slows/stops guys from exploding high to flirt with the legality of a check in order to cause maximum damage.

That’s nice in theory, but the NFL had a huge spike in blown out knees when they cracked down on headshots.

Blown out knees are obviously less severe than shots to the dome so I don’t know where I am going with this.

That’s nice in theory, but the NFL had a huge spike in blown out knees when they cracked down on headshots.

Blown out knees are obviously less severe than shots to the dome so I don’t know where I am going with this.

I don't think that particular scenario applies as much in the NHL. Hockey players aren't diving at ankles to make tackles.