Dr. Charles Tator, the noted Canadian concussion expert, blamed Don Cherry on Friday at a Hockey Canada symposium as being a "negative influence" in the fight against head injuries.
It's nothing new for Tator to identify Cherry's rock 'em-sock 'em style on Hockey Night In Canada as encouraging injuries. He's called out the flamboyant one several times before for preaching pugnacity. We then got an exchange of indignation from HNIC and the liberal faction in the hockey chorus.
So it was this time as well. Yesterday, HNIC's executive producer, Sherali Najak, came to Cherry's defence against the charges. "Don Cherry's record of safety and respect in hockey speaks for itself," Najak said. "Everything from championing on-ice rules and equipment changes to leading the stop-sign campaign, he has been the leader in teaching tough smart hockey and promotes respect amongst players at every level."
Well, let's not give him the Nobel Peace Prize just yet.
What is new is that Cherry now seems like a moderate on the issue compared to some of his younger broadcast colleagues. Yes, Cherry's still preaching (and profiting from) intimidating hockey from his bully pulpit, but as Najak suggests, he has lent his name to safety campaigns and he's periodically talked about the lack of respect among players. But there are plenty of other TV voices - such as Mike Milbury, P.J. Stock, Matthew Barnaby or Nick Kypreos - who praise players for winning through intimidation and who make Cherry sound almost avuncular.
Take the issue of why a player is allowed to hit an opponent when he's not carrying the puck.
Dowbiggin 6 Finishing the check as it's euphemistically called. The idea of a body check is to take the puck from a player. But in its quest for spectacular hits for the highlight reels, the NHL has gradually allowed players to hit opponents two or three beats after they've released the puck under the cover of finishing your check.
Watch a game on NHL Classics from 25 years ago and such late hits are virtually non-existent. Now, every NHL games features several late hits on non puck carriers - followed by the hosannas of the TV voices damning "pansification" and praising what should be called interference or charging, not checking. Players are getting badly hurt when charging players hit a stationary opponent.
To see how the televised message has filtered throughout the game just look at the Ontario Hockey League where 16-year-old defenceman Ben Fanelli was helpless on the boards after releasing the puck and suffered a major head injury courtesy of Michael Liambas "finishing his check" after releasing the puck. You don't need new rules. Just call the ones that have always been there.
There are isolated voices on TV - Craig Button, Pierre McGuire and Bob McKenzie among them - who believe removing the kill shot from hockey can save injury. But the networks apparently don't find the message sexy enough. So they still hire former players to sing from the hymn book introduced years ago by Cherry. Or they produce features such as Sportsnet's Friday Night Fights as though hockey were mixed martial arts.
Curiously, some of the strongest voices against tightening rules on head shots are former players who either lost their careers to concussions or had them affected by head shots. Kypreos, for one, saw his career ended by concussion but still sells the "it's a man's game" approach. Paul Kariya has also experienced problems with concussions that cost him many games. "Realistically, it's a physical game," Kariya admits. "It's always been that way. Unless you take hitting out of the game it's always going to be that way. Guys who get caught in the wrong spot and get hit will be hurt."
It's as though victims of car crashes come out against seat belts and air bags. But that's the leap of faith in the hockey. It's considered monumental progress that the NHL governors will actually broach the subject seriously at their meetings this week.
The answers on concussions aren't always easy. But having broadcasters ask the simple questions on what constitutes a check might be the easiest and least painful place to start the debate.