Kevork Djansezian
No one can say exactly how a new rule banning blindside shoulder hits to the head will work, but it is almost certain there will be one proposed by the time the NHL general managers meetings conclude this afternoon.
The GMs emerged from their session yesterday to say the eight-man committee put in charge of forming a recommendation on head shots had one that will be presented to all 30 GMs today. By the end of the day, after more discussion and probably some tweaking, a proposal should be ready to take to the league's competition committee and then the governors for approval in time for next season.
"There will be redefining and fine-tuning [today]" said Dallas Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk, who is a member of the committee. "Clearly, the blindside [hit] and unsuspecting player is what we're targeting. The emphasis is on the target being the head. There will be stiffer penalties for repeat offenders."
No one wanted to say exactly what the eight-man committee is proposing as the new rule, only that it will involve a shoulder hit to the head from the blind side. The probability is that if the hit is judged intentional, a five-minute major and a game misconduct will be assessed immediately, with the player facing supplemental discipline from Colin Campbell, the league's director of hockey operations.
Supplemental discipline in this case will probably mean suspensions, with repeat offenders due for lengthy absences.
"I think that will be part of it," Nieuwendyk said. "There is a push among some people to maybe have a little stiffer penalty than we're seeing now for repeat offenders."
If this is what the GMs put forward today, it should meet with the approval of the players, many of whom have long recommended lengthy suspensions as the best remedy for head shots and the resulting concussions.
Tampa Bay Lightning winger Martin St. Louis, who was left woozy and unable to stand after being levelled by a "pretty scary" check from Clarke MacArthur of the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday, is one of at least three NHL players to have suffered a blow to the head this past weekend.
He likes the idea of punishing repeat offenders but would also like the GMs to repeal the instigator rule that calls for a minor penalty to anyone who starts a fight. Many players believe that rule eliminated frontier justice for headhunters and encouraged them to take liberties.
"Obviously they're suspending guys [now]" St. Louis said. "But repeat offenders have got to be suspended even more, I think. I think it's the only way.
"You can police it as well, maybe taking the instigating rule out, then the guy knows that there will be somebody coming after him. And these are things I'm sure are talked about every meeting they have. But it's an important part. Guys are missing a lot of games because of head injuries."
Another veteran NHL player, who did not wish to be identified, said, "I think the only way to deal with this is to suspend guys for 10 games." The player added that when it comes to head shots, "We're always talking about the same guys. This will get their attention."
Some GMs admitted yesterday that the recent hits that caused such a furor among the public troubled them as well. There have been countless replays on television and the internet of Philadelphia Flyers centre Mike Richards leaving Florida Panthers forward David Booth with a concussion last October after a blindside head shot.
And then, one day before the GMs annual meetings started on Monday, Boston Bruins centre Marc Savard sustained a concussion because of a hit by Pittsburgh Penguins forward Matt Cooke.
"There are certain things that happened this year that made a lot of us feel uncomfortable with the game and the way things are going," said another committee member, Paul Holmgren of the Flyers. "Let's face it, there's been a lot of changes in the last few years, the speed of the game is tremendous.
"We just want to make sure we're doing the right thing for our players in terms of safety."
While the general managers have, slowly some say, recognized the changes in the rules instituted after the 2004-05 lockout to make the game more entertaining resulted in far more high-speed collisions, the major problem to them was getting rid of the dangerous hits without lessening the physical aspect of the game.
"It's an appealing game for the fans," Campbell said. "Unfortunately, one of the side effects of that is we have bigger train crashes. The car wrecks are huge.
"When you get a David Booth carried off the ice, you get a Marc Savard carried off the ice, the managers in their heart of hearts say there is something wrong here but it's not against the rules. That is what we're trying to attack."