Head Shots and Credibility Gaps

One sure sign that an NHL team just lost a player to a concussion: the general manager suddenly discovers he's gravely concerned about hits to the head.

"I've had four players - Erik Cole, Trevor Letowski, Matt Cullen and now Brandon Sutter - get badly injured on hits to the head and only one of the guys who hit them was suspended. So don't tell me the league is concerned about hits to the head because it's not."

That's Carolina GM Jim Rutherford, taking up the cause after watching rookie forward Brandon Sutter (pictured) get steamrolled by Islanders' center Doug Weight on Saturday night.

Sutter was released from hospital Sunday. There's no telling when he'll be back on the ice.

Everyone agrees it was a legal hit. So Rutherford raises a good point. Does the NHL (or its Players' Association) carry any credibility on the issue of player safety if it condones collisions that put people in the hospital?

But Rutherford also has a credibility problem, as do all coaches and general managers. The only time any of them speak up on head shots is when one of their own is on the receiving end.

Beyond self interest, the silence on the issue suggests everyone in the NHL endorses the status quo viewpoint: Sutter had his head down and got what was coming to him.

(Photo: Christopher Pasatieri/Getty Images)