A Pair of Pandemics for the NHL

When all is said and done, which fast-spreading affliction will take down more NHL players this year, swine flu or scrambled brains?

• "Edmonton Oilers defenceman Ladislav Smid has been playing with the H1N1 flu virus, commonly known as swine flu."
  - Faceoff.com

• "Avalanche coach Joe Sacco confirmed Tuesday that backup goalie Peter Budaj, who missed his scheduled first start of the season Friday because of illness, has been diagnosed with swine flu, the H1N1 virus."
  - DenverPost.com

• "Caps forward Quintin Laing has been diagnosed with H1N1 (more commonly known as swine flu)."
  - WashingtonTimes.com

Like everyone else, NHL teams must be wondering if H1N1 will prove just a particularly nasty flu bug, or an illness that could disable a team and its prospects for the season.

For now, all they can do is monitor the situation, though immunization seems a worthwhile idea.

In the meantime, another pandemic spreads rapidly throughout the league.

• "Jonathan Toews was not at practice, meaning he will miss his third straight game Thursday at Nashville with his concussion-like symptoms."
  - DailyHerald.com

• "(David) Booth, a left wing, isn't expected back for a few weeks after sustaining a concussion Saturday in Philadelphia."
  - PalmBeachPost.com

• "The Colorado Avalanche have placed Darcy Tucker on the injured list three days after he suffered a concussion on a check from Carolina's Tuomo Ruutu."
  - DenverPost.com

The debate over head shots, legal versus illegal hits, degrees of punishment, and the limits of physical hockey rages every year.

But it rages mostly in the media and on the blogs, with no consensus in sight.

General managers, coaches, and other hockey insiders rarely say much of anything on the subject, unless one of their players is involved.

Among players, there's likely a wide range of opinion. The few who speak out publicly usually take the eye-for-an-eye approach to policing head shots.

"Something should have been done once the game got out of hand in the third period," Florida defenseman Keith Ballard told SunSentinal.com, after Booth was flattened by Mike Richards in Philadelphia.

When it comes to body contact, all evidence suggests there is little support within the NHL for a change in the rules or their enforcement.

Photo: Colorado's Darcy Tucker, down for the count last weekend. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)