Whether it's head shots, legal versus illegal hits, appropriate punishment for dirty players, or anything else to do with physical hockey, you won't find any agreement in the NHL.
- December, 2009
If NHL executives are ready to take the (concussion) problem seriously - and it's hard to imagine they need any further incentive - it's time they abandoned their piecemeal approach or head injuries.
- February, 2011
(T)he bottom line is that some hits considered legal last season should be deemed illegal this season.
- September, 2011
Let's give the NHL a little credit.
In just a couple of years, we've seen considerable evolution in the accepted attitude towards head shots and head injuries.
The once dominant old-school guys ("It's a man's game! Take your lumps!") have finally backed off in the face of growing medical evidence about the grim consequences of repeated blows to the noggin.
But despite the nudge towards enlightenment, the NHL's concussion problem looms larger than ever.
The list of stars currently felled by head injuries reads like a Hart Trophy ballot:
Sidney Crosby, Claude Giroux, Jeff Skinner, Mike Richards, Chris Pronger are among those out with concussions or related symptoms.
Maybe the new rules aren't being enforced strictly enough, maybe the players have been unable to adjust.
Or maybe, as a growing number are beginning to suspect, hockey is simply a much more dangerous game than anyone knew.
(A case in point: You'll never come up with a rule to prevent Giroux's concussion: the league's leading scorer was hurt by a knee to the head from a guy on his own team.)
If that's the case, we might have to start thinking of concussions as a risk that every hockey player has to accept.
And as the medical evidence accumulates, fans might have to accept lengthy concussion layoffs and shortened careers as a fairly common part of the game.
Photo: Bruins' forward Marc Savard is wheeled from the ice in March, 2010. His hockey career is likely over (Justin K. Aller/Getty Images).
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