Viewpoint

I think that head shot are ubsured and should not be allowed and the ref have eyes and should use them because when Ryan Whitney hit Trevor Letowski in the head he was bleeding and if the do allow hits to the head the game will be not watchable.

I believe that hits to the head are definitely subjective to the whole of the circumstances before and (only slightly) after the actual hit.
For example the subject of this story (Willie Mitchell) had his 'bell' rung not too long ago in what blatantly appeared to be a late hit from behind and he was thereby concussed into time off away from the game... guess what? NO CALL was made! And no consequences for the player who tried to squash out Willie.
In agreement with Bambino everyone who plays hockey at some point is taught (either by coach or a game lesson) that you need to keep your head up when you are on the ice. There will always be the incidents/accidents that happen because it is a very physical game we choose to be involved in.
It has already been changed enough (The Game).
LEAVE IT ALONE!!

Get rid of the instigator rule and let players police themselves as far as cheapshots go. How many times did you see guys like Lafleur, Gretzky et al get gooned without a reprisal by their teammates?

When will they crack down on the guys who run the goalies night after night? They protect the big name forwards and defense but every game it's open season on the goalies

Start with the shoulder and Elbow pads.
Get rid of the hard plastic. The deliberate
running of players should be better policed
by the league and stiff suspensions/fines.
Sorry, but the Willie Mitchel hit did not
look that bad . It turned out bad because
the victim had their head down. Perhaps more of this is occurring as a result of less
Enforcers on teams. Bring back the Enforcement Goons . Semenko made Gretzky
untouchable .

I don't know about the rest of you but I'm really sick of hearing about head shots. I hope the media keeps beating it to a pulp like they already have and then we can thank them for ruining the new NHL. Haven't there been enough problems with the game over the last few years! So great, lets take good hits out of the game that we changed to make better. Its very unfortunate that these hits happen, and yes, maybe there should be suspensions. But most of these guys have been taught from day one to finsh a check and now you want to penalize them for that??? C'mon,lets face the fact that these hits are going to happen and its also the players responsibility to keep their head up so this doesn't happen. I think the media again is guilty of overdoing something.....GO FIGURE!

I am baffled by the people who think that hockey wouldn't be exciting enough without brawling or head hunting... Do you remember watching the 2002 winter Olympics? I bet they all did and had the time of their lives watching REAL canadians show us we are worthy of international recognition with the gold medal they won, without any cheap shots to the head. I am so turned off by men who thinks their brawn is more important than serious skills and intelligent execution.

There's nothing wrong with the hitting that's been going on this year. All the big hits that have happened so far have been called legal.

If you want to make it safer for the players then change the equipment, set standards for the league to follow and see that those standards are met.

In my opinion it's a simple fix but then again making visors mandatory sounds simple enough and no one's doing any thing about that either.

I just don't get how they can so easily change the rules concerning how the game is played i.e. restricting goalie movement, 4 on 4 over time, adding the shootout, but they can't say, "O.K., from now on you can only use these types of pads, and all new players coming into the NHL must keep their visors on."

Hitting is a big part of the game, why try to alter the game when you can improve upon it, while at the same time making it safer for the players?

Lets also try to understand that hockey is, and is supposed to be, a rough game. That's why hockey players are million dollar athletes, and million dollar athletes need to remember to keep their heads up.

The NHL should be responsible for the safety of their players and the players are responsible for their own safety as well.

Figure skating with sticks. Welcome to the new NHL.

It's simple really. Instigator Rule, lose it and I can assure guys throwing late hits, would only ever do once. I mean do you want a guy like George Laraque (or any other tough guy) going out of his way looking for you on the ice. The answer is no!

accidents will happen, but we are starting to see repeated shots to the head coming from some players. perhaps that is what the league should use as a discriminator - a player with a history of such hits must be dealt with before a career is ended, or even worse. you can't have a stick lightly graze a player's head without a penalty (in most instances), but you can deliberately try to remove their head and have it be called 'clean'. riiiight...

I find it obsurd we as Canadiens are changing the game to suit the world if i remember correctly the game was fine in Canada well before all these alterations. I love this country too much to use a weak arguement but i do want to remind my Canadiens that we are fighting for our independance please stay the course and keep our game Canadien

The hitting in the league right now is fantastic! The aggressiveness of the hits at times and the speed in which they hit gives you shudders. Reminds me of the great playoff games between the Habs and the Bruins from years ago. All players finishing their checks hard.
The simpilest way to get rid of the head shots is to make them illegal but that would hurt the game. If it is legal with the shoulder then it has to be allowed.
The next best way to fix this problem is to change the shoulder pads. They should be limited in size and have protective padding on them. That being said, some will say it is a question of saftey when being nailed into the boards. Ensure that all rinks have a standard give the the glass. Some rinks have this now and others it is like hitting a brick wall.
There you have it, fix the equipent and it may reduce some of the head shot concussions but in this sport, it is something that will unfortunately always be there.

Thanks Jeff

Scott Stevens has made a million hits like these and we used to say, the guys should have had their heads up. I think the rule is 3 seconds after the puck leaves your stick??? I agree you have been taught to keep your head since you were five. You also used to be taught never to turn your back along the boards and now guys are turning as they see the hit coming to draw a penalty. What's going on? Maybe Ron & Don have something with the shoulder pads being changed. The guys are bigger and faster now so the hits are harder. Does the NFL have as many concussions? Maybe the helmet needs to be looked at.

What about those decapitating shoulder pads? Gordie Howe pounded other players but he never had weapons on his shoulder. When he hit you, you got hit with his should only, not those montrous things they wear today. Go back to the equipment and rules from 1970 and we will see less concussions and get back to real hockey.

Why can't we see?
Barbarism has existed in hockey since its inception!
Now though, the guys are bigger.
If we could all get this macho crap out of our heads, and teach the kids what hockey really is, then someday it will be great to watch.
Guys like Roberts played it like it is: tough, fast, not mean and slow.
We dumped one Domi, why not the rest.
The ref should be advised to suspend a player for anything that appears to be intentional. The meaner the move, the more the missed games.
Let's lose the wrestling crowd and the carnival barkers. We have a larger audience to please.
Let's play hockey!!

I think the gist of the article was to say that hitting is fine, but the blatant head-hunting has to go. Just ask Steve Moore where his head-hunting of Markus Naslund got him. If the NHL would've suspended Moore for knocking out Naslund as it should have, Bertuzzi wouldn't have gone overboard trying to exact revenge...and no don't respond to my message saying it was a clean hit, cause it was a clear head shot where Naslund DID NOT have the puck...

I think that the league should do something about this cause suspension or fines won't matter at least the should set some kind of limit...But what kind of limit?...Cause if you take out the physical aspect of the game,there's nothing left so what should players:keep their heads up if they don't want to be sideline or out for long time like Tim Connolly.

Players are not respecting each other anymore???? You take away fighting and players take more liberties, hence Detroit no heavyweight, two cheap hits, two players out???? Do you think Mitchell would have done that 5 or 10 years ago with Probert or Kocur on the bench??? NOT LIKELY

Seriously! Why are we talking about this? As Scott stated, we are taught to keep our heads up at a very early age. Even before body contact is permitted at any level of hockey, we are always told to keep your head up.

Pretty much every hit that I have seen this year, that has been dubbed as being questionable, has shown a very highly paid, professional athlete, admiring his pretty pass up the middle…when WHAM…he is hit by a MAC truck and is then laying on the ice and hearing nursery rhymes as the stars circle his head!

Wake up boys, as I said at an early age you have been told not to coast around like that. How can you forget that? Especially with all of the press coverage that these hits are getting. You think that the players might have that little voice in the back of their mind telling them to protect themselves?

To be honest I think we need to add insult to the injuries and fine the players that just got laid out. They should be fined because they forgot one of the basic skills taught at the earliest of stages! The arguments of some, stating that the potential to lose an Elite athlete of the sport should force the NHL to do something about these hit is ludicrous. If they are Elite athletes they should not have to be told to stop smelling the roses after making a pass!

Protect yourselves…and all of the future potential to make your millions…

They must make hitting above the shoulders illegal.The old rule does not take into the consideration of the hard shelled equipment.I can't beleive the suits in management & media are so tough when the closest they come to the ice is in their drink after the game.Who wants to see someone convulsing on the ice bleeding from their ears.Any hockey player knows it's a cheap shot that can be avoided by the checker a lot easier than the checkee.

We have ever-increasing problems with the NHL these days, shortly after the instigator rule was implemented, stick work became a major concern for the safety and well-being of players in the NHL, wrists were getting hacked and whacked with no repercussions. Now, we have added new rules to alleviate the stick work, and speed up the game, with this come faster and harder hits. Now the new concern is hits to the head. Maybe this is an old way of thinking, but I don't think that an NHL fight ever had the detrimental effects that broken wrists and concussions have on today's players, and the game. If we remove the instigator rule now, we won't see a return to the slow giants that once patrolled the ice, they can't keep up. We don't have to worry about people fighting just because they are fighters, but we would have the ability to keep the head-hunters and the wrist breakers second guessing themselves, and that should be enough. The players lack respect nowadays, because nobody is allowed to demand the respect for themselves, without getting penalized for it. Remove the instigator rule, remove the injury problems.

It won't be long now before the NHL will resemble the outdoor pond hockey tournament held every year in New Brunswick.

Why don't they go back to no forward passing and straight blades too. Concussions happen. Listening to Chris Chelios' comments, come on give me a break. Mr. Chelios has done his fare share of dirty deeds over his illustrious career. What's he a saint now because he's getting closer to his old age pension?

For the betterment of the NHL, don't take hitting out of the game. Do you think fans are going to come and watch? They've already cut down fighting over the last ten years, but yet besides a goal, it's the only thing that will happen during a game that makes every fan rise from their seats cheering. (Sorry the wave does as well I guess) Give or take maybe 5% of the fans who can't be pleased anyhow. The whiners.

Leave the game the way it is. The players just have to keep their heads up and stop watching their passes. Sure the game has sped up with no clutching and grabbing, but leave it as is.