NHL Competition Committee to recommend changes to Head-Shot Rule –NHL Updates
After taking notice this past regular season and postseason about the concussion epidemic which has spread throughout the league, the National Hockey League (NHL) had been pressurised to change Rule 48 which deals with illegal shots to the head.
The competition committee of the league has approved the changes suggested by the general managers of various NHL franchises in their meeting on June 8th, where they discussed that Rule 48 should be widened in its application and any sort of shots
to the head from any direction should be made illegal.
"We don't like some of the hits that we see and we don't like the results of those hits", said Dallas Stars’ General Manager, Joe Nieuwendyk. "The numbers of concussions are hard to ignore. That was the goal in mind”.
The committee consists of a number of players, team owners and franchise’s general managers. They discussed the matter for several hours in Boston and finalised the recommendations that would be further sent out to the Board of Governors’ meeting on June
21st in New York, for the final approval and implication.
"We're definitely headed down the right path in expanding Rule 48", said NHLPA’s executive, Mathieu Schneider. "What it's coming down to is getting the wording down on paper properly and Brendan and I will continue to talk over the next few days and try
to nail something down".
The NHL executive, Brendan Shanahan, and National Hockey League Players Association’s (NHLPA) executive, Mathieu Schneider, will finalise the formal recommendations made after the six-hour long meeting in Boston before being sent to the board of governors.
They also had the final authority of the discussion but are in full agreement like everyone else.
Many players have had to deal with life and career threatening injuries throughout their lives as professional NHL players. Recently, this became an epidemic and numerous players were seen to have sustained concussion related injuries just due to the high
frequency of head shots being taken.
The rule might change up the game a little, but ultimately, will benefit the players in the long run to keep them playing longer and healthier.
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