NHL general managers say hits to the head rule is effective
Rule 48, designed to punish illegal hits to the head, was a major topic of discussion at the NHL general managers' meetings in Toronto. The consensus was that the rule is proving to be effective.
During a meeting on Tuesday morning, 9 November, general managers were shown clips of the modified hitting behavior in the NHL as a result of rule 48. The examples shown at the meeting assured the GMs that the rule is effective.
"I haven't seen every incident that's happened, but I've seen a couple, that we showed today, that were very impressive because you could see that a player had another player lined up, that it was clearly going to be a hit to the head, it was clearly going
to be a blind-side hit and it was clearly not done. So that's good," Atlanta Thrashers GM Rick Dudley told reporters during a break in the meetings.
Nashville Predators GM David Poile acknowledged that there are kinks to work out as players adjust to the new rules, but the outlook is promising. "When you do something as drastic as this, there is a learning curve for everybody. The whole purpose of this
was to get rid of these blind-side hits, these targeted hits to the head. We just don't want them in our game.
"Right now, I think we have some growing pains and there are players suffering through suspensions because of it. But all in all, I'm hoping for the day when these hits happen, they'll be very few and far between."
Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations, Colin Campbell, also addressed the media with a statement explaining how the rule is designed to help the sport and its players over the long term.
"We can't forget the big picture, and the big picture is to save careers and reduce this type of concussion. 50 per cent of our concussions came from the blind side. We know there are going to be questions on what's the blind side, what's a direct shoulder
to the head, but we're dealing with it.
"If it means losing a player for half a game because it might have been the wrong call, the greater good here is that we want players to learn."
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