National Hockey League’s General Managers agree on expanding head-shot rules –NHL Updates
A meeting took place between the General Managers of various National Hockey League (NHL) franchises on Wednesday, June 8th, before the fourth game of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals between Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins began and the participants
of the meeting agreed on a number of issues, the league is currently facing.
The main problem which has aroused, concerns throughout the top officials of the league, is the lack of rules which deal with illegal head shots and since the sport is facing a disturbing number of head injuries since the past few seasons, it was considered
very important to address this issue as soon as possible.
The meeting between the GM’s was fruitful regarding the agreement between them to expand the clauses of Rule 48 which deals with illegal checks to the head.
Instead of only penalising blindside head shots, they have agreed on broadening the term and making each and every headshot illegal.
However, according to a majority of participants in the meeting, eliminating all contact is not possible.
"The tightrope we walk is, this is a full-contact sport", said Toronto’s GM, Brian Burke, a former NHL disciplinarian. "It has been since we opened the doors for business. We cannot lose that part of the fabric of our game. What we've got to do is eliminate
the most dangerous parts. ... If you go to that rule (eliminating all head contact), you're going to take hitting right out of the game".
There has been much speculation about this agreement only being a formality and no result to be expected, but that is no longer an issue since with the passage of time, concussion related injuries have become an epidemic in the NHL and finding ways to reduce
them are a top priority as of now.
"There's a real intent that we want to keep pushing the rules, broadening the language", Edmonton Oilers’ GM, Steve Tambellini, said. "We don't want to change the nature of the game, but we want to protect players in a bad situation".
A sudden change in game-play and the way players are penalised is not expected, but will gradually make its place in the league. This is certainly much needed to keep players healthy and playing for longer durations. It would discipline the players and protect
them from head-related injuries which are the worse.
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