Changing Hockey Safety

There has been a lot of talk lately with regards to safety in hockey, and justifiably so. By now everyone is aware of the tragedy of Don Sanderson, and while I am writing this over a month after Mr. Sanderson’s injuries and death took place, my heart still goes out to his family and friends.

Because of this incident there has been much discussion about removing fighting from the game of hockey in the name of protecting the players. But, with all due respect to everyone involved in hockey either as a player, coach, parent or fan, there are much more important things to look at when addressing player safety.

At this time I’d like to point out that I am not a disciple of Don Cherry. I love watching him, I love his passion for the game of hockey and the country of Canada, but these opinions are mine and have nothing to do with his speeches on Coach’s Corner or anywhere else.

I do believe that in my lifetime (and God willing I have a long time to live) I will see a steep drop-off in the number of hits from behind and head shots, and even a lower number of fights in the NHL. I believe this because Canada still produces the highest number of NHL players and Hockey Canada has taken steps to teach its’ young players how to play the game safely. Minor hockey players in Canada wear “Stop” patches on the back of their jerseys above their name plates to remind each other that hitting from behind is a bad idea. They also wear face cages and shields to protect from errant sticks and pucks. These aren’t choices that players make when they get dressed; these are mandated by Hockey Canada and the leagues that the players participate in.

The “Stop” patches don’t take up much space, and by now are so standard and accepted that there’s no reason to take them off at all when players progress through the ranks of competitive hockey as far as I’m concerned. I know that fans everywhere would have to get used to seeing the patches on the backs of jerseys for Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin, and I know that purists and traditionalists will fight this suggestion to the bitter end because it would “ugly up” the jerseys of their favourite teams. But folks, come on, these are players health and lives that we’re talking about.

As well, the face cages and shields are mandated right through Major Junior Hockey in this country, why give players the decision to take it off when they graduate to the professional ranks? At one time (before I remember) this discussion was about players wearing helmets. Likewise, Major League Baseball had this discussion with batting helmets, and then batting helmets with ear flaps. In the end, players and leagues adopted the safe choice and every hockey player wears a helmet while on the ice. It’s time to grandfather in the face shield or cages and watch over the next 10 years as the game gets safer because of it. The argument that players will be careless with their sticks if everyone wears better protection is ridiculous. These are grown men that have been playing hockey for most of their lives. They have the ability to be safe with their sticks, and when accidental high-sticks occur players won’t come close to losing eyes a la Bryan Berard.

Other changes would come from the rules committee. No touch icing would be a safe change. There have been arguments on both sides of this idea for years. But, I’ll trade one race for a puck that actually is a race for all the broken legs (Kurtis Foster, you haven’t heard of him in a while I bet) in the world. Also, let’s remember that no touch icing set up Team Canada’s dramatic goal with 5.4 seconds left against the Russians in this year’s World Junior Hockey Championships. It’d be kind of cool to see a finish like that in the NHL regular season, let alone a playoff game.

The starting of a referee handing out, with their own discretion, a 5 minute penalty for a high stick with malicious intent instead of just a 2 minute minor plus another 2 minutes if blood is drawn would help to discourage what we refer to as “head shots”.

Supplementary discipline from the NHL head office should start to come more swiftly and harshly when dealing with hits from behind, late hits and hits to the head. Players with multiple offenses need to be treated as repeat offenders and punished as such. I know that Jarkko Ruutu is an idiot for biting Andrew Peters but it’s his repeat offender status that needs to be taken into account in the future.

I know that I alone don’t know how to fix the game of hockey, I’m not sure that any one person really does because we’re all biased at some point. But these are my suggestions. Add yours. Tell me that you hate mine, but when you do; keep the safety of the players, young and grown in mind.

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