Given a rash of hits to the head and concussions this season—Sidney Crosby is out with a concussion suffered on a hit from behind by Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman, and Max Pacioretty is likely out for the season after being hit into the stanchion between the two player benches—there has been a singular focus at the meetings.
In the aftermath of the NHL's decision not to suspend Zdeno Chara for his hit on Pacioretty, Montreal's ownership and management team vowed to take up the issue at these same GM meetings.
And so far, it seems that their message has been heard.
Montreal has certainly not been the lone voice campaigning for change as Penguins' GM, Ray Shero, has also been asking for an outright ban of head shots.
So after some consideration, the much maligned Gary Bettman has reacted by putting in place a five-point plan aimed at making the game safer.
Here is how it breaks down:
1. Former NHLer and current NHL Vice President of Hockey and Business Development, Brendan Shanahan, will work with the NHL Players' Association on equipment reforms aimed at maximizing player protection and safety.
2. The second point, which Bettman says will be in place by the end of the week, is a revision to current concussion protocols.
Up till now, a player who was suspected of being concussed could be examined on the bench by the team's athletic therapist and cleared to return to play. Now, however, if a player is suspected of being concussed they, must be removed from the bench and taken to a quiet area where they can be assessed by a medical doctor—not the team's athletic therapist. The player will then be given a SCAT test before he is cleared to return to play.
3. Championed by Penguins' owner and former NHL All-Star Mario Lemieux, players who are deemed to be repeat offenders for illegal hits to the head will receive penalties as before, but their teams and/or head coach will also be fined.
This move puts the onus on the entire organization to ensure that the culture of injuring other players is removed from the game.
4. The league will have safety engineers do full evaluations of the playing area in each of the league's 30 rinks. Any safety "shortcomings" will have to be addressed and brought up to code, just like when a restaurant receives a failed health inspection report.
The first thing that comes to mind is the rigid seamless glass at the Bell Centre, which is scheduled to be changed for Plexiglas at season's end, and which certainly falls below these new safety standards.
5. The league will put together a panel to look at the issue of concussions going forward and on an ongoing basis. The panel would consist of Brendan Shanahan, along with former NHL defenseman Rob Blake, Tampa Bay GM Steve Yzerman and Dallas Stars' GM Joe Nieuwendyk.
So the NHL has spoken, and clearly plans on looking into this issue that has become somewhat of a plague over recent years.
But will it actually make a difference?
For anyone out there who is a fan of F1 racing, this reminds me of the period shortly after racing great Ayrton Senna was killed in a car crash during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
His crash and subsequent death put a freeze on the sport that would be lifted only after F1 took a serious look at the sport and how to make it safer. Ultimately, when F1 returned, the cars and tracks were slower, but the sport was much safer for all of the racers.
The NHL seems to be at the dawn of a similar era in NHL history. The only difference here is that, fortunately, no one had to die in order for the momentum to shift.
Despite the NHL's resistance to change its ways over recent year, doing a thorough self-examination to see if and how everything is working is never a bad thing and can hopefully prevent an on-ice fatality from ever becoming a reality.
So what do you think of the NHL's plan? Will it make a difference, or is it just lip service?
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Kamal is a freelance Habs writer, Senior Writer/Editor-in-Chief of HabsAddict.com, Montreal Canadiens Blogger on Hockeybuzz.com and Habs writer on TheFranchise.ca. Kamal is also a weekly contributor to the Sunday Shinny on The Team 990 (AM 990) every Sunday from 8 - 9 AM. Listen live at http://www.team990.com/
(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America)
4 comments:
Limp-wristed and means nothing. Getting the players off the bench is the best part, but that doesn't address them being there in the first place.
Until they attack the root of the problem, they will be painted as ineffective old codgers that don't give a damn.
The degree to which these guys are fighting evolution is staggering.
Well said brother, Kyle!
It never ceases to amaze me how resistant Bettman et al. are to changing things up.
Why?
Bettman acts like a young child any time someone tries to tell or advise him on what to do.
Witness his reaction to Air Canada where be basically said "...go then!"
Speaking of the root of the problem, I think it starts and end with Bettman and his cronies.
As long as they are making money, they won't try to fix what isn't broken (clearly in their minds its not broken).
Bettman is just about the most arrogant, stubborn human ever to walk the face of the earth. He resists every change just to show that he and his cabal are in charge.
The entire executive should be replaced without delay, but I'm sure that the owners would just install somebody who thinks the same way.
It's going to take sponsor pullouts and a death on the ice. Then the owners will bristle at their losses and the government will continue to nose their way in to the proceedings.
You are SO right Kyle!
Bettman and co don't like being told what to do and generally has trouble listening to outside advice. Unless it comes from his inner sanctum he seems to respond with petulance.
As for replacing the NHL's executives I agree that it should be done, but what incentive do the owners have to can Bettman? He has made most of them a ton of money and brought them "cost certainty".
At this point I'm really not sure what it would take to ouster him.
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