I agree that head shots are a major issue and need to be addressed by the NHL and I believe they have been. I think everyone can agree CTE is an awful thing and no one wishes that on anyone.
That said, Thornton literally just skated through a guy. Did not charge. Did not throw a nasty elbow. Just skated. That’s what I’m complaining about. You can’t even skate anymore? You need to stop skating in open ice because you may hit someone in the head? May Joe should also apologize for being so tall as well.
It’s ridiculous, this is hockey.
Edit: It’s really not ignorant to believe that not all headshots are equal. Is Kucherov’s recent one as bad as Matt Cooke’s on Savard? Kucherov’s or Thornton? I mean If you wanna do away with head shots because of concussions, you might as well just take out fighting and hitting all together so we can watch pond-style hockey.
Don’t be ridiculous. He skated through his
head. That’s an important thing to be clear on. It was unnecessary, it was dangerous, and he deserved to sit for it. It was completely avoidable and he didn’t even attempt to, so it stands to reason he knew what he was doing because he didn’t even try to make body contact. His own words make it clear he knew he hit the guy, and he just didn’t think much of it.
I also didn’t say all head shots are equal. If he had put more force behind it, the punishment would have been more severe. He wasn’t punished for “just skating” he was punished for taking a shot to the head of an opposing player. The fact that he didn’t throw an elbow, or charge is why it wasn’t a bigger suspension. That doesn’t make what he did okay, and it wasn’t “just hockey.”
You’re asking us to give him credit because he didn’t do something worse. Why in the world should anyone do that? He took a shot to the head of another player, but there is no need to be upset because it could have been even worse? That’s absurd.