The Players' Tribune: "It's Time for Action" - Ken Dryden

[KrejciMVP]

I thought the thread was going to be about the Habs getting their S### together

 

[BigGoalBrad]

There are very few hits to the head in the NHL right now. I understand the beef w/fighting but its a deterrent to dirty hits. Sometimes dirty hits just happen when you are trying to make a clean hit and the guy turns into it. Guys are willing to be human punching bags so they can hang around and earn a million bucks a year the only way the NHL can prevent this is to give every person in there 20s or 30s that has ever skated a million bucks a year to not play in the NHL.

To me I would suggest bigger ice surfaces/less players on the ice OR less games the NHL doesn't need to play 82 games a year.

 

[dafoomie]

Dryden, Lemieux and all the other advocates for speed and skill don't want to admit that making the game faster made it more dangerous. For 15 years they've had their way on every major change and yet here we are. The game is now too fast for players to avoid the possibility of head contact without avoiding all contact, which comports with Dryden's stated desire of making the NHL a no check, no fight league. You don't need contact with the head in order to have a concussion and even incidental collisions have become less avoidable and more dangerous because of the increased speed.

He speaks as if the game simply evolved into what it is today, it didn't. It was a deliberate choice to take the game in the direction that people like Dryden wanted, and now their solution to the problems they exacerbated is to go even further. His anti-fighting, anti-hitting crusade does nothing to address root causes and he has already largely won on his issues. They've addressed the lack of knowledge regarding concussions and their consequences, which was devastating, but deal with the speed, deal with the compressed schedule, and deal with the pressure on role players to play at any cost to protect their roster spots.

 

[WhalerTurnedBruin55]

The NHL could make a start by enforcing the rules it already has in place. We have seen multiple hits to the head on Bruins' players go completely unpunished this season. Those were hits that, according to the rules, should have resulted in suspension. DoPS does not do its job in a competent or consistent fashion.

I think the bolded is the biggest problem. Players/referees don't even know. And it's a dice roll what the outcome will be when it does happen.

Make consistent rulings about it. No matter the jersey or the name stitched on the back.

 

[ODAAT]

Dryden, Lemieux and all the other advocates for speed and skill don't want to admit that making the game faster made it more dangerous. For 15 years they've had their way on every major change and yet here we are. The game is now too fast for players to avoid the possibility of head contact without avoiding all contact, which comports with Dryden's stated desire of making the NHL a no check, no fight league. You don't need contact with the head in order to have a concussion and even incidental collisions have become less avoidable and more dangerous because of the increased speed.

He speaks as if the game simply evolved into what it is today, it didn't. It was a deliberate choice to take the game in the direction that people like Dryden wanted, and now their solution to the problems they exacerbated is to go even further. His anti-fighting, anti-hitting crusade does nothing to address root causes and he has already largely won on his issues. They've addressed the lack of knowledge regarding concussions and their consequences, which was devastating, but deal with the speed, deal with the compressed schedule, and deal with the pressure on role players to play at any cost to protect their roster spots.

Some terrific points, I truly appreciate the condensed schedule issue. It`s not just coincidence when we see teams playing the heavy part of their schedule also often seeing players injured in that period of time. The body just not given the time to heal itself with little time off.

 

[whitetape]

The hit on DeBrusk in the Ottawa game should have been at least a two-minute penalty. Borowiecki wasn't trying to hit his head, DeBrusk made himself vulnerable, and he took a blow to the head as he was falling. Nobody's fault. And yet if Borowiecki's stick had clipped him by total accident, it would have been a penalty. And if players knew that a hit to the head was an automatic penalty, they would be less likely to finish checks against a player who is bent over and especially vulnerable.

 

[TCL40]

Dryden calls for the penalizing of all hits to the head: It's Time for Action | By Ken Dryden

In my opinion, I agree with Dryden. Penalizing and suspending hits to the head will not only keep the players safer, but my hope is that supplemental discipline would also be more consistent. With that said, I will still enjoy the physical aspect of the game along with fighting. What do you guys think?

I think all hits to the head should be a penalty-not sure all should be suspensions (I don’t think the current suspension practice works well anyway-it’s just too inconsistent).

I do think fines should be more meaningful. They should be larger and proportionate to the players salary. They should rise with each offense. The piddly fines now are like buying a cup of coffee for some players. Hurt their income and they will feel it. Sadly I don’t think the players association will agree.

 

[BNHL]

A punch to the head in a fight is an intent to injure. No other way to interpret it.

But the players who have have supposed lasting effects were goons. The list of fighters who have had no problems is 500 times bigger and that includes when there was no helmets or shields. The spontaneous fight between 2 regular players should be embraced.

 

[missingchicklet]

I think all hits to the head should be a penalty-not sure all should be suspensions (I don’t think the current suspension practice works well anyway-it’s just too inconsistent).

If they make all head hits an automatic penalty then they absolutely have to look at every penalized head hit in the league office and give suspensions for embellishment. If they do not do that then games will start looking like 10 pez dispensers on the ice, every player trying to draw penalties by jerking their head back on any hit remotely close to the head. It could become a crap show. As it stands now, players are rewarded for embellishment much of the time. I agree completely about the lack of consistency being an issue with a system that does not work well.

But the players who have have supposed lasting effects were goons. The list of fighters who have had no problems is 500 times bigger and that includes when there was no helmets or shields. The spontaneous fight between 2 regular players should be embraced.

Good point. Fighting is no longer a big source of injury. Far far more players get hurt in the course of play than in fights. Fights are infrequent now. Many times players have helmets/visors on during fights. Very few fights have punches land that are capable of injuring someone. The league has far bigger issues with head injuries caused during the course of play than from injuries caused by fights.

 

[BNHL]

If they make all head hits an automatic penalty then they absolutely have to look at every penalized head hit in the league office and give suspensions for embellishment. If they do not do that then games will start looking like 10 pez dispensers on the ice, every player trying to draw penalties by jerking their head back on any hit remotely close to the head. It could become a crap show. As it stands now, players are rewarded for embellishment much of the time. I agree completely about the lack of consistency being an issue with a system that does not work well.



Good point. Fighting is no longer a big source of injury. Far far more players get hurt in the course of play than in fights. Fights are infrequent now. Many times players have helmets/visors on during fights. Very few fights have punches land that are capable of injuring someone. The league has far bigger issues with head injuries caused during the course of play than from injuries caused by fights.

Not sure it was ever big cause of serious injury outside the Proberts,Boogaards,Ewen,Rypien,Belak etc, who made a living at it. How about Dave Brown,Terry O'Reilly,Rick Tocchet,Dave Schultz,Tiger Williams etc?

 

[BobbyAwe]

In 1964 the Bruins drafted Dryden and then traded his rights to Montreal minutes later.

That was at least 2 cups signed away right there.

 

[GordonHowe]

Dryden, Lemieux and all the other advocates for speed and skill don't want to admit that making the game faster made it more dangerous. For 15 years they've had their way on every major change and yet here we are. The game is now too fast for players to avoid the possibility of head contact without avoiding all contact, which comports with Dryden's stated desire of making the NHL a no check, no fight league. You don't need contact with the head in order to have a concussion and even incidental collisions have become less avoidable and more dangerous because of the increased speed.

He speaks as if the game simply evolved into what it is today, it didn't. It was a deliberate choice to take the game in the direction that people like Dryden wanted, and now their solution to the problems they exacerbated is to go even further. His anti-fighting, anti-hitting crusade does nothing to address root causes and he has already largely won on his issues. They've addressed the lack of knowledge regarding concussions and their consequences, which was devastating, but deal with the speed, deal with the compressed schedule, and deal with the pressure on role players to play at any cost to protect their roster spots.

Two questions: 1] Is Dryden, in fact, an advocate of "anti-fighting, anti-hitting" European style hockey? 2] Why *is* there a ridiculously compressed schedule? I thought this was related to Olympic participation, but evidently that's not the case.

 

[dafoomie]

Two questions: 1] Is Dryden, in fact, an advocate of "anti-fighting, anti-hitting" European style hockey? 2] Why *is* there a ridiculously compressed schedule? I thought this was related to Olympic participation, but evidently that's not the case.

He openly advocates a total ban on fighting and a total ban on "finishing your check", where you can not hit anyone if the puck is gone even a split second before you make contact. That, on top of his total ban on even secondary head contact would turn hockey into a non contact sport.

 

[GordonHowe]

He openly advocates a total ban on fighting and a total ban on "finishing your check", where you can not hit anyone if the puck is gone even a split second before you make contact. That, on top of his total ban on even secondary head contact would turn hockey into a non contact sport.

I see. Thank you. I'm all for a total ban on head contact, deliberate or otherwise. Keep other elements of contact in the game.

 

[HockeyMomx2]

A lot of hits to the head are not targeted or are inadvertent,so penalizing all hits to the head discounts intent. Don't like it.

But wouldn't it be akin to the automatic high sticking 2 min for those inadvertent ones? I don't understand why that would be a problem?

 

[HockeyMomx2]

The hit on DeBrusk in the Ottawa game should have been at least a two-minute penalty. Borowiecki wasn't trying to hit his head, DeBrusk made himself vulnerable, and he took a blow to the head as he was falling. Nobody's fault. And yet if Borowiecki's stick had clipped him by total accident, it would have been a penalty. And if players knew that a hit to the head was an automatic penalty, they would be less likely to finish checks against a player who is bent over and especially vulnerable.

Exactly what I'm thinking.

 

[BNHL]

But wouldn't it be akin to the automatic high sticking 2 min for those inadvertent ones? I don't understand why that would be a problem?

For instance,Chara would be a lot more likely to deliver a head shot because of the height difference,without targeting it. If everyone were the same height and everyone skated erect then headshots would largely disappear. I think that Backes' recent "headshot" is a prime example. I also believe that composite sticks are largely to blame for many inadvertent highsticks as they bounce like superballs when prodded by other sticks or by sheer momentum due to their lightness. Both penalties should have scrutiny,not every instance is intentional or even wreckless.

 

[whitetape]

Also, ideally in the future all hockey players at a young age would be subjected to DNA tests to see if they carry a gene or genes that make some people unusually susceptible to a poor recovery from concussions. (Apparently such a genetic link exists.) These kids could be discouraged from playing football, lacrosse, soccer, hockey, etc.

 

[whitetape]

For instance,Chara would be a lot more likely to deliver a head shot because of the height difference,without targeting it.

I'm sure it's happened, but I can't recall any Chara headshot, inadvertent or otherwise.

 

[BNHL]

I'm sure it's happened, but I can't recall any Chara headshot, inadvertent or otherwise.

It happened 2 games ago but went unnoticed. But I only used Chara to illustrate the point,differences in height can be a huge factor.