The Montreal Canadiens organization does not agree with the decision taken yesterday by the National Hockey League. We can assure you that we have made our position clear to Commissioner Gary Bettman, and that he has agreed to make this issue a priority at the next General Manager’s meeting, which will be held in Florida on March 14-16.

Our organization believes that the players’ safety in hockey has become a major concern, and that this situation has reached a point of urgency. At risk are some of the greatest professional athletes in the world, our fan base and the health of our sport at all levels. Players’ safety in hockey must become the ultimate priority and the situation must be addressed immediately. As a proud father of three hockey players, I want to help create a healthy and safe experience for them, and I certainly never want any family to go through what the Pacioretty’s are experiencing at this moment.

The entire letter can be read here and I certainly encourage you to read it all.
http://canadiens.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=555639

This letter is not written specifically to the Pacioretty incident and mirrors my concerns.

Max came within inches of being permanently paralyzed or even death. Enough is enough.

Even last night, another dangerous hit…. head shot by Kubina on Bolland.

Earlier in the season, another owner came out with strong words for the NHL. That being Mario Lemieux.

To do nothing is to agree that it’s ok to have these dangerous reckless hits.

Reckless hits need to be strongly discouraged.

I applaud you Mr Molson for taking leadership on this issue.

Blame the post not the hit

In a predictable turn of events the NHL came down with a strong position on the dangerous hit that left Max Pacioretty with a severe concussion and a broken C4 vertebrae.

“After a thorough review of the video I can find no basis to impose supplemental discipline. This hit resulted from a play that evolved and then happened very quickly — with both players skating in the same direction and with Chara attempting to angle his opponent into the boards. I could not find any evidence to suggest that, beyond this being a correct call for interference, that Chara targeted the head of his opponent, left his feet or delivered the check in any other manner that could be deemed to be dangerous.

“This was a hockey play that resulted in an injury because of the player colliding with the stanchion and then the ice surface. In reviewing this play, I also took into consideration that Chara has not been involved in a supplemental discipline incident during his 13-year NHL career.” – Mike Murphy, NHL

“The hockey play”. 3 words that can be used to explain anything that happens on the ice. Explaining the play does what? Why not try to eliminate dangerous plays.

There is absolutely no mention if Pacioretty could defend himself in anyway in this hit. League didn’t speak to him. Nothing. NHL Law.

Nothing in terms of any concern that a hit is possibly thrown on a player in vulnerable position.

There seems to be a bit of a difference between “NHL rules” and “society rules” however.

Somehow, in society, if you’re driving your car…. which is something alot of us tend to do from time to time…. if you drive to fast or recklessly… and happen to accidentally drive into a crowd of people or a pedestrian walking…. you’ll likely get charged with dangerous driving, careless driving…. whatever the charge.

But gosh, you didn’t mean to. Why was the pedestrian there?

Well, in society (and I’m sorry if the analogy isn’t 100% in line with NHL punitive system), we try to have people be responsible for their actions… even if they did not mean to “directly” cause harm in some way.

This blog article is not about Chara, I’ve been sickened by the list of serious injuries and the lack of accountability on players in so many cases. There is no clear line…. and seemingly no line or stand by the NHL or NHLPA to take these hits out of the league. Ultimately, it has little to do with a player’s intent. There has to be a strong position by this league and NHLPA to protect the players.

Another concerning part about the NHL’s punitive process… they speak to the aggressor but they don’t even speak with the victim. That is an “investigation”? Brilliant.

Time for change

And so many “experts” are pretty much saying…. “blame the post“. Are you serious? That is not a very intelligent stand. I don’t think you guys could become lawyers with that defense.

Ridiculous

This is a sport and these are life threatening injuries. Enough.

Chara on Pacioretty

This type of thing is altogether unacceptable in the NHL. This, in my opinion, has become more then the elephant in the room for the NHL.

Sidney Crosby, Marc Savard, Bergeron, anyone remember that hit on Booth all that time ago?

I feel like someone should start doing what Don Cherry did some years back when he’d play clips (over and over again) of guys getting nailed into the boards (concussions, broken legs, broken neck) to bring home awareness for the no touch icing rule.

Same thing should happen all these seriously reckless hits.

Needless injuries.

So what’s the next move? Is it ok that many skilled players are taken out by injury?

Pacioretty has suffered a broken C4 vertebrae and a severe concussion.



Please read more on what I think about a players “intention” and NHL punitive system here.

Obviously when we see a hit like we did last night where Pacioretty hit the “turnbuckle” (as some people refer to it) we’ll have a period of shock… and immediately, emotions flare up. That’s normal.

I watch alot of NHL Hockey, not just the Habs, and I have NO appetite in seeing these types of injuries. That’s not to say that I don’t understand that accidents happen and will continue to happen and that is unfortunate, however I believe there are quite a few of these head injuries that can be avoided…. and discouraged (by the NHL and NHLPA) if you will.

So let me clarify what my thoughts are and for the record I do understand that there is a fine line because this is a contact sport. But let’s not let this become an excuse to sit on the fence until someone actually dies as a result of an injury. I believe we should be more intelligent than that.

Accidental injuries

The game of hockey will never be free of injuries. I completely agree with those who say that there is a risk to playing this sport at very competitive levels. It’s a contact sport and there will be completely accidental collisions along the boards, in the corners and at center ice.

We’ve seen all kinds of injuries where a hand may jam in the boards when a player takes a hit and can result in a broken finger, hand, wrist, arm….. these are those types of injuries where the player receiving contact usually has the puck, gets hit and collides in the boards in some unbalanced manor.

That will always happen.

Avoidable, questionable injuries

There are many injuries that I believe can be avoided, such as a bulk of recent head injuries, but these injuries can only be avoided if the players are drawn clearer lines on what constitutes proper contact.

A message should be sent to players so that they are encouraged to lay off a hit when an opposing player is in a vulnerable position. This can be equated to a boxer in the heat of the moment starting to swing a hook or jab when the bell goes off and quickly attempts to pull back. Sometimes it happens… but I’ve seen boxers pull back and not nail their intended target. I marvel at how many boxers and UFC fighters have utmost respect for their opponents, even in the heat of the battle. (Notice I did say “Many”)

Also should be noted that often times a team starts “running” at the other team when a game is out of hand…. and it’s sometimes to the point where it’s predictable.  I felt like there would be some “gooning” last night. And there were other such comments on Twitter. Sometimes, you can easily predict it.

Check out these comments literally a minute before the Pacioretty injury and just after:

@GamePointsRadio “Sadly, I feel like we’re going to see a #Canadiens player get run at in a dirty manner in the third.”
http://twitter.com/GamePointsRadio/status/45305280426283008

And then… @GamePointsRadio “@yves_on_habs and we just saw it”
http://twitter.com/GamePointsRadio/status/45306548116914176

Ultimately, I think that there should be heavy incentive put on players and possibly on the teams whom they play for to layoff hits where their targets are in a vulnerable position. Hockey is a sport about putting a puck in the net.

Proving intent to injure is in some cases like asking someone to prove the existence or non-existence of God. Doesn’t necessarily make sense.

A results based system for dealing with head shots, blind side hits….etc…. seems more intelligent then the current approach.

After all, I’d say 99.9% of high sticking minors and majors are accidental right? There is no intent to put your stick through someone’s teeth. So why not the same kind of clarity on hits.

It would force players to exercise due diligence in hitting practices the very same as they’re already expected to be careful with their sticks around opposing players.

Excuses

“Guys are so big, the game is so fast”, “It happens so fast”….

I understand it’s a fast paced game and guys are big and strong. But let’s flip that thinking around just a little for a sec.

If players know it’s fast paced and people can get hurt as a result, it’s all the more reason why they should take care with their actions on the ice. Like, for example, easing off a guy a bit because you suspect he could be in a vulnerable position.

I don’t mean this topic to be on Chara because it’s not. The example has played itself out with countless examples of Cooke, Richards…etc. The list is getting long.

In Chara’s case. Yes, he’s big and he’s strong. That gives him a certain advantage in certain aspects of the game. But it should also be made clear that those attributes put a certain amount of responsibility on his shoulders for his actions on the ice… just like in society. Making him tall wouldn’t excuse a high stick on a guy like Desharnais does it? I didn’t think so. His height, size, strength or speed would make no difference in that call.

Let’s look at it another way. In modern society, let’s say you get into fights every now and then… .you get bruised up, maybe one night you get an assault charge. Then one night you go out and fight…. and the guy dies as a result of his injuries. It happens. And guess what…. you didn’t intend to kill him. But you get punished.

Because for some reason some aspects of the sports officiating are “results” based, and others we tend to get lost in the jumbled world of intention. No one cares about intention with a high stick.

A person has to be aware of his or her surroundings and potentially dangerous outcomes. We deal with close calls, concentration and split second thinking often enough in busy traffic. It’s about responsibility.

Fighting

For the record, I wanted to write a short comment that I’m not one of the people who would or will rally against banning all fighting in the NHL. If 2 guys want to square off… so be it. It can certainly sway the emotion and momentum of a game.

So…..

Trying to determine intent is more like chasing the wind. There has to be a system where it is “results based” just as it is with high sticking.

Time for players to take more responsibility. Yeah, it’s fast, they’re big. But a soldier understands he’s carrying a loaded weapon and the responsibility that comes with it.

Being reckless has consequences.

Hockey is a sport about putting a puck in the net. Not crippling other hockey players.

Are we gonna do something or nothing? What’s the excuse now?

What are your thoughts? I’d love to read them.