If you want to stop hits to the head, prevent them on the ice. Punish the Matt Cooke's, the Dion Phaneuf's, the Jarkko Ruutu's, the Steve Ott's, and so on. But not with suspensions. Punish them on the ice. Send someone to take their heads off. I bet they'll stop then.
Where were you when Lindros was crushed all of those times? At home, watching it on tv, cheering for the big hit. But now that there is no one pressing the issue on the ice (everyone wants to "get back at them by scoring the game tying goal" - which, not surprisingly, is a lot harder to do when your best player is injured), these hits keep racking up. Why punish players like Doug Weight for his perfectly legal hit on Brent Sutter? According to the new proposal, this lateral hit will become illegal. Smart? Of course not. But that's the world us hockey fans now live in.
"The following language was agreed to unanimously by the group: "A lateral, back pressure or blindside hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principal point of contact is not permitted.
A violation of the above will result in a minor or major penalty and shall be reviewed for possible supplemental discipline."
Signed,
Waning hockey fans everywhere
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