Post-Game Talk: GAME 46 - BRUINS 6 Tampa Bay 2

[PlayMakers]

I do agree, but it's so hard to avoid head contact.

Seems kids today were taught a lot differently. Basically if they're skating looking down at the puck and you come head on, there's going to be head contact no matter what. You can drive through the chest and still get head a lot of the time and there's simply nothing you can do about it.

There should be a difference though, between driving through someone's chest and catching their head by accident, and making the head your initial and principle point of contact. You shouldn't be allowed to contact the head before the body.

Kids today, at least American kids, are being toned way down. Any big hit in USA Hockey is supposed to be called a roughing penalty. There are no blow up hits allowed. You also can't hit someone who doesn't have the puck. There's no 3 second count anymore. "The purpose of the hit should be to separate the puck from the player so if a player doesn't have the puck they are ineligible to be hit, regardless of how quickly the hit comes after moving the puck." Lastly, they're taught to hit with their sticks on the ice and their hands on the stick to prevent elbows and high hits. If a hit is made and there's a stick swinging around up high they call it.

Hockey in general still hasn't figure out what a charge is, or what boarding is. Those penalties are only called when someone appears hurt and the refs are trying to calm things down.

On a side note, I'm sure the NHL was mortified by the intensity, emotion and physicality shown by the players in this game so expect their next meeting to be an over-officiated snooze-fest.

Can't have the nice baseball fans at ESPN clutching their pearls. They pay the bills.

 

[Sheppy]

There should be a difference though, between driving through someone's chest and catching their head by accident, and making the head your initial and principle point of contact. You shouldn't be allowed to contact the head before the body.

Kids today, at least American kids, are being toned way down. Any big hit in USA Hockey is supposed to be called a roughing penalty. There are no blow up hits allowed. You also can't hit someone who doesn't have the puck. There's no 3 second count anymore. "The purpose of the hit should be to separate the puck from the player so if a player doesn't have the puck they are ineligible to be hit, regardless of how quickly the hit comes after moving the puck." Lastly, they're taught to hit with their sticks on the ice and their hands on the stick to prevent elbows and high hits. If a hit is made and there's a stick swinging around up high they call it.

Hockey in general still hasn't figure out what a charge is, or what boarding is. Those penalties are only called when someone appears hurt and the refs are trying to calm things down.


Can't have the nice baseball fans at ESPN clutching their pearls. They pay the bills.

This is the hard part, though. It's going to completely discourage guys from hitting. The game is so fast that you think you have everything in place and then bam, a guy moves the last second and you catch a guys noggin by accident. It's just so damn tough. I see it from both sides, honestly.

I hate seeing concussions, and hits to the head, but it's often times so damn hard to avoid.

 

[mjhfb]

When Carlo turned the puck up on their 2nd goal I nearly lost it. He had clear possession, he Frederic and Beecher open in the middle of the ice. Instead he throws it softly to the wall and right onto a TB stick.

That's why I asked earlier if he was Ok, I hope he is, @BMC questioned concussion related. Who knows. But getting less ice time than Lohrei and Wotherspoon in a big game with both McAvoy and Hampus out was concerning. He's been off.

 

[HockeyMomx2]

If the league really cares about player safety I don't know how you don't call that at least 2 minutes after reviewing.

For real. I mean, a hit to the head is a hit to the head. Just like in football, why does the players position matter? WR gets destroyed, it's a penalty. If they want to get rid of them, they have to call them all.

 

[Ladyfan]

This is the hard part, though. It's going to completely discourage guys from hitting. The game is so fast that you think you have everything in place and then bam, a guy moves the last second and you catch a guys noggin by accident. It's just so damn tough. I see it from both sides, honestly.

I hate seeing concussions, and hits to the head, but it's often times so damn hard to avoid.

I like a good hard check (as most know) BUT if you hit the head you must pay and learn not to do that.

 

[Clode]

I do agree, but it's so hard to avoid head contact.

Seems kids today were taught a lot differently. Basically if they're skating looking down at the puck and you come head on, there's going to be head contact no matter what. You can drive through the chest and still get head a lot of the time and there's simply nothing you can do about it.

Not sure about Canada but I was shocked to find out recently that kids in the States aren't allowed to start bodychecking until they are 13. Not sure when this started being a thing but it is absolutely absurd to me. So not only are they still relatively inexperienced in throwing proper bodychecks when it comes time to turn pro but they are also inexperienced in properly taking them and protecting themselves the way they need to and I've noticed that its starting to bleed into the NHL level as time goes on. Lots of injuries these last few years just from guys not being ready for a hit. A good example of this is the Hathaway hit on Luke Hughes last season, just zero situational awareness at all.

 

[Sheppy]

Not sure about Canada but I was shocked to find out recently that kids in the States aren't allowed to start bodychecking until they are 13. Not sure when this started being a thing but it is absolutely absurd to me. So not only are they still relatively inexperienced in throwing proper bodychecks when it comes time to turn pro but they are also inexperienced in properly taking them and protecting themselves the way they need to and I've noticed that its starting to bleed into the NHL level as time goes on. Lots of injuries these last few years just from guys not being ready for a hit. A good example of this is the Hathaway hit on Luke Hughes last season, just zero situational awareness at all.

Our team in the north isn’t even allowed to body check, regardless of age. It’s disgusting.

Then they go play in tournaments down south and get knocked around the ice.

I like a good hard check (as most know) BUT if you hit the head you must pay and learn not to do that.

I’m just saying, it’s incredibly hard to eliminate that.

 

[Ladyfan]

I’m just saying, it’s incredibly hard to eliminate that.

Got to. You can destroy a player's life with hits to the head.

 

[lopey]

Yeah unfortunately I don’t think it will ever stop. Ed Kea, for example, for those that go back awhile will remember that name.

Wow thats a name from way back.

 

[Hookslide]

Agreed, but this wasn't one. Head contact is inevitable in a hard body check

There is no way that you can get the head hits completely, out of the game but I do believe, that only ones who could get somewhat under control is the players and realize it can shorten someone's career and one of them could be one of them. You can put all the rules you want into play, but it is on the players.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Not sure about Canada but I was shocked to find out recently that kids in the States aren't allowed to start bodychecking until they are 13. Not sure when this started being a thing but it is absolutely absurd to me. So not only are they still relatively inexperienced in throwing proper bodychecks when it comes time to turn pro but they are also inexperienced in properly taking them and protecting themselves the way they need to and I've noticed that its starting to bleed into the NHL level as time goes on. Lots of injuries these last few years just from guys not being ready for a hit. A good example of this is the Hathaway hit on Luke Hughes last season, just zero situational awareness at all.

There are an awful lot of kids 12 and under playing organized hockey. 99% of them are not going to play pro. It's for the safety of the vast majority of kids. And it's nothing new.

 

[PB37]

I thought the hit on Kopeke caught too much of his head as the initial point of contact to be legal.

I've come around to the point where I think any contact to the head should be called a penalty regardless of player positioning.

 

[Ladyfan]

I thought the hit on Kopeke caught too much of his head as the initial point of contact to be legal.

I've come around to the point where I think any contact to the head should be called a penalty regardless of player positioning.

yep

 

[bruinsfan1968]

The NHL is just the opposite of the NFL when comes to a player being in a vulnerable position like Koepke.
The NFL tries to protect players when in a vulnerable position, while NHL looks at it like that player put themselves in that position, so it's considered a clean hit.
Beers kept talking about it, and reiterated the same point, several times, like it was a clean hit.
Now we all know how the NHL handles hits to the head, their record isn't good, doesn't mean they are right about it.
To me it was a bad call to over turn the 5 minute major, and should be looked at by the league and changed in the near future.

 

[Aussie Bruin]

I thought the hit on Kopeke caught too much of his head as the initial point of contact to be legal.

I've come around to the point where I think any contact to the head should be called a penalty regardless of player positioning.

This is what happens in Australian contact sports now. Any head contact is a penalty, regardless of intent, technique or situation, unless it's really incidental like a guy falling over and hitting his head on an opponent's knee or something like that. Sometimes the contact is entirely accidental or unavoidable, but it's still penalized on principle. Whether or not it's worthy of a send off or subsequent suspension is mostly where all the other factors around intent, amount of force etc. come into play.

It can be a frustrating system sometimes. Contact sports like rugby are fast and meant to be played hard. Sometimes head contact is just going to happen despite the offending player doing nothing at all wrong. Penalties can be called at critical times through no real fault of the penalized player other than sheer bad luck. But the idea is to make players super aware of the possible consequences of head impacts, and make sure they do all they can to avoid them. And in that sense the concept is right and I support it.

I thought Raddysh should have received a minor penalty on that basis. No intent to injure, technique was essentially fine, but head contact was made and with some force. So 2 mins for high contact, or call it roughing or whatever you want. Player serves his time in the box then carry on. Save the majors for the egregious stuff.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

I thought the hit on Kopeke caught too much of his head as the initial point of contact to be legal.

I've come around to the point where I think any contact to the head should be called a penalty regardless of player positioning.

Not dirty per say but did feel he leaned into a vulnerable player with force.

We've now seen 3? majors called no penalty this season.

 

[HumBucker]

I agree with the idea that if the principle point of contact is the head, it's a penalty. But the problem is, concussions can occur without any head contact whatsoever. As I've seen it explained, a concussion is caused by the brain, moving around in the cranium, slamming into the inner cranium wall. That can happen even with a "clean" hit through the chest, with the head abruptly snapping forward.

Boxers get knocked out because the punch causes the cranium to abruptly move, but the brain doesn't want to go with it.

Penalizing head contact is obviously a good start – kind of a no-brainer, if you'll allow the pun – but it doesn't really address the fact that a legal body check can also lead to head injuries.

 

[Dr Hook]

Not sure about Canada but I was shocked to find out recently that kids in the States aren't allowed to start bodychecking until they are 13. Not sure when this started being a thing but it is absolutely absurd to me. So not only are they still relatively inexperienced in throwing proper bodychecks when it comes time to turn pro but they are also inexperienced in properly taking them and protecting themselves the way they need to and I've noticed that its starting to bleed into the NHL level as time goes on. Lots of injuries these last few years just from guys not being ready for a hit. A good example of this is the Hathaway hit on Luke Hughes last season, just zero situational awareness at all.

When I started in house league in Jr High in NH, it was like that and no slapshots, either. This was early 80s. I don't know how common that was, maybe others here of the same vintage can speal about their experiences, and it might have been different for the traveling team (which I was not good enough to play on )

 

[Guelph Bruin]

I'm old, we had checking all the way through ...I was a midget Scott Stevens like predator playing centre or left wing (depending on the game) ...by midget I mean I was always the smallest ...but I had a knack for open ice timing and would only do it on their biggest players ...my Dad was disgusted with the way I played but my team mates and coaches sure liked it ...in hindsight I really shouldn't have been like that but human nature is what it is ... Is there a hockey anonymous? ...if so I have a lot of apologizing come Step 9