Sidney Crosby speaks up on the NHL’s head shot problem
Finally, Sid the Kid (a.k.a. Sidney Crosby) has something to say. Pigs aren’t flying quite yet, but the National Hockey League’s best player and most marketable star is taking a pointed and outspoken stand on what may be the most important issue affecting the game today (aside, of course, from the fact that nobody cares about hockey in the United States): what to do about hits to the head?
The Canada native and Pittsburgh Penguins centre waded into the head shot controversy after taking two blows to his melon, first from the Washington Capitals’ Dave Steckel in the Winter Classic on January 1, and then from Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman a few days later. He’s been sidelined ever since with a concussion, and it looks like he’ll miss the NHL All-Star Game at the end of the month in Raleigh.
Normally quiet, deferential and unwilling to voice anything that remotely resembles an opinion, the shocks to his noodle seem to have awakened the world’s best player to the dangers of his sport. Now’s he angry and on the offensive, a scary set of circumstances for the NHL brass. So says the Globe’s Stephen Brunt:
Crosby took a simple open-ended question and ran with it, he went off-script, he said there was something fundamentally wrong with the way the NHL identified and penalized head shots.
“I didn’t like them. … When I look at those two hits, you talk about blindside, that’s a big word, unsuspecting player, there was no puck there on both of them. It was a direct hit to the head on both of them. If you go through the criteria, I think they fit all those,” the 23-year-old centre said. “I know it’s a fast game. I’ve been hit a thousand times. When you get hit like that, there’s nothing you can do. There’s no way to protect yourself.”
Not exactly a call to the barricades, but startling because it was the NHL’s meal ticket talking, its poster boy, its current great hope for expanding the game’s reach beyond its hardcore following.
The Crosby case is by no means an isolated incident. This week, the Sharks’ Scott Nichol was suspended for four games for a hit to the head, and last week it was the Calgary Flames’ Tom Kostopoulos who received a six-game suspension for breaking another player’s jaw. Another Sharks player, Joe Thornton, was given two games earlier this season after a crushing head shot on the St. Louis Blues’ David Perron that has kept the winger off the ice for more than two months.
Even the Toronto Maple Leafs got in on the act—of course, as usual, the Leafs are in on the wrong act—when Mike Brown received a three-game suspension of his own for a hit to the head of the Coyotes’ Ed Jovanaski. And the list goes on and on.
Just because the Leafs’ players and management could probably use a couple thwacks to the head doesn’t mean the rest of the league does. The number of injuries and concussions in pro hockey is definitely a problem, and it’s good to see Crosby using his star status to say something about it. The only question now is if the NHL will listen.
• Sidney Crosby leaps head-first into head-shot controversy [Globe and Mail]
• Agents join injured Crosby in asking for action on head shots [Globe and Mail]
• Crosby’s message deserves bigger stage [Globe and Mail]
• Cox: NHLers need to get smart about head shots [Toronto Star]
• Crosby needs to send message to NHL [Toronto Sun]
• Tap on the brakes [Sportsnet.ca]
(Thumbnail image: Dan4th)
It is time the NHL made ice surfaces to meet the needs of the bigger, stronger, and faster players now in the game. A bigger ice surface (olympic) would eliminate a lot of hitting and put an emphasis back on the finer points of the game. I would not like hitting taken out of the game but lets get rid of the cheap shots like the one dished out to Crosby.
I love hockey and grew up with it as many Canadians. The hockey skill sets of skating and passing are losing ever since the Broad Street Bullies won the Stanley Cup. A bigger ice surface can restore the game and tougher rules are needed for fighting and cheap head hits. Admit that the best hockey in the previous couple of decades have been on Olympic ice where rules for fighting have been very strict. Sorry Don, but rock em sock em hockey has appeal to unsophisticated Americans but has no lasting appeal to hockey lovers who know hockey.
When was the last time a small player like a Camille Henry was drafted? Why does a Crosby or Gretzky need an enforcer to protect them?
That guy is a CLOWN, classic Canadian farmer. Sucks. No more Sydney Crosby please
Hits to the head is what fighting is all about yet the game has no problem with that. It looks ridiculous to give out suspensions and fines for checks that are not deemed legal but at the same time condoning fights where the object is to smash the other guys head.
ONE YEAR BAN FOR THE PLAYER AND A FINE OF $1000000.00 FOR
THE CLUB OWNER FOR ANY AND ALL HITS TO THE HEAD WILL SOLVE
THE PROBLEM. AN ASSAULT CHARGE COULD ALSO BE LAID…….
hedman should be suspended without pay for the lenght of time that crosbys out ! and so should every cheap shot artist in the league,,,,when the punishment equals the crime , the crime will cease to be an issue
Suspensions are too light. Change the rules – after a discipline hearing, any suspension STARTS after the injured player returns to the active roster. If it’s a career ending injury then the offending player is done too. The discipline process allows for accidents and unintentional incidents. That change alone should instill some respect, if not for the opponent, then for the offenders own pocketbook and career.
There is no doubt that the players are capable of controlling their aggression on the ice. This crap we are being spoon fed about the game being faster & the players are bigger philosophy just doesn’t do it for me! Perhaps they should include also that the players are dumber!
The NFL is always tweaking their rules to make the game better & to any ends to protect the quarterback, the most precious commodity in the game.
The NHL rules committee hasn’t yet realized & possibly never will, that superstars must be protected at all costs!!
I firmly believe that if the punishment were more severe,20 games for head shots or perhaps even longer! You would definetly see less head hits.
No one comes to an NHL game to watch superstars being stretchered off the ice.Hitting is certainly part of the game, but not to the head!
No exceptions.
When is the NHL going to become a responsible body ??
The answer is when they have someone at the top who isnt self serving (yes that was a direct shot at Gary Bettman).
Gary Bettman is more like a dictator than a quality leader.
He has access to great people both in management & in the players association (those on the ice included). Its time the NHL got a new head man – one who will involve those around him.
Sidney Crosby is no clown. He happens to be the best player in the NHL and some of the hits he has taken are not legal, and the referees should clamp down on them, especially the one that caused the recent concussion.
We’ve been saying for a number of years that head shots have to come out of the game.
It’s well past time that the NHL developed a no-tolerance policy on head fouls that go beyond the scope of current rules which, despite recent introduction, have failed to curtail repeated offenses.
Really, a hit to the head is not an effort to separate the man from the puck. Rather it’s more a deliberate attempt to injure or disable an opponent.
The league will have to step up enforcement and broaden current rules in this area if it wants to further control this dangerous aspect of the game.
The NHL, however, has too often moved with feet of clay. It will be very unfortunate if lack of enforceable rules means that players continues to suffer chronic brain injury from playing hockey at the pro level.
Don Cherry was right… it comes down to respect. Players don’t respect eachother adn they don’t respect the game.
To the person comparing these head shots to fighting ~ not the same thing. The problem is head shots from the blindside when the person is not expecting it. A hockey fight doesn’t cause concussions… maybe a broken hand or lost tooth.
To the person asking for Olympic / European ice surfaces… I’m with you. Open up the game and make room for the talent. But the greedy NHL owners will never go for it.
Speaking of greed… maybe fining the team would go a long way to curbing this as well. Players are taking out the best of their opponents because it benefits their team… they’re encouraged to do so. If the team is suffering because a player is making head shots… they’ll drop him – less motivation for the players to make these cheap shots.
The fundamental problem is that no one in hockey cares about the next person. The NHL doesn’t care about its players, owners don’t care about the good of the game or other owners. And the members of the NHLPA don’t care about each other either. So, collectively, you have a group of individuals who don’t care about each other. Why must the players sit around and wait for the NHL to legislate rules when all the PA has to do is unify and say to its members, “no head shots.” Does Scot Nichol really care about Sidney Crosby? Does Mike Ilitch really care about the instability of franchises that shouldn’t have been awarded in the first place? The owners are looking to line their pockets (and so they should as it is a business), but at the same time, should be smart enough not to award franchises to unstable markets (Ottawa and Tampa only have teams because they didn’t try to creatively look for ways to finance the $50M franchise fee). I’m often amazed how such owners (who must be bright to afford a franchise in the first place), can be so dumb when it comes to running a sports franchise.
“Yeah, let’s put another team in Atlanta because they shouldn’t have moved the team in the first place.” Same result will occur if franchises are awarded to Winnipeg and Quebec City. The only area that can support another team is Greater Toronto. So, tell the Leafs to quit their crying, pay them the area rights and go get $250M for a franchise fee.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the League is broken. Wake up and admit that the majority of Americans are not interest in hockey – you’ll never get the big TV dealer you’re after. Contract the league, eliminate the fourth line required to ice a team, get rid of the idiotic overtime rules and make the game you have better.
I apologize for my rant as this is way off topic about head shots. But, with help in all areas, people will realize this really is the best game on the planet. I play, so I know!
The equipment has a lot to do with it also.
Why the need for hard plastic elbow and shoulder pads
when a jell pad would work just as well.
I also like the idea of the bigger ice but Olympic size is
a tad too big.
Nice comment Buttmunch!!! Eh………
What has to happen is that one of these NHL athletes who has had his career basically ruined should engage a high priced litigious U.S. lawyer launch a lawsuit against the NHL for basically condoning hits to the head for many years. This is the only way they will pay attention to what is going on here.
The NHL is like our PM. If it goes to woo the rest of the population, it loses its base. If it caters to the base, it forgoes the rest of the population. They’re both maxed out and can’t grow any further. The only ways they can get more people buying into them is to either transform and decide to say goodbye to their base or to succeed in convincing the rest of the population that they’ve got what it wants. And neither of those two things are going to happen.
If you need proof of the seriousness of concussions, go to
the emerg and witness the after-affects of this Head Injury
These players will never be the same again……it’s time
to ban head shots from Hockey!!!
They are all a bunch of spoiled rich boys who don’t give a rat’s ass about nothing but themselves. Crosby is one of the few with any class whatsoever!!! The whole league is screwed.
Head shots. 1946 I listened to my first game . At it ever since. Crosby’s hit to his head.What was he doing there, the puck and all other players were racing down the other end .Sid should have been skating as fast as he could to backcheck .No, he choose to run interference on the guy who was trying to pick up speet to get to the other blue line .
He should have been sent to the box for two minutes for interference.
Look, a bunch of LAYWERS are running the league, and a FARMER is handing out league discipline. ROTFLMAO!!!!
I have not followed the Crosby and related story in any detail but so far I am surprised that in the half dozen stories I have seen there is not any mention of the career ending concussions that essentially ended the career of Eric Lindros (the marquee player of his day) a decade or so ago. At the time the concussions were considered a weakness of the individual and not a weakness of game rules.
It would be interesting if someone were to interview Eric on this issue.
Remove some of that ridicules armor that is worn in to-days game. Present day equipment is made to protect the player so that he can hit harder.
Put that hard plastic on the inside of the pads and see if the cheap shot artists care to continue.
Hockey changed for the worst when helmets became mandatory. That was the day respect left the game.
The NHL has become a home for bad hockey. i don’t watch the NHL, I watch junior teams and female hockey. The skills in hockey disappeared in the 1970’s. We now have fast big thugs in hockey. The NHL needs to call penalties and stop turning their heads in the other direction. If the thug hockey continues the NHL will disappear as soon as other leagues in the world start appearing.
I want Crosby back playing ASAP.He is the dominant,marketable player the NHL needs particularly in the USA.I respect him immensley as a player and ambassador to the game of hockey.However,I wish he had spoken out about the head shot issue before now and not after he is the one affected.It seems self serving to me.Why did he not speak up when his teammate sidelined Savard for a very long time and Savard may never have the career he might have had?Why not speak when other players have been blindsided much worse then himself?Yes Crosby did make a statement subsequent to that hit but it was a feeble,weak,uncommited response.Something needs to be done but it will not happen unless the NHLPA steps up to the plate.That needs the players as well to stand up BEFORE they are the ones affected and concussed but for the benefit of fellow players as well.
Let’s be realistic here. nothing will get done until someone goes into a permanent coma or dies.
Some player will die for sure if this keeps going the way it is.
Some player will get hit to the head so hard he will never get to catch a breathe again. similar to how Steve karyia got hit and laid there for some time without breathing, the only difference is Steve karyia got up but this guy will never get up.
One thing that may help:
Make the rule such that if someone makes a bad hit to the head and the person gets a concussion or is out for several games, the perpetrator must be suspended twice as many games as the target is injured.
Crosby, league’s most talented player, takes multiple illegal hits to the head, suffers a concussion, and no suspensions are handed out. What the hell is wrong with the NHL? How can they condone this? I’m sorry but david steckel knew what he was doing, if you watch the replay before he the ran into Crosby he looks at him and then makes it look like an accident.
Maybe if he had spoken earlier and boycott a few appearances then the league would have listen. It is the league responsibility to create a safe environment for the players and so far they have failed to come up with a solution. Soon the teams will start to take the rules into their own hands. Imagine if the league’s brats (or modern-day goons) get the Ovechkin, the sedins, the stamkos and all the star players out of the game, then hockey will definitely be much more fun and it will gain more popularity in the US. Not to mention, the revenue that it will bring. My 2 cents; Maybe the real goons are the owners and general mangers.
Sydney Crosby is a very valuable player, is it possible they are targetting him with a deliberate injury? This is not acceptable under any game rule. I am not just speaking about Sydney, it could be any player who could lose his livelihood through these types of targetting. By all means, the culprits should be fined or suspended temporarily without pay from the games for a period of time. Players should recognize this and play by the rules and if there isn’ one, make one. I am all for a stiff penalty when it comes to behavior on ice of this nature.
We can debate this issue all we want, but so long as we (the fans) keep spending our hard earned $$ on this game and the games advertisers, the hits ot the head will just keep on coming. What about starting a campaign that target advertisers who support the game. No longer ANYTHING buy from any advertiser who supports the NHL and see if they keep advertising for the NHL. Only then perhaps the NHL will FINALLY listen to the fans and put and end to head hits.