Head Shots

Really good article by MSU-M beat writer Shane Frederick on head shots in the WCHA.

Already this season there have been three notable high or blindside hits.

Wisconsin’s Craig Smith got a game-disqualification and an additional one-game suspension from his school for a frightening check from behind into the boards that knocked Geoff Irwin out of commission for two games with a shoulder injury.

Alaska-Anchorage’s Jade Portwood broke Minnesota freshman Nick Leddy’s jaw with a shoulder check, putting Leddy out for six weeks. There was no penalty on the hit, and Portwood was not suspended, despite Gophers coach Don Lucia’s plea for punishment.

And then there was the check from behind that St. Cloud State’s Aaron Marvin laid on North Dakota’s Chay Genoway. Genoway was knocked out for at least three games, and Marvin was suspended one game by the Western Collegiate Hockey Association for the hit, which has been replayed over and over again on YouTube.

“It still happens and it’s a mystery to me,” WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod told the Associated Press last week. “We’ve beefed up that rule and our officials know to always err on the side of safety. They are doing the best they possibly can ... We’re trying to emphasize that there’s no tolerance for it, but it hasn’t stopped it from happening.”
[Mankato Free Press]

I can’t believe that Bruce McLeod would actually make that stupid statement. McLeod can’t be that oblivious to the situation, he and his officials are part of the problem. The reason players are still hitting other players in the head and they don’t respect their opponents and your disciplinary system is a joke. There is no real repercussion or any meaningful discipline for the leagues hockey players that hits another player with questionable and egregious hit.

Let me break this further, if you’re a player in the WCHA what’s stopping you from taking a run at a top player like Jordan Schroeder. What are the consequences if you hit another player with a hit to the head and injure him? Seriously! All you’re going to get is a one game suspension max, isn’t that really a zero sum gain?