Getting serious about headshots starts now

Elliotte Friedman has a really good point about eliminating head shots in the NHL. I think hockey in general should take the same approach. This is a serious issue and we literally have hockey players getting their brains scrambled from hits to the head.

Rob DiMaio played 18 years in the NHL, his career ending in 2006 after a borderline hit by Guillaume Latendresse. DiMaio was an aggressive player – had to be to keep his job – yet averaged less than one penalty minute per game. He’s got a good perspective on this issue.

“If you really want to eliminate head shots, you have to make the penalty so severe that players will really think about it,” he said. “You can’t have them thinking, ‘Well, if I hit this guy and I get suspended, it will be for only one game.’”

Boy, do I agree with that 100 per cent.

If the GMs really want to eliminate the Richards/Booth and Cooke/Savard hits, Step I must be Fear of God. Simply tell players that anyone who does it is getting a long-term suspension. (What’s long-term? You could start at eight games, chosen arbitrarily because it’s 10 per cent of the season. Discuss amongst yourselves.)

Then deliver. It doesn’t matter if you’re a first-time offender. It doesn’t matter if you averaged three penalty minutes a season. If you do it, you’re going to be punished. Automatically.

(By the way, the GMs should also consider penalizing players who intentionally make themselves vulnerable to blindside hits. It might have to be after the fact/upon review, but you know there will be a diver or two who tries it. Can’t be allowed to happen.)[CBC Sports]