I believe this is the first step in the right direction, for the NHL. The OHL already bans head shot already, why not the NHL? In International Ice Hockey Federation play their opinion is that; “there is no such thing as a clean hit to the head." The NCAA bans hits to the head, there is at least a two minute penalty for shots to the head.
The NHL's general managers will recommend the adoption of a new rule to ban blindside hits to the head by a player's shoulder.
So far, this recommendation was made by an eight-man committee of GMs at their annual meetings and it will be placed in front of the entire 30 general managers on Wednesday morning. The proposal will be subject to further review and tweaking but it appears a formal recommendation for a new rule will be made when the meetings end Wednesday afternoon.
“We’re going to fine-tune it,” said San Jose Sharks GM Doug Wilson, who is a member of the eight-person committee. “It’s going to go back to the bigger group for our thoughts.”
The new rule will also subject offenders to supplementary discipline in the form of suspensions. Repeat offenders will probably face lengthy suspensions.
However, since the details remain subject to further changes by the GMs, who could conceivably even shelve the proposal, no one wanted to say exactly what the proposed rule is other than it will address blindside hits to the head by a player’s shoulder.
The formal recommendation will go to the NHL's competition commitee and the governors for approval this summer. The new rule will probably take effect next season [Globe and Mail]
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