Here is an article by C.C. Tigers beat writer Joe Pasley of the Colorado Spring Gazette that was in yeterday's Gatette; the newspaper article has some interesting tidbits that you might want to take a look at. Personally, I found some of the comments by Greg Shepherd and Bruce McLeod to be interesting as well. While there were only 27 five-minute majors for contact to the head were recorded, how many of them were missed?
Gazette.com --- Only 27 five-minute majors for contact to the head were recorded this past season, though it seemed like far more were called.
“The perception is there were a lot more,” said Greg Shepherd, the league’s head of officials. “We did a good job making sure the coaches and players were aware, especially during the first month.”
Tigers coach Scott Owens knew the problem had to be addressed and was happy with the new rule and how it was handled.
“It’s had a positive impact,” he said. “The officials spent time explaining it to (the coaches) and we passed it on to the players. They made a lot of calls early. It’s definitely a problem. When you look at the (NHL Channel news) ticker, at least a third of it deals with concussions.”
Here something else from the article that I found interesting.
The severity of the five-minute major, which included either a game misconduct or game suspension, proved an effective, immediate deterrent that also made things easier for the league office. Whether a player missed the rest of the game or the rest of that game and the next was up to the on-ice official, which is how the league wanted it.
