New NHL Rules. Let the games begin.
 

Rule 48 concerning hits to the head:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1316627192.jpg
Notes:
-The words "blindside" and "lateral" have been removed. It no longer matters what direction the hit comes from.
-To paraphrase: if you are stupid enough to put yourself in a vulnerable position just before or during the hit, you get what you deserve.
-The head has to be targeted and the principle point of contact.
-The penalty is a minor instead of major and game misconduct.

Rule 41 concerning boarding:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1316627481.jpg

See Brendan Shanahan (of all people) explain the new rules in videos here: NHL provides video explanations for two hits-related rule changes | ProHockeyTalk

Seems to me that they are doing the right thing by eliminating the ability of players to exploit the old rule but putting themselves in jeopardy and causing an unwarranted penalty. Making the head shot hit a minor surprised me. I guess they felt the old rule was making the NHL too soft.

So, what do you think? C'mon fans, its time to step up and speak out.

p.s. Notice that unlike prior years, the Bruins will be defending the Cup with virtually the same lineup.
Go Bruins. :D

Wow, I got hit with one star and not even a reply.

How did the game ever survive w/o these rules? They don't need to change the rules, they need to increase the cost of a penalty.

Suspension, fines, kicked out of the sport. Hockey is not a pussy sport. Players will get hurt but you can't make rules and expect players to follow the rules if they don't have a price.

The game should be played like it is in College or the Olympics. Its is a great game and even better when their is true play and not thuggery. You want hits? Watch boxing or MMA.

Hockey has rules?

Brent Severyn: My life as an NHL enforcer - NHL - SI.com

Any "sport" that features fighting as an integral part just does not appeal to me. That's just me (obviously).

Well what I want to know is what will happen like when Crosby hurt himself. HE turned into Steckel who is a good 8 inches taller than Crosby. Crosby runs INTO Steckel and boom concussion.

How does one figure in the height differences?

Steckel skated THROUGH Crosby.

Well, the more watch it, it was what they'd call a "racing incident" on the track. Unintentional. Anyway there it is for anyone to see. It was a "hockey incident". In fact Crosby could have been trying to impede Steckel in some ways and got nailed.

Joe

You'll probably get 3 more stars tonight as the Bruins are visiting what will be the worse Canadian Team this year :D

Soft them up so the Habs can kick the "caca" out of them on Friday :)

My wife will owe me a Tooney by the time she wake up on Saturday and Sunday morning ;)

Hockey season is starting for my PeeWee aged son and there is a new NO CONTACT rule to the head. This means not even a glove in the face. And if you're a foot taller than the guy you're covering you better be careful not to touch his helmet. Hockey Canada has obviously taken these concussion incidents very seriously.
I wonder what the NHL will look like in 10-20 years... face cages? No neutral zone hits? I remember when helmets became mandatory yet the older players did not have to comply. I think Cherry called the European helmet-wearing players sissies back then. Seems kinda insane not to wear a helmet nowadays. The downside is as the gear got more elaborate the violence of the hits seemed to increase with it. I would prefer to not see horrendous hits, even clean ones. It impedes the truly talented skaters from doing what they can: putting on a show of skill.

I weigh 165lbs with my gear on, so you can see where my point of view comes from!

Leafs in 6.
Sorry guys but it's just a reflex that I have been trying to get rid of since 1967.

What is sad is that when I take some of my friends to the LA Kings games they will chat ( I will not let them text) and do just about everything but watch the game until a fight breaks out then they are all out of their seats staining to get a better look.

Guys are getting too big and too fast not to introduce some new rules

Steve

When I was playing rugby in college I was one of the smallest guys on the pitch. But no one was wearing padding , armor or helmets. So by being a squirmy little bastige I avoided nearly all of the devastating hits. AND the big guys needed to be careful as well, 250 lbs of unprotected flesh and bone is just as vulnerable.

So now you put a 250 lb brute on skates, clad him in armor, get him moving at 10/15 miles/hour and someone is going to get a boo-boo.

It's a different game now.

Go leafs!:d

Get rid of the TV timeouts, be forced to play your 4th line more min, you wont be able to afford to have a fighter riding the bench getting 4min a night, scoring may go up too

Just a thought

sorry to say, the Leaf's will still suck, must be a curse

Bad news/good news: The B's lost but it was in overtime and without Thomas, Chara, or a few other key players. The lines tonight looked like tryouts more than pre-season.

1967 ..... 2067 maybe :D:):D

get rid of the pads and helmets and have at it!

This has been one of "Grapes' Gripes" for a number of years. As some of you older guys recall, our shoulder & elbow pads were a good deal smaller & a lot less likely to be effective when used as 'weapons'. They were more for self-protection, but now some of these guys look like 'bulletproof supersonic tanks' & the danger of very serious injury is becoming all too common unless there is more respect shown for the guy wearing the other jersey.

Gentlemen: In the words of the late Badger Bob Johnson "It is a great day for hockey". Looking forward to the new season & participating in this thread.

Cheers
JB

Agreed.
My old chest protector, shoulder pads and elbow pads don't have a lick of plastic on them! Now they look like flax jackets and football gear

Steve

first suspension laid down. Jody Shelly gets a 10 game suspension for this hit. I agree with the suspension and think there is nowhere in hockey for this kind of garbage. And I am a Flyers fan!

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Shelley always has been a "cement-head", IMHO

Interesting article in todays Toronto Star about how this is just a slap on the wrist.
Here's a link if your interested
The Spin

Steve

An also interesting follow-up to this article is one of Sportsnets(?) analysts pointed out Shanahan is trying to provide some "transparency" to the decision making process re: suspensions. I for one am quite curious & will be awaiting with interest to see what sort of suspension will be handed out when/if say, Alexander Ovechkin drills Matt Cooke into the boards.

Cheers
JB

Rich: actually its the 2nd suspension. The first one was Calgary Flames' Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond for the remainder of the preseason and one regular season game for an illegal boarding check on Vancouver Canucks’ forward Matt Clackson. Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond will miss rest of preseason, Flames’ season opener for illegal hit | ProHockeyTalk

Hawk: It will be interesting if there is favoritism with Cindy Crosby, Alex Choke-vechkin, or (Nathan) Horton the Horrible.

Shanahan is putting out a video of each ruling so far. He stated Shelley's criminal past was taken into consideration. Jody Shelley suspended 5 games Video - NHL VideoCenter

There is a certain amount of irony that Shanny is handing out the penalties but, I guess "it takes one to know one". I guess guys like Matt Cooke and Shawn Thornton have a possible future in the NHL HQ when Shanahan retires...

"And the hits keep on coming!"
 

Buffalo Sabres forward Brad Boyes has been suspended for two preseason games for an illegal hit to the head of Toronto Maple Leafs forward Joe Colborne during a preseason game on September 24, National Hockey League Senior Vice President of Player Safety Brendan Shanahan announced today.

Wow. Looks like they are really trying to make a point.

In the meantime, :D
End of 2 periods, BRUINS 5, Habs 1. The B's have 2 shorthanded goals including everyone's favorite in Montreal, Big Zdeno Chara. :D
Yeah, I know its only pre-season but talking smack is great any time...

Joe

Not making any excuse... (Habs just score but still down at 6-3) but 3 games in 3 night??? Never seen this during the normal season or even the pre-season.

Did split with Ottawa :(:(:(

Lost the double or nothing bet in the last 21 minutes last night :rolleyes:

Oops... 7-3

Five games really, no one counts pre-season as a suspension, no lost pay, just a holiday.. For what? Maybe his fourth suspension? Nothing has changed. Yet.

I believe the intention is the opposite, the old rule was too lenient. Time will tell. No NHL player (no player anywhere) sets himself up to take a potentially career ending hit on purpose.

Was the hit on Mark Savard clean? Didn't he leave himself vulnerable?

What is wrong with Brendan Shanahan? He was a tough clean player....if more players lived up to his code of on-ice behaviour the league would be a lot cleaner. Who better? A lawyer like Gary Bettman?

There is a reason Steckel never turned to see what hit him. I believe he knew exactly what he did, and who he hit.

Height difference is going to be the main issue. Tall players can't safely hit short players any more. Not with a shoulder anyhow.

The old rule was a 5 min major and a game misconduct. Its not a minor. That seems more lenient but maybe they did that so the refs could hand them out more frequently.
Shanny was brutal at times. "Who better?" Your signature says who you love... :rolleyes: (Really, its time to change that thing before we start to believe it).

Wow Shanny is more punishing with the suspensions than he ever was with the checking:
Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman James Wisniewski received the harshest punishment yet. Out for the rest of pre-season and the 1st 8 games of the regular season!

In other news,
Karma in action: Aaron Rome breaks his hand on the same day that Nathan Horton returns to the ice for the first time in 3 months after suffering a concussion from a brutal hit by Rome in game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals.

When did the NHL decide the the power play is exciting to watch? I would rather see quality 5 on 5 play. the players are coached to turn and take the hit to draw the penalty, to much emphasis on the man advantage, no way to fix that just need to up scoring 5 on 5, when was the last time you heard someone say "I came to watch the power play"

In Boston? Oh about 2 years ago! :(

My old shoulder padding was just that....thick felt.

Anybody else here remember playing pond hockey with newspaper stuffed up your pant legs?

Oh yeah! No helmet or hockey gloves either. The hot setup was a taped stick with a curved blade. No one even had jerseys back then.

The worst injury I suffered as a kid was when my stick stuck in a crack in the ice on a pond. It stopped dead while I was at full speed and speared me right in the &*%(&^#%$&.
They carried me home bleeding and I refused to let my Mom look at my injury. Tough place to get stitches!
Took weeks to heal and itched like crazy towards the end

Steve

& you weren't allowed to 'raise' the puck with your wrister & slapshots were banned completely. Pond hockey was pretty much all fun. Regettably, the age of innocence has all but past.

Cheers
JB

We used to call it "shinny hockey" because you only protected your shins. No raising the puck

Steve

Not here. I still play. Without a helmet.