Quote:
Originally Posted by billybek
Where do you draw the line on hitting?
Face it, Havlat took his eye off the defender that he knew was there. If you look at the replays you can see him look up ice at the defender who has a history of lowering the boom on unsuspecting players and not all of those have been clean hits. Then puck focus takes over and he takes his eye off the defender. Had Havlat been more aware he wouldn't have been unconscious on the ice.
There have been deliberate attempts to put guys out with hits away from the puck and with elbows up. Justice in these instances should be quick and harsh.
I don't like seeing guys get hurt, but I don't want to see the game neutered either.
The way the game is called now takes the responsibility out of the player's hands to deal with their own to police the game and the behavior of players. In the old days a guy trying to put others out of the game wouldn't be around long before becoming a victim himself. I am not saying that the old way is the way to go either. The game is always in transition with rule changes that make things better and worse. Whatta ya do??
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The athletes playing hockey have changed a great deal. The yare bigger, stronger and faster than ever. The sport has not changed to keep up with that. It is inherently dangerous yes but there are steps that should be taken to bring that risk down. Heck when I played in high school I didn't even wear a mask and sticks were not curved.
The wussification of hockey is a patently absurd notion. These men can end up paralyzed with one cheap shot to the head. The NFL has an unnecessary roughness rule, the NHL should as well.
The hockey goon is not as prevalent as he once was but they are still out there. Even classless buffoons like Avery are on the decline. But hits like the one being debated are open to question.
If Havlat had been carryingthepuck across the middle with his head down and taken that hit there'd likely be no debate. But he wasn't. Kronwell could have simply put the body to him and taken him off of the play just as effectively. He did not need to endanger the man's livlihood.
So how to enforce the prohibition against that type of hitting? It will for the time being need to be after the fact, on tape review. Then eventually players will learn.