I am a fan of the game of hockey: I have been since I was very young. If I were at all inclined towards athleticism, I would play myself, and probably fairly well, given that I picture it as a kind of hyperkinetic chess. Wayne Gretzky once said "a good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be." By no means could I hope to match The Great One, even if I had the body for it, but I do tend to have a good idea where the puck is going to be, most of the time.
As the saying goes, "those who can not do, watch." Or something like that. I've watched a lot of hockey in my life. Although I am and always will be a Toronto Maple Leaf fan, unlike many of my ilk I can name players on other teams. I can even appreciate players on other teams, for values of "other teams" that don't include "the Philadelphia Flyers".
I like the game in all its facets. I get just as excited watching a 9-8 barnburner as I do a 0-0 goaltending clinic. I love the women's game, which has no contact; I also love the games that resemble guerrilla warfare.
Or, at least, I did. Now, in the wake of a truly horrific year and a bit in the game I love, I'm not so sure any more.
Bob Probert. One of the most feared fighters the game has ever known, he could also actually play: he's the only player in hockey history to score more than 25 goals and amass over 350 penalty minutes in a season. Died of apparently natural causes in July 2010. Donated his brain to science. In March 2011, published reports indicated Probert's brain showed evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
Derek Boogaard. Another feared enforcer, his nickname was "the Boogeyman". He once shattered an opponent's cheek with one punch. Boogaard died at 28 of "accidental causes"--in his case, mixing alcohol and oxycodone (which is prescribed for relief of intense and/or chronic pain).
Rick Rypien. Another fighter. He was plagued by injuries over his NHL career, some sustained in fights. Found dead by his own hand on August 15, a month before he was to get a fresh start with the fresh new Winnipeg Jets.
Wade Belak. Recently retired, the former Leaf fighter and fan favourite had recently signed on to become a Nashville Predator broadcaster. He was also to star in next season's Battle of the Blades. Killed himself yesterday.
That's this year's toll. All these players were fighters...enforcers, or as others call them, 'goons'. Their chief purpose and role on their team was to intimidate opponents...and back up that intimidation with their fists, when necessary. As enforcers, it's a fair bet they accumulated concussions the way their teammates accumulated game pucks. I can't state with certainty that concussions or their aftermath contributed to death in every case...but it's a pretty safe bet to make, if you ask me.
One hopes we won't be adding the following names to the list of premature deaths in future years. These are just the players in the process of recovery from concussion right now.
Marc Savard, star center for the Cup-winning Boston Bruins, career likely over
Peter Mueller, talented Avalanche center
Max Pacioretty, up-and-coming Hab brutally checked into a stanchion by Zdeno Chara
Sidney Crosby, generational talent, face of the NHL
David Perron, strong winger for the Blues
Pavel Kubina, Lighting offensive defenseman
Matthew Lombardi, new Leaf who will apparently attend training camp. Remains to be seen if he can regain his form
Colton Orr, Leaf enforcer who has supposedly recovered, but who hasn't played a game since suffering a concussion in a fight midway through last season.
In a rough-and-tumble contact sport like hockey, you're never going to eliminate injuries entirely. Not even serious injuries like concussions, which have been shown to linger for years or decades after the afflicted athlete has supposedly recovered, manifesting later on as insanity.
But that doesn't mean they shouldn't bloody well try.
It isn't just the Sidney Crosbys of the world who deserve to live a life free from debilitating pain and possible mental illness. The NHL can fret all it wants about the potential absence of a marquee player who is arguably its most talented; while they're fretting, they should spare a thought for everyone else on that list...and, more to the point, they should be doing everything in their power to make future lists as short as possible. Here are my suggestions. Some of them constitute minor tweaks to the game; some are quite radical. As far as I'm concerned, the changes should be weighed against whatever value we place on a human life--excuse me, on four human lives since last July, and counting.
No touch icing
This is a no-brainer. Don Cherry, the maven of mayhem whose 'Rock-'em, Sock'em' videos have always glorified the game's darker moments, has long been a proponent of this rule change, which would see play blown dead when the puck is iced. Better a dead play than a dead player, says I; and while nobody has (yet) died in one of those "entertaining" battles for the puck that seem to occur at least twice every period, enough players have been seriously injured to start a whole new league.
This hasn't been instituted because they're afraid to slow down the game. Misplaced priorities, anyone? Besides, if you don't want icing, make icing a penalty. Maybe give teams two free icings a period, then penalize for delay of game.
Go back to one referee
The NHL brought in a second referee in the late '90s so as to catch more offences. I've hated this system ever since it arrived, and I want it gone. The biggest problem is that all too often, a ref a way up ice, a hundred feet or more from the play, will call a penalty when the ref right on top of the action deems it clean. It seems to me we have many more games inconsistently officiated than we used to under the old system. In regards to player injuries, the superfluous ref is just another body cluttering up the ice to no purpose. Get him out of there. If need be, allow the linesmen to call the blatant penalties that the single referee might miss on account of being behind the play.
Enlarge the ice surface
Casual hockey fans may not be aware that the European leagues play on a considerably larger surface than does the NHL. The international rink's dimensions are 61m x 30m (200' x 98'), while the NHL rink is only 26m (85') wide. That extra four meters makes for many differences in game play. The goalie tends not to leave the sanctuary of his crease as often on the larger rink; venturing out to corral a puck is riskier. Offensively, fewer international teams choose to play a puck pursuit game, opting instead to emphasize positioning, deflecting pucks and players away from the slot. Extra space makes for a marginally slower, but a much safer game. There's more room to manoever both on offense and defence; checks into the boards are rarer on the larger rink.
Enlarging the North American ice surface will only happen when Hell gets an NHL team, and I'm not talking about Hell, Michigan. Why? Because every team owner would have to eliminate six or seven rows of the most lucrative seating in the arena. But hey, owners aren't the only ones trying to make a livelihood out there.
Go four on four
Again, the idea here is to open up the ice surface. For those who object, including a fifth of the NHL players who would be out of work, consider: early hockey was actually played six skaters a side, not five. Besides the two defensemen and three forwards, there used to be a "rover"--a player who skated all over the ice, playing offense and defence as needed. As the skill level of the players increased, the rover position eventually died out.
The skill of the players has again increased, but more importantly, so has their size and their strength. It used to be common to find players 5'8" and under; now, they're the exception.
Imagine the NHL with a fifth of its worst players removed. Sound better? It does to me, too. Also safer.
Eliminate fighting
Maybe the time has come. It's always been a contentious issue, drawing some to the sport, repulsing others. Hockey is the only team sport in which fighting is treated like a normal part of the game.
I can argue both sides of this at will, but watching hockey fighters drop like flies makes it considerably harder to mount a spirited defence for fisticuffs. Are they really necessary? Sure, it's exciting...unless you're the one fighting. Then it's not exciting at all: it's highly stressful. Is the next punch you take the one that's going to end your career and leave you cringing in a dark room for months? Do you really enjoy beating the snot out of somebody, or, alternatively, getting the snot beaten out of you? Really, you do? Are you a psychopath?
In international hockey, fighting will get you thrown out of the game. In the NHL, fighting might get you thrown to the ice head-first. Which is more sane, especially given that Olympic hockey is some of the most exciting and memorable hockey you'll ever see?
I expect the NHL will dilly and dally and eventually adopt the easiest of these suggestions to implement--the no touch icing rule. Everything else will be dismissed as too disruptive to the game, leaving the myriad of players whose lives have been disrupted by the game as it's currently played shaking their heads. The death toll is horrible; what I just predicted is, to me, somehow worse. They'll argue they care...but unless they institute more than half of the above, I'll argue right back that they don't.
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