from Amazon
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
You’re going to take that shot to the head, AND you are going to like it!
That is my paraphrase of Brian Burke, GM of the Maple Leafs, and easily one of the most influential executives in the NHL in resonpose to this presentation from the NHLPA:
The majority of NHL players are more worried about receiving a shoulder to the head than a punch to the face. And the level of concern is strong enough that the NHL Players’ Association believes the league should adopt a rule that penalizes deliberate shots to the head.
NHLPA executive director Paul Kelly delivered that message to the league’s general managers as they kicked off their annual meetings Monday. He would like referees to have the option of handing out a minor, major or match penalty to players that “intentionally or recklessly” target the head of an opponent.
“That’s probably the most significant concern on the part of players,” Kelly said after addressing the GMs for an hour. “I would say better than three-quarters believe that we need to have a new rule on hits to the head, that protects players. “We’re looking for not all hits to the head—there are accidental and inadvertent hits that don’t cause a great deal of injury.”
Burke said this in response:
A number of GMs are concerned it will take physical play out of the game. Told the players intend to fight for a new rule on headshots at the competition committee, Toronto GM Brian Burke dismissed it.
“They can bring that fight for it if they want. There is no appetite in this group. None whatsoever,” said Burke.
Is that god-damn incredible? This is purely a workplace safety issue… between the workers themselves! Why in the world does the owner have any say here? Indeed, the NHLPA itself can easily come in and put in their own bylaws and fines in place, rather than handing out the security and enforcement to the NHL and its referees. It would be better if the NHLPA doesn’t do it, for the obvious conflict of interest. They could contract out a third party to do it. That’s why the NHL itself would be the ideal justice here.
And the owners are saying no! They don’t want to reduce the physical play at all, even if it means virtually eliminating head shots.
The NHL has been run by clowns for almost 20 years. How many years has it been since Gil Stein took over for John Ziegler? That the league is still in business is a testament to the greatness of the game itself.