GMs Against Automatic Penalty For Hits To Head

04/06/2009 04:34

Managers feel players must learn to protect themselves at all times

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke said the National Hockey League was wrong in flagging Detroit Red Wings defenceman Niklas Kronwall for an interference major and game misconduct penalty for a hit on Chicago's Martin Havlat in the first period of Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Western Conference final.

"That was a beautiful bodycheck," Burke insisted on Tuesday. "Nothing wrong with it at all."

The topic was raised during Tuesday's NHL general managers meetings in Pittsburgh, where the discussion centred around head shots.

Most GMs scoffed at any notion that they might consider following the Ontario Hockey League's lead and institute a rule that calls for an automatic two-minute minor for hits to the head.

"In every league that's done that, there's less bodychecking," Burke suggested -- and he had plenty of company

"The OHL philosophy?" Montreal Canadiens GM Bob Gainey asked rhetorically.

"It wasn't really an issue that had any weight behind it. There's not any appetite among this group for that sort of rule."

According to the National Hockey League Players' Association, there's quite a hunger for the rule among its members, with a poll of players determining that more than 70 per cent of NHLers think it's necessary.

"I'd like to ask all the players myself," NHL senior vice-president of hockey operations Colin Campbell said.

He'll get that chance later this month in Las Vegas, where the players will meet and make a proposal of their own to the league.

The GMs also feel the players must take personal responsibility for protecting themselves from injury due to head blows.

"It's a tough, physical game and you have to protect yourself, too," Burke said.

Gainey compared the issue to traffic-flow problems.

"It's like when you drive your car," Gainey said. "In every city, there are those intersections where more accidents occur and when you come upon those intersections, you tend to be more aware of your surroundings.

"It's the same on the ice. There are traffic areas that you go into where the likelihood of a collision is much higher. As a player, you have to be aware of that."

SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:

Pardon me, folks, but at some point the NHL is going to have to decide what it really wants.