In case you missed it we had ANOTHER stupid hit in an NHL game. This time it was Dion Phaneuf on some jobber from the Bruins. Please for the love of God don't stoop to Bruins fans level and say he deserved it. We are better than that. Anyways. Here was the hit:
Got this from Days of Y'Orr.
Seriously. When is this bull shit going to stop? I know some people are going to say "Well the NHL is a fast paced game" and "Some times these things are unavoidable". First one is true, second one is bull shit. Yes the NHL is faced paced but stuff like this can be avoided if the players would ose there brains. Take this hit for example. Dion Phaneuf isn't even in the picture when this starts rolling. He had to of come from a ways away which means he would of had ample time to see the Bruins player was in a vulnerable position. He's also the Leafs captain which makes this worse. Aren't captains supposed to lead by example? And before any one says I'm picking on Phaneuf because he plays for the Leafs I'm not. This is a league wide epidemic and it needs to stop. It has been happening far too much recently. I have absolutely no problem with a big hit, its part of hockey. But when you start hitting players like this or like James Neal and Shawn Thornton did in Saturdays Pens/Bruins game it starts to get really old. Let's take a look at just a sample of hits that have occurred in the NHL this season.
Obviously this isn't every bad hit that has happened in the NHL this season but its proving our point. There have been way too many plays like this over the past few years and it needs to stop. Someone is going to wind up getting seriously injured one day. We love the NHL. It is the best sport in the world. But hits like this, the scene from a couple nights ago in Boston, the scene in Philly that we posted above, and the scene from Long Island a couple years ago (like we actually want to relive that), make this game that we love so much harder to watch. But how does the NHL fix this? Stiffer suspension? Keeping fighting in the game? As Penguins fans we all saw what Matt Cooke did a few seasons ago. We also saw him completely change the way he plays because of the suspension that was handed down on him. If the NHL really was serious about cleaning up hits like this the first step they would take is an automatic 10-15 game suspension for a first time offense regardless of players history which is often taken into account. Remove the whole "player history" bit from the equation and start with an automatic 10-15 game suspension. For a 2nd offense a 30-35 game suspension. If a player is stupid enough to do one of these hits a 2nd time up the punishment. Tack on another 20-25 games to it. That is a quarter of the season. For a 3rd offense, ban said player for an entire season. If the potential at missing out on 50 games isn't enough to set someone straight then get rid of them for an entire season. Surely one person can't be stupid enough to do something like this after that type of punishment right? Right? Once that player comes back from the year suspension and is stupid enough to throw one of these checks a 4th time, ban him from the league permanently without any chance of collecting the money remaining on said players contract. That would be out way of doing it but the "brains" that run the NHL won't do that. They'd rather had down 3-5 gam suspensions which is basically a slap on the wrist to some players. Start coming down hard on some of these players and MAYBE just MAYBE you start to eliminate some of these stupid hits from the game we love. The emphasis also has to be shared with the current players too. You have a brain for a reason. USE IT. There is absolutely no need to plaster someone into the boards who has their back towards you in a defenseless position. There is no need to put your elbow in to another player's chin. Stop being a dumbass and take some accountability for the safety of other players. It's not that difficult. But really. What is it going to take for the NHL to get serious about hits like this? Someone dying? It sure seems that way at times. Or maybe they are waiting for someone to do this again: (Warning. If you haven't seen this before its pretty disturbing)
Go Hockey
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