This is Part 1 of a three part series. The first part will just be an appetizer. The second part will take into account the feedback received and the third part will allow a good healthy debate.
It was not hard to search for the one player who defined a period of time quite like Scott Stevens. Some of the most ferocious hits ever seen have been delivered by him. So using some bits and pieces from times I have had the pleasure of talking to him along with some quotes, we have here a true guide on what could happen if Scott Stevens played hockey today as opposed to a decade ago.
Now it is time to bring up that whole head shot rule thing again. We apologize. Surely you have heard it enough today. However for the sake of our debate here, we must. Quote time for everyone:
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the only change to the rule originally proposed by the league’s general managers and then approved by the competition committee was the removal of the phrase “back-pressure,” which players felt was too vague.
The rule now prohibits “lateral or blindside hits to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principle point of contact.”
Boston Bruins president Cam Neely, who both received and dished out more than his share of big hits during his Hall of Fame playing career, approved of the move.
“I don’t know if they’re going to make everybody happy, but at least they’re making an attempt to get it out of the game,” Neely said.
The rule, titled “Illegal Check to the Head,” also gives the referee the ability to hand out a match penalty if he believes the player attempted to deliberately injure his opponent. Any player who receives two game misconducts under this rule, in the regular season or playoffs, will be suspended automatically for the next game.
For each subsequent game misconduct penalty, the automatic suspension will be increased by one game.
Now what? Scott Stevens played in a time of the dead puck era in the NHL as it has been called mostly because players could still hit people and there were retributions for the dirtiest of hits. This era is much different. It has nothing to do with a lack of respect. That is a misnomer. Players know that there will be suspensions issued for retributions so some are afraid even to act when an incident occurs. See Matt Cooke hit on Marc Savard for just starters as evidence.
Back in the older days (just ten years ago even less), players retaliated. That playing field did change some starting with the Todd Bertuzzi-Steve Morre incident. The problem there and this was clearly so is this. Bertuzzi did not take care of the problem right then and there. He waited. That was the mistake. In most cases, when an incident occurred, there was an almost immediate reaction. The game policed itself unlike today where the inconsistent “Wheel Of Justice” spins good for some and bad for many.
Players used to do a lot worse than flip the bird. Just as Justin Bourne, who writes for Puck Daddy (among others), sometime about that. Yet today James Wisniewski got two games for the one finger salute and “blow me” gesture while Niklas Hjalmarsson awaits his punishment on a side to side hit that did not get head but drew a five and ten anyway. So Sean Avery can run into an entire warmup of players, start a bunch of crap and nothing is done about it. The minute the bird comes out, two games? No wonder why Scott Stevens once said, “there is no way I would play in this version of the NHL”.
There is NO consistency. Watch Hjalmarsson get a game or two and then fans will lose it especially in Buffalo. When it affects your team, out comes the fandom. It just flies out. Here are the links of the bird and the hit.
The great thing about the internet is one can search for almost any angle on a hit and believe me it can be found. If you do not think so then think again. So let’s say the hit on Jason Pominville draws a two or three game suspension then add in the new head shot rule, how many Scott Stevens hits would fall under the new rule or better yet how would they be disciplined by the NHL?
Now some video……
Replay these a few times in your head. My question to everyone out there is out of these ten hits, which ones would warrant an automatic suspension or supplemental action by the National Hockey League? There will be a healthy debate on this on tomorrow night’s show as well.
