GMs won’t be bullied into quick decisions

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/03/2011 (5417 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BOCA RATON, Fla. — The NHL is reacting to the national outrage over violence and concussions but it’s determined to do things its own way beginning with this week’s general managers’ meetings at an oceanside Florida resort.

“There is no magic bullet to dealing with this,” commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters on Monday. “I know this is an emotional, intense subject particularly for our fans. We know this. We get it. But dealing with this issue is not something we can do whimsically or emotionally.”

Matters came to a boil last week when Boston’s Zdeno Chara shoved Montreal’s Max Pacioretty along the boards and into a barely padded corner of glass, causing him a serious neck injury and concussion.

Chara received a major penalty for interference, but no suspension, sparking outrage from fans, players, the Canadiens, politicians and even some league sponsors.

Bettman cited statistics mined from a study of concussions suffered in the league this year showing that 70 per cent of them are accidents or from legal checks.

He also outlined five areas of action the NHL is taking to make games safer for players.

Of them, the most important are that the in-game concussion protocol has been revised and strengthened. It’s an excellent step that now any player showing signs of a concussion must be taken away from the bench to a quiet area to be evaluated by a doctor, using the SCAT II protocol.

As well, at the June owners’ meetings, Bettman will champion new potential disciplinary powers to punish teams and possibly coaches with repeat offenders in this area and he said he will retain a safety engineer to evaluate the playing area to see what we can do “to soften it up.”

 

That will include an already-ordered change from seamless glass to more-forgiving Plexiglass in six arenas that haven’t yet changed, including Montreal’s.

The GMs began a discussion Monday on what to do about violence and in particular, how concussions can be reduced.

They received a presentation from NHL staff that included an analysis of concussions and video evidence of all but four concussions suffered this season.

There seems to be an appetite for some change or modification in rules but exactly what that is remains a mystery.

“I really like the way the managers are approaching this,” said Carolina Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford.

Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman hinted that some rule issues might be on the table that would “slow things down.”

“Accidental collisions, those are going to be difficult to eliminate or reduce,” Yzerman said. “Adjusting rules and bending rules to take players out of certain situations, well, every rule change is made to improve the game so it’s kind of odd that we’re talking about changing rules to slow things down.

“Ultimately players are better athletes… now we’re going the other way — how do we make it slower and reduce equipment, and do all these things?”

At least the discussion is underway.

Last season under some duress and clear evidence that they were losing a handle on the situation, the league arrived at Rule 48.

That edict outlawing blind-side hits to the head was a big move from its previous policy, which was pretty much “stuff happens,” in a fast, collision-intense game.

Several prominent GM’s changed their view of that subject as last season progressed, whether by actual change of heart or detecting a new direction in the wind.

The NHL is the only high-level league left (aside from the AHL, which follows the NHL on almost every matter) without a rule banning all contact to the head.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca