Headshots
Justin Dahan (HV)
Put a stick near a player’s body
and it’s an automatic penalty but throw your elbow
at an opposing player’s head and play will continue.
This has been the trend this year in the NHL, headshots
going unpunished.
Recently Tomas Kaberle was injured when Cam Janssen
hit him. It wasn’t an average hit; Janssen hit Kaberle
after he had passed the puck. The replay shows Janssen
used his elbow to nail Kaberle’s head. Kaberle was
injured and taken to the hospital. Even though the
replay proves it should have been a penalty there
was no call during the game.
The league took action, Janssen was suspended for
three games without pay, but it looks as if Kaberle
will be out much longer. The actual date Kaberle will
return to the lineup is unknown, which is the case
for most head injuries. Darcy Tucker knows the importance
of Kaberle, “I’m really disappointed in the fact that
we lost one of our leaders” said Tucker.
Toronto Maple Leafs coach Paul Maurice said, “There
is no place in the game for something like that”.
Perhaps if he had dressed enforcer Wade Belak, Janssen
would have thought twice about running Kaberle.
Tucker commented on Janssen, “The guy plays two minutes
a game” he went on to say, “His only role is to hurt
someone”. He also claims that this isn’t the first
offense for Janssen, “He hit me earlier in the year
when I didn’t have the puck, it was the same thing”.
He also said, “It’s a little easier to take if it’s
someone that plays 18 or 20 minutes a game”.
Darcy should just ask the Buffalo Sabres. They will
tell you that it’s just as bad when a player who takes
a regular shift takes a run at one of your premier
players. Ottawa ’s Chris Neil took a run at Sabres
Co-Captain Chris Drury; the hit was similar to the
Janssen one. Lindy Ruff described the hit, “It was
a predator-type of hit where Drury was vulnerable”.
Similar to the Kaberle hit there was no penalty on
the play and the Sabres were without one of their
top players.
Sabres owner Tom Golisano thinks the NHL needs to
buckle down on hits to the head. “I am deeply concerned
with the standard the NHL has adopted that seems to
allow violent hits to the head."
The NHL has finally taken action over a hit to the
head when they suspended Janssen but that won’t allow
Drury to skate with the Sabres or Kaberle to skate
with the Leafs any sooner. They had a chance to crack
down on head shots at the beginning of the year, but
instead the Sabres and the Leafs will have to continue
to play without a valuable asset to their team.
