Been dazed and confused for so long…

Have you ever googled ‘ice hockey fight’? As expected the practice has got its own page on wikipedia and there are endless sites where you can watch the violence on a loop such as the tell it like it is hockeyfights.com. But commentators are asking the question again of late, as to whether Hockey is out of control. This week saw Mikhail Grabovski of the Toronto Maple Leafs get hit harder than hard by Bruins’ defenceman Zdeno Chara. Grabovski was taken from the ice, but when he returned he was nudged by Chara again and looked decidedly unsteady on his skates out there. A debate then played-out across the internet on social networking sites as to whether the Maple Leaf was playing whilst concussed.

The Leafs’ fans were past caring, and maybe we all got our answer when the Belarussian sped around the outside of the Bruins defence to give Toronto the lead and ultimately the win with a minute left. This is one of a series of unpleasant hits to the head in recent weeks that haven’t been good to watch, and none more high profile than the hit that has seen All-Star Sidney Crosby sidelined. Crosby took two blows to the head in successive games against the Washington Capitals and the Tampa Bay Lightning and has been out of action for over a month.

According to theconcussionblog, we have had 63 official concussions this season so far, with the total number last season being 82. As the blog explains though, not all concussions are potentially recorded as such, but still we are on course for a record breaking season. It appears though that the injury to a player with such a high profile as Crosby has magnified the attention head injuries are getting, regardless of the current head count. But for a player to be sidelined for so long for getting a hit to the head, and with numbers of incidents rising, it does warrant further scrutiny for the powers that be in the NHL. There is no need to be too concerned though, fighting is as much a part of Ice Hockey as scoring, and throwing down your gloves is here to stay. The tradition of players who are given their place in the team just to stir-up trouble goes way back, and these characters are known as enforcers or goons.

But going toe to toe isn’t barging your shoulder in to another player’s face, and it isn’t banging helmets up against the glass. Whilst most of us want to see a good scrap, we also want to see the great players of our generation on the ice. And whilst hysteria doesn’t help anybody, I think it is important that we make that distinction in professional Ice Hockey and that any deliberate shot to the head in normal play, has to have its level of intent assessed. That is probably the biggest challenge for officials though, as some players are very good at making it look like an accident.