Watching game on Versus.
Franzen would be the perfect beast for the Flyers. I'd give up anyone except Richards and Timonen for him.
Brown put a nasty hit on Hudler a bit (but not a lot) late after he got rid of the puck. But it was a vicious hit, tho hard to tell whether it was Brown's shoulder, elbow or stick, or Hudler's own helmet, that did the damage. Hudler was knocked silly and had a big gash over his eye. It recalled Brashear's hit against the Ranger's Betts, which resulted in a broken eye socket. Again, it wasn't clear exactly what of Brashear's hit Betts. It was similarly late. Brown was given a five minute match and a game misconduct.
In the intermission, Jonesy was adamant that Brown will be suspended for the series and deservedly so, according to Jones. Hudler missed two or three shifts, and returned to the game, although it is hard not to think he is playing with a concussion.
The question in my mind is if the recipients of these checks had not sustained some visible damage, would the penalties have been as severe? Does Brown deserve less than Brashear, since his victim returned to play almost immediately, whereas Brashear's was out at least the rest of that series? Is the NHL cracking down on all shots to the head now, even the so-called "clean" shoulder shots at high speed into unseeing faces?
Cuz the bottom line is that broken eye sockets and head gashes are relatively easily repaired compared to concussions, many of which look like nothing at all at the time. Given the number of careers ended or hampered by concussions, I would like the NHL to move against all shots to the head, just like the NFL does with QBs. It should be the defender/checker's responsibility not to hit them in the head. And if a head shot leads to an injury, then maybe the assailant should be suspended for as long as his victim is unable to play.
That hit reminded me of the kind of hit that happens in football on turnovers. Was it Ray Lewis who ended the career of an offensive lineman by throwing a blindside block?
ReplyDeleteI don't recall, but it's got to be as violent as many car crashes, except without the protection of the car (look what Carl Edwards went through without a scratch).
ReplyDeleteThey have to do something. One difficulty is big size differences -- I mean its almost impossible for Chara to hit someone like Recchi or Kapanen without connecting elbow to head. I don't know what you do about that, but I think the answer has to lie in making the checker somehow responsible.