Personally, I’m a fan of Brendan Shanahan and the suspensions he’s handed out in the NHL this season. It’s a seriously tough job, and I think he’s done a good job finding the fine line of allowing players to hit and hit hard, while punishing those players who take cheap shots and put others in danger. Today he put out a video that highlights the difference between illegal checks to the head, and plain old hard hits.
I get the impression, thanks to Twitter, that people think that every time a player’s head gets touched there should be a suspension. The reality is, if the head isn’t targeted or the principle point of contact, it’s not up for suspension, because you try to throw a body check and avoid head contact entirely. The way bodies are built makes that difficult.
Anyway, I wanted to share this so hopefully some hockey fans would gain a clearer understanding of what’s allowed, and what isn’t in the NHL.
