WHL has to WAKE UP!!

[Offsider]

CONCUSSIONS CONCUSSIONS I have never seen so many players out with concussions as this year .The Broncos have had at least 8 or 9 players out this year for as long as a week to the rest of the season .The last 3 that happened at home there was not even a penalty called .I think the league needs to get toughter on head shoots with the stick, elbow or glove it should be like international Hockey any thing above the shoulder is intent to injure and should be a 5 min penalty . Does it seem like your team has had concussions problems this year. headshoots are like checking from behind and could change a kids life.

[Beaner]

Concussions has been the one injury that the Giants havent got a lot of if any this year. <knock on wood>

I agree though, Hockey in general needs to take head shots seriously and make the suspensions severe enough that players wont even think about doing it. Much like players dont jump off the bench to get in a fight.

Maybe any hit to the head comes with an AUTOMATIC 5 game suspension minimum, which can be raised after review.

[Jimmypop316]

Head Injurys are down in the NHL this year, don't know how its fairing in the WHL. I think we've had several concussions with the Chiefs.. the only one I can bring up off the top of my head is Spurgeon.

[Brad]

First step would be mandate that players wear properly fitted helmets that have the strap no more than two fingers space below the chin. They also need to send players to the box for chewing on their mouth guard instead of wearing it in the mouth. Eliminating seamless glass and going to seamed glass that has some give to it would be another good change.

[Wildeyes]

hockey canada has a rule with hitting to the head that would do well here.

any hit the targets the head is a 2 min plus 10 min miscoundct or 5min and a game misc depending on degree of impact

it help in HC so hopefully is could help here

[Jimmypop316]

hockey canada has a rule with hitting to the head that would do well here.

any hit the targets the head is a 2 min plus 10 min miscoundct or 5min and a game misc depending on degree of impact

it help in HC so hopefully is could help here

I totally agree, even if it is a clean hit. Anything to the head should be an automatic penalty regardless, its too much of a risk.

[nivek_wahs]

Here's the rule from the Hockey Canada Rulebook...

Rule 86. Checking to the Head

(a) A Minor and a Misconduct penalty, or a Major and a Game Misconduct penalty, at the discretion of the Referee based on the degree of violence of impact, shall be assessed to any player who checks an opponent to the head area in any manner.

(b) A Major and a Game Misconduct penalty, or a Match penalty shall be assessed any player who injures an opponent by Checking to the Head.

(c) A Match penalty shall be assessed any player who deliberately attempts to injure or deliberately injures an opponent by Checking to the Head.

Note: Referees are instructed not to substitute other penalties when a player is Checked to the Head with significant impact.

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I really don't like going after the referees or anything too much like that but this rule is extremely hard to enforce especially at the minor hockey level (in Regina anyway) with each ref/linesman having varying degrees of training and experience, and some have a hard enough time to keep up with the play let alone call a Check to the Head.

I could see problems in the WHL where one official would class it as a Check to the Head while another might just see it as a plain old elbow (aren't most elbows usually to the head? or head area?). The first part of the rule in (a) at the discretion of the Referee leaves a lot to be desired for most coaches, GM's and fans. This is where I think the 2 ref system debate can be brought up... if there is 2 equally "qualified" penalty callers that have equal "penalty calling powers" I'm sure many of the players that opposing fans call "cheap-shot artists" or guys looking to back-stab or get the "upper-hand" would be watching their ways with the illegal stuff period.

That's my couple cents...

Kevin

[RunTheGoalie]

I totally agree, even if it is a clean hit. Anything to the head should be an automatic penalty regardless, its too much of a risk.


Absolutely silly idea. You cannot penalize a player for someone elses stupidity. You absolutely should never penalize a clean hit.

I can only imagine how many players are deliberately going to hit a guy head first to generate powerplays.

[Tinner]

lets ring the bell, any sticks that touch a player above the thigh and any checks, whether they be elbows, shoulders or what ever to the head are automatic penalties.

Keeping sticks down will lead to everything else staying down. The comment on helmets deserves more than lip service. If helmets were worn properly at all times and worn with the strap tight to the chin this would also help in the reduction of concussions. That includes the proper wearing of the mouth guards.

Lastly, the refs must call it. At the start of the year, they called everything and now its back to what it used to be, tons of stickwork and no respect for your opponent and that may be the factor most overlooked.

[LifelongChiefsFan]

Getting the players to wear their helmets properly is something I don't think will ever happen. Even if the league were to try and enforce it, such as a misconduct for not having their jerseys tied down, there would still be players that wouldn't do it. And even so sometimes a concussion on a cetain hit will happen whether a helmet is properly worn or not. What the league really needs to crack down on is the "intent to injure" penalties. I have seen too many dirty hits this year that not only didn't have a match penalty called, they had no penalty at all called. When players realize they can get away with these types of hits, they will continue to do it, including hits to the head. It all starts with the refs keeping the players in line with their penalty calling. Unfortunately the refs suck and allow players to continually get away with dirty hit after dirty hit. And it's not like theres a whole bunch during every game, but I have seen a fair share (around 15 or so) in about 24 games this year. The refs aren't the only problem, but they are where the league needs to start to fix this problem.

[Swando]

Although this is an old thread - let me add this as food for thought!

Seattle is losing to Vancouver Giants and the game is out of reach. In the 3rd period Ryan Gibbons elbows the Giants leading scorer Tim Kraus. Kraus looks like an alien as his face is totally disfigured and bleeding. He has a broken jaw and has now been out of action for about 2 months (wired jaw etc) Gibbons received a 4 game suspension. This was a deliberate attempt to injure. He took out the best Giant player at the time and he only has to serve 4 games. Kraus has recently had his wires removed from his jaw and has lost 20 pounds. Ramifactions: Giants "could" have tanked and lost valuble pts and home ice advantage. This is Kraus's draft year and I'm sure it'll drop his worth drastically due to his injury.
I think that the league should look into getting better Internet coverage on every game or make it maditory to have a properly taped game replay to monitor these really bad situations. On the good side many times assists/ wrong goals are given out due to lack of quality review. Make it a League situation and not up to individual teams. If any of you watch on the net you'll totally agree from a telecast difference between a Kamloops (10) to sorry I won't mention.
Maybe and I know this has been thrown out before the infraction of a goon job should sit the same as the injury when it is as clear cut as a broken jaw!

for what it's worth --I'm signing off