It seems like we’re hearing about the head shot issue all the time. In fact, the whole thing is becoming pretty routine. First, we see the shocking hit, then the hockey analysts give their opinions on it, and finally the league gives their opinion on the hit in the form of a suspension (or lack of).

Usually the suspensions they give are pretty short. A player could take a head shot and be back on the ice within a week. Some hits even go without a suspension at all, which has caused cheap shots to become a big part of hockey.

As a part of hockey, these hits are starting to wind their way down into the younger levels. I’ve been reffing for eight years now, and I’ve seen these shots trickle down into younger levels.

One time, I saw a kid get checked from behind a good ten seconds after I blew the whistle. That kid was given a minor and a misconduct for checking from behind. More surprisingly, I’ve seen two kids get speared as well. One of those was after the game while the teams were leaving the ice.

When you compare this to other sports, you have to realize how much different hockey is. I’ve seen two kids use their sticks as a weapon, but I’ve never seen a kid playing baseball use their bat as a weapon, and I’ve been around both sports for my entire life. You hear more about violence in hockey than you do in just about every other sport. My thought is that the NHL has accidentally caused some of this by their consistent lack of action.

This is an issue that the GM’s have been discussing for a long time, and they haven’t gotten anywhere. However, this meeting in Boca Raton, Florida could be the change that fans are looking for. They have proposed a couple of interesting rule changes, including banning head shots completely. Technically, this is a rule that already exists, but it doesn’t get enforced until somebody is injured from a hit, and by that time, it’s too late.

One of the biggest complaints about head shots is that there are a number of hits where the player is not injured. These hits go unpunished, and normally, the player that makes the hit doesn’t even receive a penalty.

The idea of the new rule would be that even if a player is not injured from a hit to the head, the person that made the check would still get a penalty. This should force players to be more careful about where they hit their opponents.

I would like to assure you that the NHL is not trying to take checking out of the game. I don’t speak for them, but they know that checking is a part of hockey. What they are trying to do, is prevent injuries. Fans love to see the bone crushing hits into the boards (and I have a feeling the GM’s do too), but nobody likes to see a player lie motionless on the ice.

Obviously, I hope that the NHL’s new rules solve the problem. We’ll never be able to eliminate head shots completely, but hopefully, we can lower the amount of injuries that they are causing.

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to leave a comment and voice your opinion. Also, make sure to join my brand new Facebook page. You’ll receive future NHL news and articles from this website. Oh, by the way, don’t freak out that nobody’s joined it yet, it’s brand new (Join me on Facebook).

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