Hits To The Head Should Always Be a Part Of Hockey

in fact a huge Rangers fan. As much as I hated Stevens for being such a key to New Jersey's success, I couldn't help but respect him for his great hockey ability, especially defensively. 

So if hits to the head are banned, are you saying some of his best hits, some of the hits that are a part of his legacy shouldn't have happened? Was putting Lindros down for the count a bad play? What about sending Paul Kariya to la la land in the Stanley cup finals in 2003? Inducting a great player in to the Hall of Fame, then turning around and saying everything he was known for is now against the rules would be bad PR for a league that is already struggling to increase it's fan base.

And what about those players who have yet to make it to the NHL yet? I'm sure there are many young players out there, who worked so hard to become good defenseman, and who worked their whole lives on perfecting the art of the open ice hit. 

Do those players become obsolete? Is an entire life of working to make it to the NHL going down the tube because some rule changes made his role less important? Making hits to the head Illegal may save players from injury, but it will not save their skill. The NHL owes it's future blue line patrolmen more than eliminating their role in the league.

Now let's examine the recent hit that brought about such discussion. 

New York Islanders forward Doug Weight's hard hit on young Carolina Hurricanes Forward Brandon Sutter. As seen in the picture of this article, Sutter sure got knocked out pretty good. His unconscious face alone might be enough to make some cringe, and beg for some rule changes. As unfortunate as it was to witness,my reaction was not one of horror, but my exact thought was "keep your head up next time." 

I mean no disrespect to Brandon, but he put himself in a vulnerable spot, and payed the price. Doug Weight laid a hard, punishing, destructive, but most importantly, clean hit on him. Brandon Sutter was taught a lesson, one that he should have already learned, but also one he was fortunate not to learn in an even worse way than he just did. Brandon is no stranger to those hits either. At the World Junior Championships, he put a punishing hit on the late Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov. 

Now, the hit may have been questionable, but in the end, he was showing one reason that the Hurricanes selected him 11th overall in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. This time Brandon, you live by the sword, and die by the sword. Nobody is immune to being on the receiving end of a big hit. What makes some players so good is that they can showcase their amazing puck skills, without putting themselves at a greater risk by putting their heads down, and lowering their chances of getting hit like that.

Now obviously, an elbow, a forearm, a fist to the head should be penalized. Those kind of hits have always been dirty, and it should not change. But the hit that has always been clean is keeping that arm tucked in, and using the shoulder. 

It is not anyone else's fault if a player puts himself in a vulnerable spot. Nobody has the time to make the decision to stop the hit when a player puts his head down. It is impossible to expect these hits to stop, because one player does not know the actions and thoughts of another. How could Doug Weight have known what Sutter thought, and saw. Weight has never been a dirty player, and in that instance, he was lining up a hit in order to stop the other team from advancing with the puck, simple as that.

Obviously, there has yet to be action taken with the NHL regarding this matter, and everyone is exploring ways in which the game could grow, and gain popularity. Everyone wants to make some sort of change, but hits to to head do not need to be one of them.

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