NHL Ready to Use Common Sense?

Headshots are front and centre once again in the National Hockey League. Recent incidents have spurred the league's general managers to push for a rule change banning hits to the head, and polls seem to show strong fan support for such a change.

And in the wake of Boston’s Marc Savard being knocked out by a hit to the head from Pittsburgh’s Matt Cooke on Sunday, NHL general managers unanimously approved a new penalty at their meetings in Florida.

The new rule which needs to be reviewed by the competition committee and passed by the board of governors before it goes into effect, bans all "lateral, back pressure or blindside" hits where the head "is targeted and/or the principal point of contact."

Cooke’s hit on Savard on March 7, coming on the day the league’s general managers were convening in Florida to discuss headshots, rejuvenated the debate on predatory headshots and led to the GMs drafting a new rule to make such hits illegal and subject to suspension. Cooke did not receive a penalty, never mind a suspension, for the hit since technically he did not break a rule.

But as with any potential new rule, there are several questions that arise, such as how such a rule would be enforced and what type of discipline would be meted out.

In the meantime, the league is trying to railroad through the new rule, but one influential player told the QMI Agency he is not in favour of introducing a change part way through a season, so the league could have a fight on its hands.

The player said the competition committee, composed of five players, has serious reservations. The players need to give their approval for the rule to be enacted.

"I don’t like the idea of changing the rules part way through a season, changing the playing field this close to the playoffs," said the player. "Is everybody going to be able to adjust to this that quickly? We don’t even have all the information yet. I haven’t seen an official draft of the rule and everybody seems to think we’re just going to rubber stamp it. Right now, at this moment, I can’t speak for (the competition committee), but I would say, ‘Wait until next year.’"

The league is working on the language of the legislation and compiling a do’s-and-don’ts video. Changing the rulebook for high-speed contact sport more than 1,000 games into the season is a lot harder than ruling that Sean Avery can’t jump around on the edge of the crease to distract goalies. And a point has been made that a playoff spot could ride on a player that is suspended after the rule change is invoked where the same play was not illegal a few days before.

The league though is hoping to have something concrete for the start of playoffs in three weeks.

"I’d hate to give you a time-line and be out, but I can only say as soon as possible," league Director of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell told the NHL Network.

Campbell appeared on XM radio show "NHL Live" to address some of the possibilities, as word came that the league was looking to institute the rule as soon as possible.

"There are a number of things that you do have to expedite when you do this in-season. I don't anticipate doing anything with a penalty call on the ice right now," Campbell said. "I think that would be a difficult thing to consistently administer at this point in time, but that's not our issue. Our issue probably is making sure that some of the hits that have been experienced can be dealt with from a supplemental discipline aspect. That’s what we’re trying to accomplish at the moment."

The players are asking for a clear outline from the NHL on what would be acceptable and what would not and, by all accounts, the league plans on giving it to them.

Campbell said it's important "that all the key people in the game know...the players, most importantly, the media, the fans, everyone knows it, so there's no grey area here when something might happen again."

Most fans of the game would probably agree that it's not in anyone's interest to see star players sidelined for long periods of time because of a questionable hit.

"When we opened this game up, there was a ying for yang and we had a lot more car crashes. And the car crashes were legal based upon shoulders hitting heads," said Campbell. "But we've got to make an attempt to reduce the concussions and we've been doing that."

Campbell told NHL Home Ice radio Wednesday he couldn’t recall a new rule being implemented in season during his tenure. He said the new rule covering headshots would allow for supplementary discipline, but would not lead to new penalties during the course of a game.

Thursday night’s meeting between the Bruins and the Pittsburgh Penguins, the first since Cooke decimated Savard with a shoulder to the head, will draw the eyes of fans and the league.

Campbell, will be "sitting on the Boston bench" Thursday night, he joked Wednesday. He’ll be here flying the NHL flag and warning all participants of the severe penalties that await any and all potential vigilantes who might want to make Cooke pay for his brutal hit.

No one knows when the NHL will put its new headshot rule into effect, but it can’t come soon enough for some Maple Leafs.

"You have to have a starting point," defenceman Francois Beauchemin urged Wednesday after practice. "Bring that rule in and we’ll see what happens. You can always adjust after that."