NHL: Can the League Put a Price on Improving Player Safety?

The NHL needs to respond to the latest string of concussions that has sidelined star players such as Sidney Crosby and Claude Giroux. There is a huge diference between players being sidelined by injuries from fighting and just overall play in general.

Hockey by all means was not meant to be a soft sport but there should not be multitudes of players that are sidelined. Players shouldn’t drop like flies over the course of a few days. In the course of a few days, Jeff Skinner, Milan Michalek, Sidney Crosby, and Claude Giroux were put on the shelf indefinitely. 

Here is the list of top players who have had concussions recently and their current status.

• Sidney Crosby—Injured Reserve
• Claude Giroux —Injured Reserve; Improving
• Kris Letang—Injured Reserve
• Andy McDonald—Injured Reserve
• Milan Michalek —Injured Reserve
• Peter Mueller—Injured Reserve
• Chris Pronger—Will miss the rest of 2011-12 season.
• David Perron —Returned to Action
• Joni Pitkanen—Injured Reserve
• Mike Richards—Injured Reserve
• Marc Savard —Injured Reserve
• Jeff Skiner—Injured Reserve
• Marc Staal—Injured Reserve; Close to being cleared for contact

Solutions that have been suggested to help reduce the amount of concussions that occur in hockey include lighter equipment, the introduction of a hybrid icing that would eliminate races behind the net and stronger helmets. These ideas are all logical and are conventional.

The bigger and faster style of the game and type of padding that players wear only makes the athletes gliding pinballs with tungsten like armor when you factor the speed and impact when contract is made.

Playmaker legend extraordinaire Mark Messier was recently on Boomer and Carton, a New York based morning talk radio show, and explained about how the league hasn't done enough to make helmets safe for the current style of play.

These ideas have been widely talked about and make sense, However sometimes though it is necessary to think outside the box. 

One idea that could help to solve the problem that faces the NHL currently is one that is not easy by any means. This solution would be increasing the regulation ice surface. Before you traditionalists and conservatives throw up your arms, consider this.

Increasing the ice surface slightly would not only give players an extra second or two to make a decision with the but it would open the game up dramatically. The game is a lot faster today with a larger neutral zone that was established with the elimination of the two line pass.

Wouldn't the next logical step be to increase the sufrace of play for the players?  Logic however is not an idea that is always accepted due to financial costs.

The current NHL regulation ice surface is 200 feet long by 85 feet wide. This regulation surface is smaller than the regulation IIHF rink which is wider by 15 feet. This 200 feet long  by 100 feet wide rink has been played on by many of the league’s top European players and has developed a unique style of hockey.

Anyone who has watched the Olympics or any other international tournament can admit that the game seems to flow better.  With more open space their is less grinding along the boards, more passing and open scoring.

Just because there has been a recent string of concussions does not mean the physical and grinding element should be eliminated. That is exactly what could happen if NHL games were played on international sized rinks.

Last weekend during the New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues telecast, John Davidson, St. Louis Blues President of Hockey Operations, commented on the string of concussions that has afflicted the league. Davidson has felt the effects of this first hand as Blues forward David Perron has just recently returned to the lineup.

He explained that the best way to cut down a string of concussions would be to expand the regulation ice surface. He suggested that the NHL should increase the width of the ice surface by only five feet. Davidson explained that he was scouting prospects in Finland and the rink they played the tryouts on was only five feet wider than an NHL regulation rink.

Davidson went on to explain that he felt that this extra five feet would allow for as a slight increase in decision making and less split second hits would occur. 

Players are also getting bigger and faster than in previous years. This trend of player growth and strength can be looked at as a correlating factor as to why there are more concussions now then  there were 10 to 20 years ago. This is a reason why the ice surface needs to be expanded but current arena layouts may pose a problem. 

The NHL has 30 teams and most of the arenas in the league are more than 10- to 20-years-old. Recently, new arenas like Consol Energy Arena, the Nationwide Arena, and the Jobing.com Arena have built to accommodate their respective franchises.

In order to increase the NHL regulation ice surface by five feet, a few hundred to a few thousands seats would need to be removed to accommodate this change. Seats up on the glass would be pushed back and the current seating dynamic would be changed as fans know it.

This solution then becomes a money game. Off the bat, construction costs of expanding the ice, replacing the boards and removing seats can add up in a rapid fashion.

Secondly, with less seats in an arena, game day revenue could drop significantly due to less seats or teams could increase the price of tickets which in turn would drive some loyal fans away. No matter how you slice the idea of expanding the ice surface, the end result becomes a huge topic for debate.

However, will the NHL put a price on player safety? This is a solution that would make a lot of sense in theory and if put into practice it has many benefits.

In addition to giving players more room to make decisions in which they can be more protected, the increased time allows players to scan the ice for open players which could increase scoring.

The league saw a dramatic increase in scoring after the two line pass was abolished after the lockout. The addition of the shootout has also made the game more entertaining but it comes into play after a tie game that remains tied after overtime.

In essence this kills two birds with one stone. Increasing player safety and making the game more offensively exciting is a win-win proposition.

The NHL will be entering CBA talks with the NHLPA very soon as the current agreement will terminate at the season’s end. With this latest string of concussions, player safety should be a major part of the new CBA. Rules may continue to be updated and changes to the game will be debated but this is definitely something that should be considered.

The league will also have general manager meetings in a few weeks so this can continue to be a hot topic issue.

One reason that fans love hockey is because it is a very entertaining sport that has a lot of high octane action. Hockey starts to become less fun when you show up to the rink and see your favorite team’s lineup supplemented by minor leaguers and prospects.

Evgeni Malkin and Marc Andre Fleury are very talented players but the fans come to see Sidney Crosby play. Crosby is a superstar and a face of the NHL that draws a lot of fans. The longer players like Crosby that are sidelined, the  longer the league experiences a dip in star power and recognition. 

The NHL is now in the spotlight more than ever before and it isn’t for the greatest of reasons. After one of the most tragic summers in recent memory in the hockey world, this recent string on concussion only gives the league a black eye. The New York Times did an amazing job chronicling the life, times and death of Derek Boogaard and how the brain reacts to concussions and repeated brain trauma.

For a league that was one of the first to introduce a baseline concussion testing protocol for in game head injuries, the NHL can once again take the spotlight by making the necessary changes to protect the players and the sport fans love. This may not be the most realistic idea but it is something to consider.

What if Wayne Simmonds had extra room where he could have skated around Giroux? What if players could have an extra half to full second to make a play? These changes seem monumental but when you break it down, it makes sense for the betterment of the league.

Some individuals are always apprehensive to change but when all is said and done, fans will continue to patronize a sport in which it’s players are healthy and protected not a sport that fails to take action. This may not be the easiest solution but some of the most important and necessary decisions made in world history were by no means simple and easy. 

For more information on ice surface sizes and regulations, click here.

Tom Urtz is an NHL Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.