Dust Patrik Laine around the tackle that led to the injury has barely had time to settle down, when the NHL is bubbling again. of Calgary Rasmus Andersson tackled Laine a couple of weeks ago at the end of a fast rush, directly in the head after the match was practically over.
Andersson received a four-game suspension from the NHL. Laine has not returned to real work after the attack.
It rained again on Tuesday.
Boston’s tough defender Charlie McAvoy was tackled from the dead corner by Florida’s Swedish defender Oliver Ekman-Larsson in an outrageous way straight to the head. The tackle is the worst single attempt to injure an opponent this season.
McAvoy came into the situation from the dead corner and tackled a player who wasn’t even in contact with the puck. The upward movement and the extension of the elbow emphasized the brutality of the act.
And it wasn’t the first time McAvoy was down in the third period. Already in the opening set, he was tackled by the Florida attacker Carter Verhaeghea also to the head.
The tackles created an immediate uproar among the sports crowd. Even former players took a strong stand on the players’ and NHL’s attitude toward head injuries.
A defenseman who played 830 NHL games and won three Stanley Cups in his career Aaron Ward aligned strongly in X on the subject.
– How are we still at this stage, Ward began.
– Many of us who have finished our careers are afraid of CTE, which awaits us in the coming decades. Maybe we didn’t know enough back in the day, but today’s players should know better. Better than this, Ward, who attached a photo of McAvoy’s tackle to his message, continued.
CTE is a chronic traumatic encephalopathy (brain disease) believed to result from repeated concussions. The disease causes, among other things, memory problems and depression. CTE has been found in the brains of several deceased NHL players.
The NHL has repeatedly denied a link between head injuries and CTE.
Will there be a cycle?
Tuesday’s Taklaus once again sparked a discussion about the NHL’s attitude to completely intentional attempts to harm. Usually, suspensions have been in the category of two matches. Andersson’s four games were already so tough by NHL standards that the players’ association intervened and applied for a commissioner From Gary Bettman lowering the sentence.
The application was rejected.
All the same, two outrageous attempts at injury within a short period of time is too much even for the NHL, which takes a superficial approach to players’ health issues.
– That is a hellish situation. Now we should quickly find ways and means so that it doesn’t get out of hand. It is clear that when you are tackled hard and hurt, it arouses anger in the tackled player’s team. A cycle is easily created, ‘s ice hockey expert Ismo Lehkonen says.
Seen Tackles also put a special light on the players’ repeated talk about never trying to hurt the opponent. There is a lot of nice talk about respect between players, but actions speak louder.
– Yes, damage is done there on purpose. Jacks should understand that a person only has one head. You shouldn’t go into that game of being pulled straight to the head. That’s what common sense says, Lehkonen says.
What kind of sanction should be given?
In many places, it has been asked why the NHL does not punish attempts to injure more severely. Money matters, as they say in the song. The club managers who own the NHL have no interest in long suspensions. Players are clubs’ most important sales item, and business does not run if players sit out long suspensions.
However, a common consensus seems to prevail around the fact that the punishment should be stricter. But how much?
In McAvoy’s case, the moukari would probably swing big. The defender tackled two Florida players in the head, and there is also some history below. In winter 2019, the American pack got four games for a rough tackle on a Columbus player’s head.
How many of these should you get? Eight games? Is five too many?
– Eight gods is a lot, says Lehkonen.
– Whether five is too many, I can’t say. Sanctions for intentional hits should be noticeable, but you have to think very carefully about how much.
Worked in Winnipeg and Chicago during his coaching career Alpo Suhonen takes a more strict approach to abuse.
– It seems that these things go in stages. It feels like every generation has to go through a phase like this, where these outrageous things happen. It is clear, however, that the ethical side of the game will not change as long as the punishments are this ridiculous. It offers an opportunity. The NHL has a century-long history with violence, so the attitude is what it is.
– In ice hockey, injuries also happen, but at least ten games should be given for such cases. For example, about Laine’s situation. Money should also be even more strongly involved immediately in the punishments.
Lehkonen believes that tougher sanctions would also create momentum at the coaching and club management level.
– It’s damn sad when a defender of McAvoy’s caliber is gone for a long time. That’s half an hour of winning hockey per game. It makes coaches think. If you look at Andersson’s four game suspension, it has had a big impact on Calgary’s game.
Players have knowledge and understanding
Let’s go back to Aaron Ward’s previously mentioned post on X.
Are the attempts to injure McAvoy and Andersson more aggravating acts because today’s players have significantly better knowledge and understanding of the consequences of hits to the head than previous generations?
– Of course it’s more burdensome. The NHL, on the other hand, shrugs its shoulders at these, because the worst brain damage doesn’t show up until much later. You don’t see them now, only sometime after your playing career, Suhonen states.
– Then it will only become aggravating if the league could give judgments that are felt, says Lehkonen.