Hitting the Nail on the Head. . .Sort Of

I know James Duthie fairly well, and have even worked with him on occasion.

But I have no idea about the TSN broadcaster's views on head shots in hockey.

That, needless to say, was one of the strengths of Duthie's intriguing interview with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Monday night.

We got to hear what Bettman had to say on the issue. Not what Duthie thought.

It was very different than the Ron MacLean approach on HNIC, which is to make the sure the world first understands your point-of-view and then force the interviewee to disagree with it while constantly interrupting them and asking slanted "Well, Grapes Says" questions.

Some like one style of interviewing, some like the other. It's a question of taste, I suppose.

But Duthie's questioning of Bettman was particularly well done because it illustrated the political commish, adroitly steering clear of ever actually taking a strong position on an issue of controversy or one on which there is a great deal of disagreement.

No wonder he's lasted so long as NHL boss. Somebody should introduce him to David Braley.

Bettman started by giving a spirited defence of the way in which the league now deals with hits to the head, which is not to deal with them at all but instead label them to be "clean" under the strict terms of the rule book.

He's always sensitive to being called an American trying to redesign Canada's game, so when it comes to certain issues Bettman loves to trot out the "always been part of the game" argument. Forget the fact one of his greatest unilateral calls as commissioner was to force-feed four-on-four overtime upon the league, a scheme that had never been widely used previously but has been a great success.

He can lean towards the innovative. But he can also be the champion of the so-called purist, depending on the winds.

Bettman even employed the silliest argument of all on head shots, that of taller players playing against smaller ones, and cited the challenge that 6-foot-9 Zdeno Chara would face under enhanced head shot legislation.

Never mind that Chara plays all the time against tiny Brian Gionta and doesn't spend the entire game elbowing him in the chops. As long as there's been hockey, there have been taller players and shorter ones, and the taller player has always had to modify his approach.

So after listening to all of this, you would have been under the impression the commissioner was a staunch opponent of doing anything to address the issue of players deliberately cold-cocking opponents by driving their shoulder pads into the opponent's cranium whenever the opportunity arose.

We'll call it the Colby Armstrong approach to hockey. Hit to hurt/injure and then pretend to be all broken up about it afterwards.

No way would this change under his watch, Bettman seemed to make clear.

Well, wondered Duthie quite correctly, what about the Ontario Hockey League's widely praised head checking rule which has been endorsed by GMs, coaches and players alike? Why couldn't the NHL adopt such a rule successfully if it meant reducing concussions and head injuries?

And then Bettman flip-flopped.

Well, he said, don't get me wrong. We might put in a head checking rule. This might be a significant problem with which we must deal as soon as possible.

Which, for the one-thousandth time, put Bettman exactly where he wants to be on any major issue in the game.

Right in the middle, waiting to measure the political winds, preferring not to lead the way.

Comments

[Ron]

It pains me to say it, but I was actually hoping that the CBC would have lost their NHL broadcasting rights to CTV, if only so we didn't have to hear the one-sided retro-rants of McLean and Cherry ever again.
In the world of 'Ron & Don', Chris Neil's hit on Chris Drury was a 'good clean hit' by a 'good Canadian boy' who loves dogs and small children. Of course when it comes to head shots, there's never any thought given to players like Keith Primeau or Rob DiMaio who had their careers ended by head shots. No...that would be providing a fair and even account of the issue.
Having grown up in the hockey culture, I realized long ago that they are the most conservative people on the planet. And Ron & Don epitomize that conservative ethos to a T. It would be nice if, just once, they gave some voice to the other side of the argument.

[mark]

Seems to me Mr. Bettman is being prudent by not jumping to outlaw clean hits. What he said was that there is a grey area here that needs to be sorted out before a rule can be put in place. I also do not understand your spin on Armstrong's hit. The player carrying the puck was wheeling around the net with his head down. What would you have Mr. Armstrong do? Let him skate by untouched. I saw the play, I did not see Armstrong going out of his way to hit the opposing players head; in fact it would have been almost impossible for him to avoid his head the way the play unfolded. The other point your slanted blog fails to mention is that Bettman and the league are looking at equipment changes. This was picked up by the TSN panel, which also agreed with Bettman that you cannot have a knee jerk reaction to this or you will take one of the most intriguing aspects completely out of the game; the art of delivering a clean, well timed hit. But of course, you would never subscibe to this because these points are both made by your media foil Mr. Donald Cherry. You are the ying to his yang, and I find you both arrogant in your contempt for the others point of view.

[Bob Holden]

I thought that the passing of Darryl Stingley might have triggered some response towards the banning of headshots in hockey. In terms of purists, it wasn't so many decades ago that hockey helmets and goalie masks were uncommon, but I see vey little demand for a return to that scenario.

For all the notoriety the Bertuzzi incident and suspension and legal issues have evolved, on a more human scale, Markus Naslund has never been the same player since he was knocked senseless by the Moores' hit that set off that thuggery.

[scott]

Damien
I am pretty much tired of everybody all up in arms about the headshots in the NHL now. If you watch the guys that are unfortunately being injured are always shorter in height. We have been talking about the speed and size of NHL players for a few years now but its forgoten when it comes to the "headshots" When a player is foot taller than you and skates at that speed Iam sorry the elbow/shoulder of the taller player will hit you in the chin or head, you cannot stop it unless you only allow side by side shoulder to shoulder body contact. Cant we all wait for the day with no fighting or body contact in hockey!! Sounds fun!

[Ted Lindsay]

The last time I checked, no pun intended the term was 'bodycheck.' It has been apparent for a long time that with the advent of this body armour they call equipment the body check has evolved into an opportunity for players to imapct the only unprotected part of the body; the head. The last three high exposure head checks (Neil, Janssen and Armstrong) would have been fine if the players had settled for a good old fashioned mutually respecting shoulder to shoulder body check. As long as the lack of respect is tolerated and Gary Bettman and the NHL keep their heads in the sand this type of behavior will continue. But God forbid a player holds his stick parallel to the ice while trying to check an opposing player...Arms up whistles blow, penalize the violator because this type of play is not acceptable. Kudos to David Branch for having the vision and courage to exact change.

[Flam Flim]

Tell us something we don't know about Gary Bettman already Damien.

If you ask me, Gary needs one of those 'always been apart of the game' hits to head himself. It might clear up the fogginess of his innocuous opinions.

[Steve Barnett]

Ted Lindsay has it right. The players must take some responsibility for the state of the game right now. Respect is almost gone among players. But the fact remains that hockey is a contact sport and as such if you choose to come wheeling around the net for a stuff in with your head down, Well guess what, your gonna get creamed. And you probably deserve it. If you want to watch shinny Damien go down to the local arena and check it out. It was like years ago when face masks where made mandatory for kids hockey. For a few years after we saw kids who did not think twice about smaking another kid in the face or head with thier stick. When you change one part of the game you are going to affect another. So here's a thought, Keep your head up.Which is probably the oldest rule in hockey and leave the game alone.

[Roger]

Jason Spezza had it right when he said (and I paraphrase) “I guess the league is waiting for someone like Crosby to get hit in the head before it does something about this”.

When one of the league’s better player says this, the NHL should wake up. No one wants to take hitting out of hockey. Heck I even enjoy the odd spontaneous fight but headshots must be stopped. If football players can distinguish between a hit and a headshot surely a hockey player can.

[Joe Jacobs]

Hey Damien,

While I totally agree with you about the non-logic or sense of allowing the head to be a legitimate target for hitting in the NHL, it seems clear to me that the strategy for changing this situation needs to re-examined.

As you well know, both in the NHL and in society at large, the 'code' exists. There is no question in my mind that hockey at the highest levels can be both exciting and reasonably safe for the participants. But trying to convince someone like Don Cherry or his psychopants that this is reasonable is, well, as crazy as they are.

Cherry will continue to link hockey to the Canadian military and somehow present an imagine of bravery as one where men are prepared to hurt or be hurt. The brain, the housing for the head, doesn't really matter all that much. Brawn and toughness. That's what this macho crap is all about.

So what to do?

My only suggestion would be to work with those people who support a different view, particularly doctors, nurses, etc. There needs to be a definitive book written about hockey and violence, both it's cultural history but also looking at the later lives of men who either fought or were injured.
I know a great hockey playing doctor who would be great to collaborate with. And he's a bit of a celeb himself.

I just don't see much value anymore in trying to convince those who strategically support a different agenda.

joe

[Owen]

Damien, maybe the reason why James Duthie's inteview was so good is because he probably considers himself a professional. Note that he addressed Bettman as Mr.Bettman, not "Gary" as Mclean does ALL THE TIME. I once asked Gord Miller of TSN why he addressed Bettman as "Gary" and his reply was "well that is what Bettman wants"....well, excuse me, when does Bettman or anyone tell a professional journalist how to address him! Ever hear a journalist address P.M Harper as " Stephen" or Dion as " Stephane"

Owen

[Wood]

Zero tolerance on interference has led to more cheap-shots.

Forecheckers are now free to rush in and nail the poor D man foolish enough to retrieve the puck. And a 4th line forward isn't going to risk losing his job by thinking "respect for others" as he legally crunches someone's head.

In the old NHL the D partners looked after one another by running a block on incoming forecheckers. Now those D partners are reduced to help carrying the stretcher.

But we don't need an NHL think-tank to figure it out. The refs literally have the answer in-hand.

If refs were to call the cheapshots - charging, boarding, slew foots, intent to injure - I think we'd all tolerate a few more powerplays for the dignity of the league.

So why don't the ref's call the obvious?

Bettman.

Delay of Game.