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No body checks in hockey
- Thread starter E.D.S.
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Interesting report. I recently watched the film Concussion (2015 – Will Smith) which is based on a true story. It’s about a Nigerian pathologist who discovers a type of brain damage which is well known now as Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). As things stand it can only be proven after death by researching the brain of the ‘victim’. I believe the great Bob Propert was diagnosed as having this following his early death several years ago. He is one of a few high profile hockey players to have been reported as having CET.
The discovery of CET has put huge pressure on contact sports. Oddly enough, it seems the high impact team sports are taking a lot of the heat, yet the one to one martial arts, boxing, UFC, less so (or at least that’s how it comes across to me). Either way, it brings about some serious debate about how hockey should be played in the future. The stronger penalties for hits to the head is a good start. Not sure if the calls to remove the fighting is counter-intuitive in as much you could see an increase in bad hits (including to the head) as a huge amount of accountability is removed from the game.
The sport is getting faster and stronger. There are no easy answers but when legal action comes into play, you will definitely see a culture shift in how the game will be played in years to come. We already are.
The discovery of CET has put huge pressure on contact sports. Oddly enough, it seems the high impact team sports are taking a lot of the heat, yet the one to one martial arts, boxing, UFC, less so (or at least that’s how it comes across to me). Either way, it brings about some serious debate about how hockey should be played in the future. The stronger penalties for hits to the head is a good start. Not sure if the calls to remove the fighting is counter-intuitive in as much you could see an increase in bad hits (including to the head) as a huge amount of accountability is removed from the game.
The sport is getting faster and stronger. There are no easy answers but when legal action comes into play, you will definitely see a culture shift in how the game will be played in years to come. We already are.
It will be an interesting debate in the years to come. Where I think there's no debate is that these contact sports contribute to CTE. Were the problems come in is the owners , league commissioners and presidents deny any linkage between their sports and CTE. We've already seen the former NFL players win their lawsuit over the league and there's a current lawsuit with the former players of the NHL and the league and that will be interesting to follow in the coming months and years. In hockey the players of today are much bigger than in the past and there's are a couple of reason's why it's a faster game. I don't believe that the players individually are faster but because of 4 line hockey and shorter shifts,so the game itself is faster. Fighting is also an interesting debate but it is the great equalizer in hockey. Whether people like it or not, it keeps the players honest. I don't think you can take fighting out of hockey, even if the rules dictate it but I agree with you, there will be more and more cheap shots. At this point, the leagues haven't taken it out for a reason so hopefully it will be there for awhile yet . I'm sure other sports like the ones you suggest will at some point follow suit in taking the heat. It only take a couple of ex athletes from those sports to come forward and then it's game on. All in all , the next few years should be very interesting in following this very contentious issue with many sports, amateur and professional .
Bit of a touchy subject and of course nobody wants to see former athletes like that, but let's be honest if you are going to play a hard, fast, physical game like ice hockey it comes with the territory. I am sure they were happy when picking up their multi million $ contracts.
A very good point was made in Ice Guardians where players now feel invincible due to the size of their shoulder pads so will happily steam into someone at speed, but many a year ago the players wouldn't even bother as the lack of padding hurt them. That is something that they may need to look at, but you can never take checking out of the game.
A very good point was made in Ice Guardians where players now feel invincible due to the size of their shoulder pads so will happily steam into someone at speed, but many a year ago the players wouldn't even bother as the lack of padding hurt them. That is something that they may need to look at, but you can never take checking out of the game.