Concussion Problem? What Concussion Problem?

The NHL maintains its stoic front on brutal hockey injuries.

In an editorial Tuesday, the Montreal Gazette wonders what is taking the NHL so long to institute rules to protect players from concussions. “The league claims to be in the process of collecting information, but there is enough information currently in the public domain for action to be taken,” the paper’s editors argue. Studies show that only 25 per cent of the 75 players who are concussed each year are actually carrying the puck when they get leveled, meaning “the majority of injured players had no reason to expect, or prepare for, a hit.” As long as the NHL doesn’t take action, its athletes will continue to be sitting ducks.

The Gazette editors were pretty steamed Tuesday, so imagine how they feel today. Hours after their editorial ran, one of their hometown Canadiens, 22-year-old Max Pacioretty, suffered a major concussion and a fractured vertebra after a violent hit from the Boston Bruins’ Zdeno Chara. Pacioretty’s career may well be over.

Reacting to that truly scary injury, the National Post’s Scott Stinson points out the fundamental flaw with current NHL rules that only punish headshots if the offending player had the intent to injure. “[I]t is ridiculous for the league to be in the business of trying to determine a player’s intent when he hits someone recklessly,” writes Stinson. “Was Chara trying to do that to Pacioretty? … I have no idea. No one does, other than Chara, and he’s certainly not stupid enough to say that, yes, he did mean to almost kill that guy.” The only solution in Stinson’s opinion is mandatory suspensions for headshots, intentional or not. This is stance the league has on high-sticks. It doesn’t matter if you intend to hit someone in the face with your stick, it’s an automatic penalty. The difference is that high-sticks rarely result in career-ending injuries.

The Newsroom just got word that the NHL has decided Chara will receive no discipline for the Pacioretty injury. Zero, zilch, nada. We wonder if it’s any consolation to Pacioretty to learn that the hit that may have ended his career was unintentional.