Off Topic Red Line or No Red Line?

[emwags618]

There has been such a big concern with the ammount of concussions that have been occurring recently in the NHL.

One thing that has been thrown out there alot while dicussing the concussion issue is weather to put the red line back in. By putting the red line back in would be to slow the game down, and by doing so will reduce the amont of concussions.

I just want to hear what other people have to say about the red line debate, and what needs to be done, if anything, to reduce the concussion rates.

[flyerrod]

I don't think the red line would have much impact on the concussions but it would slow up play. I really like the way that they can stretch the ice with the long passes and it does make the game more exciting.

[doom88]

And bring back the NJ trap (and give TB a leg up) with it? No. No thank you. Players just need to be more respectful when hitting. I'd rather see the issue addressed with better engineered helmets and revised pads/body armor requirements. Maybe keep pads the same overall thickness, but move the hard layer into a 'sandwich' design between two layers of soft padding?

[The Quigster]

The league has to get equitable when dispensing punishment,10 game minimum would get a lot of attention.This should be applied to all teams not just the Flyers! Shelley's last suspension was total BS by Shannahan,who would be better suited as a Zamboni operator than jailer. Campbell's bitch!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hf101]

For now I rather the league continue with the enforcement of illegal hits with suspensions, and I agree with doom 88, let the league continue to develop equipment that will better protect against concussions. Giroux will be one of several players testing out a better, improved padded helmet.

[HockeyFan]

Out of all the changes they made post-CBA, this was the one I was most in favor of, and I think I still am. There is also talk of no-touch icing, and as a fan that also something I don't want to watch... I agree they need to make punishments more standard.

[The Quigster]

The NHL doesn't seem to have as a number #1 priorty the safety of the players.Equipment development shouldn't be limited to a few companies.One more concussion is too many! I believe the NFL,a few years back,even got the NASA involved in helmet development,anybody who has ideas should be considered. Ed Snider and Comcast showed the NHL how to get TV money via acquisition of NBC.It time for the NHL old boys to get with the program,if they want to be a real professional sports contender,and put the players first! Brendan Shanahan is a prime example of the buddy system,he is part of the problem. The NHL is shooting itself in the foot by having non-independent management (old hockey players) making decisions at all levels.These guys are all way backers and me firsters! Time to join the 21st century!!!!!

[ruxpin]

Interesting topic. Keep it the way it is. I suppose I haven't seen a large enough sampling, but I don't recall seeing many concussions that had anything whatsoever to do with stretch passes or a lack of a red line. I see a lot of hits from blind sides in the high slot or elsewhere in one of the defensive zones. There are some in the neutral zone, but again, I don't think very many have anything to do with the lack of a red line.

Doom88 and others are correct about better helmets, etc., but I think as they learn more they'll realize this is about the neck and not specifically the head. (obviously, the resulting concussion is in the head, but I'm betting they find that the root cause is from the neck/spinal cord). They need to figure out a way to support the neck better, and I'm not sure how they do that and not restrict peripheral vision (which may actually end up causing more injury.

[flyercanuck]

Get rid of the armor. People get over elbow injuries and shoulder injuries a lot better than head injuries. Go back to "padding' instead of medeival suits of armor. I really don't get what the hold up is.

[Podein25]

Get rid of the armor. People get over elbow injuries and shoulder injuries a lot better than head injuries. Go back to "padding' instead of medeival suits of armor. I really don't get what the hold up is.

It was my impression that there has already been a move away from that type of equipment, at the pro level at least.

[emwags618]

Those are alot of great points. Personally, I think that putting in the red line would have no affect on the concussion issue what so ever. It would just slow down the game. Now a days players are faster, bigger, and stronger, and there's no avoiding that.

Most of the concussions come from hits. But I deffinately think there should be stronger enforced rules on hitting and the league should review all even slighty contorversial hits in depth, whether the player got injured or not.

[flyercanuck]

Give Dave Branch Shanahans job. That'll get rid of headshots in a week.

[The Quigster]

Comparitively speaking the NFL is a lot more physical than the NHL.The NFL has better,more modern,practical protective equipment and much lower incidents of concussions.The NHL like NBA has a much more arbitrary officiating groups(Tim Donaghay come to mind) with less attention paid to mistakes(Leon Stickel). The NFL has cameras very stragegically placed,so that if a bad call is made,the whole world knows about it,a review system,plenty of officials on the field,etc.What happened to Sid Crosby, Lindros,etc,never would have happened If the NHL was a responsible,professional organization,instead of the "sh!t House Rats" that are currently at the wheel! Try the 21st century,you'll like it!!!!!!!

[flyercanuck]

@

Then again, if an NHL game was made up of 6 minutes of actual play, like the NFL, there'd be a lot less concussions. Also hockey is played at a lot higher speed. Crash a car into a wall at 15 mph, crash the same car into a wall at 30 mph. Which results in the most damage?

And NFL refs have blown every bit as many calls as any other sports.

[doom88]

@

Then again, if an NHL game was made up of 6 minutes of actual play, like the NFL, there'd be a lot less concussions. Also hockey is played at a lot higher speed. Crash a car into a wall at 15 mph, crash the same car into a wall at 30 mph. Which results in the most damage?

And NFL refs have blown every bit as many calls as any other sports.

Excellent post, took the same points I wanted to make.

[Hexy27]

I think if you lessened the padding and got rid of the instigator rule then you would see fewer headshots/concussions. Right now the consequences of hitting someone in the head (or just plain hard) are not high enough. If you had less padding then someone would think 2 or 3 times before making that crushing hit. Also if that same someone had to face that other team's enforcer he would think yet again.

From a league standpoint they need to be more consistent in calling penalties or suspensions. I hate the "superstars get the calls" mentality.

[orange_crush]

I love physical hockey but something drastic needs to be done or there won't be any players left... so I say yes put the red line back in

I agree with canucker also , remove the shoulder pads, ect..

[Phlyer1]

Concussions have been in the NHL for as long as there has been an NHL. Modern medicine has put it in the limelight. Many times players played with concussons for fear of losing there job if they did not.

With the testing today they can no longer do that. In earlier cases the player was told play through it. Suck it up all the cliches that go with playing hurt.

So have concussions increased or has the reporting of them increased.

I once saw a report on the NFL on 60 minutes and they had players wearing special devices and it was revealed that when two players hit each other it was equivelant to a slight concussion.

Players in all sports are bigger and faster and that I think also contributes to more concussions.

Get tougher on head shots and maybe a fitting punishment would be the hitter stays out as long as the hittee.

Edited January 30, 2012 by Phlyer1

[bryanc]

Interesting topic. Keep it the way it is. I suppose I haven't seen a large enough sampling, but I don't recall seeing many concussions that had anything whatsoever to do with stretch passes or a lack of a red line. I see a lot of hits from blind sides in the high slot or elsewhere in one of the defensive zones. There are some in the neutral zone, but again, I don't think very many have anything to do with the lack of a red line.

Doom88 and others are correct about better helmets, etc., but I think as they learn more they'll realize this is about the neck and not specifically the head. (obviously, the resulting concussion is in the head, but I'm betting they find that the root cause is from the neck/spinal cord). They need to figure out a way to support the neck better, and I'm not sure how they do that and not restrict peripheral vision (which may actually end up causing more injury.

Your post summed up exactly what I was thinking. How many concussions would a red line remove? Until I see some form of study performed that shows the number of concussions cause in the neutral zone, and then draw some conclusions on the number that might be removed by enforcing a 2-line pass rule again, then I could not support the rule.

Otherwise, they would just be guessing that it could fix the issue.