Hits to the Head and GM Meeting

I'm sure by now you have all seen the Chara hit on Max Pacioretty, if you're like the many Montreal Canadiens fans out there, you saw the hit and expected a suspension to Chara. Well as you know this did not occur, however, what did happen was the NHL General Managers held a meeting in Florida to discuss what could be done to curb the amount of head injuries that occur in the NHL and subsequently how to handle one when and if it does occur. Personally I'm with the larger percentage of the GMs and the hockey analysts out there that feel this was just a hockey play gone bad. Now, there's no way to know for certain if it was premeditated, but for now, let's presume that NHL players have respect for one another, and that in no way could this hit be seen as intentional. Moving on, since I think there has been way too much coverage of the incident. I'm not saying that it should be forgotten about, I'm saying, focus on Pacioretty getting better, and not what caused his injuries... The GM meetings that recently took place, have made tremendous effort to curb the amount of hits to the head with new standards, that include, revision of equipment, new disciplinary actions such as penalties levied to the player and team. The biggest, and best of the Bettman's 5 point plan, having a Doctor, not the team trainer, examine a player in a quiet area, to best determine if a concussion has been sustained. In my opinion this seems to be one of those, "We should have done this years ago" things. I'm very happy to see that this will be put in place, though if it could have only been implemented mere months ago maybe some of todays top stars wouldn't be out of their respective lineups for immeasurable amounts of time while trying to get better. Baseball fans know that Justin Morneau had been sidelined with a concussion since early July of last year.
These issues seem to be the forefront of hockey these days and though without them taking centre stage changes may not have come, but my question is, why did it need to take so long, why are we just now figuring out how and when to diagnose potential concussions, why only now are physicians diagnosing players?
Here's to the GMs of the NHL and Gary Bettman.

Just putting it out there.

Scott

A full out sprint to the post season

It's coming... The post NHL season, the run for the cup, 16 wins. Currently the post season race is heating up, with both the east and the west conferences being divided by only a few points between 8th and 12th in the west and a matter of 4 points separating 8 and 10th in the east. While 7th is just one point ahead of 8th.
This is by far my favourite time of year, and I know it is Marks as well. What I enjoy most of all is the effort that some teams give this time of year, for them it's win or go home and non of the players want to fast track themselves to the golf course. This year we're seeing something we haven't seen in a long time; teams pulling out wins and going at it full steam ahead all vying for that lucrative 8th spot. As we saw last year 8th isn't always a bad spot, montreal was 8th going into the finals last year and they made it all the way to the eastern conference finals, as well, with the race being so close this year it's pretty much an "anything could happen" year. Keep your eyes on the west though cause the battle for post season positioning is on fire and the games are amazing to watch. For all the leafs fans out there I would say one thing, let's keep it going, we're right where we want to be, yes for now that's on the outside looking in, but the team is starting to play like one, the guys look comfortable with each-other, they know their role and they are playing some inspired hockey. Tell us what you think post a comment, like us on Facebook tell your friends.

Scott

Is The Trade Deadline Over-Hyped?

On Monday, February 28, 2011, the NHL trade deadline came and went and like many deadlines before it, it seemed to be a bit of a let down. The reason I think the deadline seemed to be so dull this year, as it has been many times before, is because that's exactly what it is: a deadline, nothing more. Most of the real trades and moves that were newsworthy happened well in advance of the deadline which, for sports networks across North America, made Deadline Day a bit of a dud. For you statistics nuts out there, take this into consideration: the past 8 Stanley Cup winners have made a combined 10 moves at the trade deadline and believe me, none of them were blockbuster/game-changer moves. For me, the best way to think of the trade deadline is to think of it as someone who goes to watch a NASCAR race just to see someone crash; you want to see something unexpected and extraordinary to break the monotony of the regular season. I'm not a big fan of the trade deadline; I personally think it's over-hyped and I'm glad it's finally over. I'm glad it's over because now we can all focus our attention back to the real action: the Western Conference Playoff Race and for me personally, to see if the Leafs can make it into the Playoffs. If you agree with me, let me know. If you don't agree with me, well, you're wrong, but let me know anyways. Happy Playoff Race everybody!