Head Banging

This hit is so similar to the Steve Moore hit on Markus Naslund... Of course the main difference is that after the game, Moore came out and said "this isn't the Ice Capades out there"... and then the league was surprised when bad stuff happened next time.

This is not an excuse for Bertuzzi... the big guy is dumb and had no clue how to react once Moore pussied out of fighting. He deserved his suspension and should be held responsible legally... but come on Moore, you can't come out saying "this isn't the Ice Capades" and then skate away when you get called out for slamming the captain of the team! If Moore was a man, he would have turned around, dropped the gloves and taken his lumps.


But anyways, what can be done about those hits? I mean... it is a completely legal hit... I can't understand how anyone can say Weight was headhunting; the dude was only trying to slam him heavily... Sutter just crotched down, stretched to reach the puck and suddenly his head was the first point of impact for Weight. How can you outlaw that?

If the player lowers his head, there is little the guy skating full speed can do!

Should you outlaw results or intent? Headhunting should definitely be outlawed but hits like that were not headhunting, they were unintentional head hits. Should you suspend the player because the hit was a head hit regardless of what happens? That makes little sense.


It reminds of this below hit from Canucks Mark Rypien on Oiler D Mathieu Roy.

Skip to 0:35 to see the hit.


Roy made this a hit from behind. He saw Rypien come in, he saw that he was going to be slammed into the boards so he turned around, turned his back to Rypien at the last second... There is no way Rypien can avoid him by then! There is no way he knows Roy will suddenly decides to turn around once he gets the puck! Its a chase to the puck.


The size and speed of the players today makes every play dangerous... but outlawing big hits is not the way to resolve the issue.

Someone brighter than me will need to take that issue up; I don't see any solution except accept those hits as part of the game and make sure players are constantly on their guards and anticipating those hits.