Gregg Krupa The Detroit News Published 6:12 AM EST Nov 10, 2018 Detroit — Going into play Friday, the last two suspensions in the NHL have been for checks to the head. Evaluating the efficacy of each sanction continues, while general managers discuss changing the rule. As sports continue to try to protect athletes amid mounting evidence that even casual, repeated contact can lead to dire long-term consequences for the brain, establishing proper rules and uniformly enforcing them has proven difficult. “I think that whoever sits in the chair that George Parros sits in is going to be scrutinized and always has been since they created it, and will continue to,” Jeff Blashill said Friday, referring to the head of NHL Department of Player Safety. “I think there is a wide variety of opinions on how it probably should be called, from the people who are giving him direction.” During their annual offseasons meetings, some general managers supported amending Rule 48 to outlaw all hits to the head, including incidental contact. The main portion of the rule currently states, “A hit resulting in contact with an opponent’s head where the head was the main point of contact and such contact to the head was avoidable is not permitted.” Blashill said it would be difficult to retain body-checking and then tell players they could never contact the head. More: Andreas Athanasiou, Frans Nielsen to return for Red Wings vs. Rangers More: Special forces: Red Wings rise in power play, penalty kill More: Work… [Read full story]
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