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"We had sort of a cursory discussion about it today. In March we'll have a real good discussion to see if there is anything we can tweak to protect the players." - Washington Capitals' gm George McPhee
General managers from the 30 NHL franchises met in Toronto this week for their semi-annual wine’n’dine, growl’n’prowl, nit’n’pick gabfest. A variety of topics were tossed on the table, including penalties for hits to the head, the instigator rule, eliminating the trapezoid area behind the net, the H1N1 virus and deciding home field advantage during the World Series. Opps…sorry…that’s the other group of 30 gm’s who are convening this week in Chicago. Unlike their on-ice counterparts, they usually accomplish something at their fete-a tete.
Calgary gm Darryl Sutter’s name may have come up in the proceedings, as his fellow talent tooters gently slipped a sarcastic barb in his direction or gave him a gentle jab in the arm. Probably on the same well-protected limb that received a different sort of needle and elicited so much controversy last week.
The name of Flames forward Curtis Glencross was muttered when the assembled throng got down to the real business of these meetings - dealing with the alarming influx of head shots that have aroused so much media attention this season. Glencross is the latest villain to be disciplined for his lack of discipline.
During Saturday’s nights match against the NY Rangers, he changed lanes without signaling and ploughed head-long into Rangers’ forward Chris Drury, sending the Broadway Blues’ captain cascading to the ice like a wet noodle. No penalty was called on the play – which in itself should be the focus of a judicial review – but the long arm of the NHL law grabbed Glencross and sat him down for a three-game vacation.
Toronto Maple Leafs’ gm Brian Burke remains opposed to legislating an automatic penalty for any hit to the head. “I have not changed my view on an automatic penalty, I have no appetite for that”, Burke reiterated.
Former gm and current TV talking head Mike Milbury was even more brutally succinct. “Some guy’s going to die every day. If you don’t want to get hurt, don’t play the game.” This from a guy who – as a member of the Boston Bruins - once climbed into the stands to trade body blows and head shots with a fan that dared question his manhood.
Those comments must be bitter stings to the families of Don Sanderson and 16-year-old junior player Ben Fanelli. Sanderson was the senior league player who died last year after striking his head on the ice during a fight, while Fanelli was only recently released from an Ontario hospital after a head hit fractured his skull.
At these meetings, some progress was made and at least an atmosphere for change was accepted. Early reports indicate that when the gm's reconvene in March, real action will occur. For now, and the rest of this current campaign, it's business as usual.
Much was mentioned, little was done. Promises made are hardly decisions delivered.
In all this head shot huddling, it’s ironic that no one cared to mention the name of Bill Masterton. On this Remembrance Day, we should remember the only player to die on the NHL battlefield, after hitting his head on the ice during a game on January 13, 1968.
One thing that probably won’t be mentioned at the meetings concluding today in Toronto is the latest edition of Sports Illustrated magazine. The NHL season is now in its second full month and a number of interesting and intriguing stories are being scripted, yet the sport of ice hockey was mentioned only once in the entire copy – and that was in a brief review of a new book about Jacques Plante. Plenty of stories on archery, bobsledding and NASCAR, though.
Even the N1N1 controversy that was front-page news in every major newspaper in Canada and solid copy in many US dailies wasn’t enough to pique their interest. Has the sport lost that much of its interest and luster?
Perhaps the gm’s should yap about that.
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