C/L I have been a long time contributor to a hockey forum and one of the most common complaints from the guys who consider themselves "purists" is about the wussification of the sport. No more bench-clearing brawls. Few fights. Players getting suspended for big hits, etc. So I certainly see where you are coming from. I don't pay much attention to football but it seems to me that there are penalty flags on every other play which makes the refs more important than the players. Much like the NFL the NHL is facing a lawsuit about the dangers of head injuries and the league's complicity in covering up the potential damage. Much like the NFL they are going to have to settle. They can't risk going to trial.
Still, in a personal mea culpa, when I was coaching freshman and JV hockey in the 90's I would constantly tell my players to "finish your check." That means, in hockey parlance, that when a player is coming in on you and dumps the puck to a winger that the defender does not let him go and chase the puck. Finish your check means "hit the guy and don't let him go around you cleanly and possibly get a return pass to break in on your goalie. Doing so, and my son was a defenseman so he did this all the time, frequently involved crunching someone into the boards. Were I coaching now I'd keep my mouth shut and hope my goalies were good at stopping 2 on 1's.
What they have learned about concussions and CTE should be enough to scare a lot of parents out of letting their kids play contact sports. You don't have this issue in baseball and basketball. For the record in 2015 the US Soccer federation banned "heading" for children under 10. Apparently it is okay if kids over ten suffer brain damage!
Still, in a personal mea culpa, when I was coaching freshman and JV hockey in the 90's I would constantly tell my players to "finish your check." That means, in hockey parlance, that when a player is coming in on you and dumps the puck to a winger that the defender does not let him go and chase the puck. Finish your check means "hit the guy and don't let him go around you cleanly and possibly get a return pass to break in on your goalie. Doing so, and my son was a defenseman so he did this all the time, frequently involved crunching someone into the boards. Were I coaching now I'd keep my mouth shut and hope my goalies were good at stopping 2 on 1's.
What they have learned about concussions and CTE should be enough to scare a lot of parents out of letting their kids play contact sports. You don't have this issue in baseball and basketball. For the record in 2015 the US Soccer federation banned "heading" for children under 10. Apparently it is okay if kids over ten suffer brain damage!
