NHL also watching how players deliver big hits

By Tom Reed

The Columbus Dispatch

Each time Blue Jackets winger Rick Nash lines up for a faceoff, he takes a mental inventory of opponents on the ice.

Like a police officer running license plates through a computer, Nash is checking for priors.

Does either defenseman have a history of stepping up to deliver thunderous hits? Do any of the forwards have a reputation for borderline checks?

Nash, an eight-year NHL veteran, was not always so conscious of his surroundings. He came into the league focused on scoring goals, making plays and occasionally looking down at the puck as he sped through traffic.

“I had a concussion my rookie season,” Nash said. “The first couple years I just got smoked a couple times. When you come from junior [hockey], the game is not as fast, you have that extra half-second to make a play. Here, if you look down for a second, you are going to be dead.”

As the NHL grapples with ways to prevent concussions, Nash is among those who believe responsibility lies not only with players throwing huge checks, but those looking to avoid them.

The Jackets captain isn’t trying to blame the victim. In fact, he applauds the league’s effort to crack down on blindside hits targeting the head.

But as the speed of the game increases thanks to improved training techniques and post-lockout rules barring obstruction, there’s a chorus imploring players to be more alert to the inherent dangers of the game.

The league has averaged 75 reported concussions the past four seasons. According to a Mayo Clinic study, as first reported by The New York Times, 69 percent of the players who suffered concussions were either carrying the puck or were hit just after releasing it.

“The puck-carrier with his head down has the onus to get his head up,” Philadelphia defenseman Chris Pronger said. “I see a lot of kids nowadays skating around with their head down. I don’t know if it’s because of the visors or the full cages in college and juniors. But the game is faster, the players are bigger, and the two don’t mix.”

In his first game as an NHL coach, the Blue Jackets’ Scott Arniel witnessed winger Nikita Filatov get knocked off his feet from a crushing hit by San Jose’s Scott Nichol.

Caught with his head down, Filatov was not seriously injured, but it took him several days before he could chew food on the left side of his mouth.

“There is an awful lot of responsibility to look out for yourself and know who’s around you,” Arniel said. “There are a lot of kids used to playing one-on-one hockey, trying to pull pucks through people’s feet and cut across on defensemen. When you do that, the odds are going to catch up with you sooner or later.”

Jackets general manager Scott Howson wonders if the visors and shields give some players a false sense of security.

“Kids are growing up with full masks on and they are a little more protected, so maybe they aren’t as aware of what’s going on,” he said. “I think it’s an adjustment period for all young kids coming into the league.”

Since late last season, the NHL has had the power to review blind-side hits that target the head. The league can impose supplemental discipline if it chooses. Chicago defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson was ejected from a game last month and suspended for two additional games for such a check on Buffalo’s Jason Pominville.

Nash understands the mentality some carry into every collision

“We are still trying to hit hard now, right?” Pronger said. “You aren’t trying to injure the guy, but you are trying to hurt him. You want to let them know you are there.”