Hockey's Back....and so are Headshots

Time to return to work for both me and the NHL players....

So the NHL returns for its 3rd season since the lockout , hoping to build on the momentum of some strong seasons in the last two years. Arguably this is one of the most important seasons in recent memory.

Why you ask? Well primarily because the NHL continues to reinvent itself as more modern, more youthful, and more dynamic. Take a look around the NHL and you will be hard-pressed to find a team that is not engaging in some variation of a youth movement. Arguably this is one of the most important seasons for the NHL for the following reasons.

Teams in traditional markets as well as some of the struggling newer markets are going towards a more youthful market. Look around the league and you can see that in places like Chicago, Montreal, Edmonton and St. Louis they are relying on rookies like Jonathan Toews, 2007 #1 pick Patrick Kane, Carey Price, Kyle Chipchura, Andrew Cogliano, Sam Gagner, Erik Johnson to play a big role. While in some of the tougher markets for the NHL they are hoping for a group of rookies to pull their teams from the doldrums of the lower parts of the standings...Peter Mueller, Martin Hanzal in Phoenix, Bryan Little in Atlanta, Nicklas Backstrom in Washington. The success of this group will help to define this season but also the seasons to come. If the NHL can create the same type of electricity around the league that defined the late 80s and early 90s they stand to gain leaps and bounds in popularity. So who wins the Calder? I expect Jonathan Toews to take it because he will get tons of ice time on a Chicago team that is steadily improving, and hopefully will spend lots of time with Marty Havlat (provided he can stay healthy).

Beyond that the second challenge the league faces is the continuing trend of vicious head shots. Its extremely early in the season but there have already been two vicious incidents that scar the game. The monstrous hit that Steve Downie laid on Dean McAmmond as well as the Jesse Boulerice cross-check to Ryan Kesler's head. Both of these incidents are exactly the type of thing that the league needs to avoid to be considered a major sports league in North America. The Downie hit is not that disimilar from other hits sees around the league on a daily basis and left more room for interpretation than Boulerice's hit. In my opinion the league needs to be extremely forceful in the Boulerice situation, and if I was Colin Campbell I would strongly consider a suspension well beyond 30, 40, or whatever number of games. Especially since Boulerice was charged with assault in 1998 while playing with the Plymouth Whalers after a violent stick swinging incident with Guelph Storm forward Andrew Long. So while I believe fighting will always have its place in the game, enforcers are not and should not be a reality in hockey. Especially when there are more skilled and entertaining players that could do a similar job. Does hockey really lose anything without Boulerice I suspect there are plenty of players out there equally capable of doing his job just as effectively. So in my opinion suspend Boulerice for 50 games, make it hurt, so that if and when he gets his next chance he will not make the same bonehead mistake. Plus if you set the standard high the next enforcer/agitator who goes headhunting with his stick or charges in from the blueline he might just pause and think.

Overall the NHL has a lot to be proud of for its renaissance in the last two years but the work is not over and headshots are an issue that could have a great bearing on the popularity of the NHL. But on the plus side here's to a great season for the NHL.