Fairness in the NHL

After this past Saturday there has been plenty of stir up in the NHL about hitting and what a clean hit is. David Booth, who plays for the Florida Panthers, was hit on the blue line when he made a dangerous cross pass. Booth was elbowed to the head by Mike Richards who plays for the Philadelphia Flyers. Booth was taken off the ice by a stretcher. He has a major concussion and will be out for an unknown amount of weeks. Richards did not get suspended for this open ice hit. Hitting is permitted in the game of hockey and happens in every game but sometimes it goes too far. Players get seriously hurt and their job is at risk.

Richards’s side of the story was that it was a clean hit and where Booth was skating was a high risk area of getting hit and he should have been expecting it. Richards has stated that he had no intent to hurt Booth and has respect for the game and other players. Hockey is a physical sport and every player knows the risks involved. Reviewing the tape Richards did not jump and he was not in the wrong for the hit. Booth had the puck and his head down. That is a minor hockey mistake and hockey players at the NHL level should know that playing with the puck at the blue line, head down will put you at risk of being hit.

Looking from Booth’s perspective, Richards did put his elbow up higher and did hit him in the head. Richards could see that Booth’s head was down and that he was going to take a brutal hit, Richard’s should of let up and not put so much behind the check. Richards still should of hit Booth but he could of controlled the hit a lot better.

http://slapshot.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/the-morning-skate-nhl-ducks-on-headshots/

Richard’s did not face a suspension and will not be missing any games. Booth will be out for at least a couple weeks. Is it far that Booth is missing games and Richard’s isn’t?




Meggie McNabb