The NHL Has A Hitting Problem

That Datsyuk dodge making the 2 players collide just encapsulates him as the genius he was

Grew up as a defensemen and now when I watch the NHL I'm always shocked how they swipe at the puck when they just need to lay the body out

I grew up as a goalie in the 90s and millennium. Even we were taught how to body check and take hits against the boards just for the safety aspect.

This is why I have such a tremendous respect for Crosby, Datsyuk etc. they were trailblazers in the crossover from physicality to skills, and they did it all in the face of ruthless defence that would blow them up every now and then

I think there is another answer to your question. I'd say that if the NHL wants to go this way with no dangerous hits and no head hits, they can make sure it's done correctly, they just need the Refs and DPS to be consistent when it comes to the penalties for doing these things. That includes embellishment penalties btw.

One of the best nhl hit avoiders is Panarin. If you just watch his game he knows when to take chances and always evades/prepares for hits before they come. He is like 175 lbs and does it effortlessly as a 32 year old. You were right, the older generation knows what they are doing when it comes to hitting.

I grew up in the 90's and 2000's when Scott Stevens, Chris Pronger and Adam Foote were laying people out almost every game... Scott Stevens especially embodies this period in my mind because not only did he hit you like a brick wall, his teams also won Cups. My favorite player back then was Pavel Bure and I can only dream of how much a player with his skillset would've dominated in today's game where it's more about finesse and hitting has largely gone missing from the game.

The Crosby clip is wild compared to the newer clips. Just elite skill and awareness along the boards to stay out of harms way while still maintaining possession.

Another contributing factor is the NHL generally selects for players who grow early and generally big. As such through minor hockey their size lets them get away with never learning how to not get hit or take the hit in such away the contacts force is lessened. Every player that grew up somewhat undersized understands where and how not to get rocked.

Literally had a drill called the gauntlet... line players up 5 feet apart or so 2 feet from the boards, and you have to make it from one end to the other, and you get hit by every single player. Learned fast. How we played was clean hits, finishing every check. It was quite funny how scared the other teams would become to touch the puck let alone anything else. I'd love to see an nhl team play like that and see if it is as effective as it was for us.

I played hockey in finland until i was 16 and i was playing one league below SM-liiga. Let's say the game was pretty rough in division 1 hockey. My father was our coach and i was playing defense. Every time i would take a big hit unprepared he pointed out to me that it's my own fault if i get injured in a situation like that. As a defensemen you need to be ready at all times to get run over by the opposing team. It's difficult to watch defensemen these days reach for the puck first and not be ready for impacts near the end boards. The same thing is happening in the Finnish liiga aswell.

Grew up playing in Toronto’s GTHL, was a defence man and lived for the “art of hitting”. I am the same age group as Marner, we had hitting in our age group since we were 8. Obviously, with hitting since we were young made us very good at that aspect of the sport. I remember playing stacked American travel tournament teams that were more skilled than us, but didnt have hitting in their leagues and we would literally bulldozer them. With that being said, I had many teammates who ended up suffering from several concussions. Some of which were told by doctors they can’t play hockey anymore. Most of those concussions came from hits from behind when they weren’t expecting it. Despite being well trained to receive a hit, it just takes getting caught off guard once during a dangerous play to suffer a serious injury. Similarly, despite playing a physical game all my life, and honestly trying to be clean, I also managed to mistakenly receive a few suspension for hitting from behind. Anyways the point I am making is that I had many talented friends who had to hang up the skates from competitive hockey early due to concussions. I know it is part of the sport, but it’s probably not worth kids getting brain injuries during critical years of their development… especially considering most won’t be able to make a living by playing hockey.

That mackinnon goal where he avoided hitting the goalies mask with his stick while at full speed was unbelievable 1:43

The largest contributing factor, in my opinion, is teams focusing more on offensive defensemen, essentially a fourth forward, than on a physical defenseman who's just solid on defense. That's part of why Vegas won the Cup last year. They could put six defensemen on the ice who were large, played a physical style, and were solid in their own end. They, also, had a lot of big physical forwards who caused problems around the net, in the offensive zone.

You’ve gotta be the best weekly summary/ current ongoings in the league channel rn. These past few weeks I’ve been watching all these hits all get different calls on all different severity’s and I’ve been bs the whole time que this video coming up and putting everything I feel into a much better worded nice to watch video. Keep it up

Growing up, we always had a few things: 1) coaches always taught that the goal was to separate the man from the puck (and not take yourself out of the play doing so). 2) we had STOP patches above the nameplate that helped teach not to hit. “If you see stop, do not hit, wrap them up or make another play.” 3) you learned how to take a hit and be prepared for someone to follow through with their check.. as well as not putting yourself in a position to be injured. This 100% is an issue today, but the problem was I think it led to much less creative play. You couldn’t do certain things (such as cut across the middle) if you weren’t prepared to pay a price. The onus is on both 1) players NOT to hit when they see numbers and 2) not to put yourself in a position where they can injure you. It was called “take a hit to make a play”. You make the play, brace for impact, and absorb the hit along with the boards, then everyone moves on.

The way players are going into the boards with their back turned is wild to me. I was taught never to do that and for some reason the best players are doing it. They are putting themselves into a dangerous position.

There's a real problem with everybody expecting to not ever be hit, clean or dirty, hits should always be expected. Most importantly though, guys have to stop freezing behind the goal line to make a play after the puck goes in. If the flow of play goes behind the net it's your job to follow through behind the net, and not just suddenly stop while somebody is flying in behind you.

I lived up to mentality "Play the guy first, then the puck". Too many players tend to do the opposite. You can play the guy first while reaching the puck or being in posession of the puck, as well as not being in posession of the puck. Hands might be fast, but the guy never is. The body you can always catch. If you catch the body, you catch the puck.

No matter how much money leauges like the NFL and NHL put into creating studies that say the opposite, CTE is intertwined with the sports we love. Call me soft, but what we know now, it is important to take into consideration, and we need to take further steps (as we already are) to protect our players from concussions and TBIs, or at least acknowledge the problem. If people were fully aware of the impact CTE will have on their life, but chose to continue to play, thats fine. Right now, they're not, and the stigma is meant to keep us away from the very uncomfortable truth. This video brings attention to those areas where the information divide really shines, and makes this discussion invaluable.