A Hockey Post: What Does the NHL Really Hate?

If you're a hockey fan, you know that the NHL has been all up in arms the last year or so about certain hits. More and more players are suffering serious injuries, especially concussions. The final straw, apparently, came this past season when St. Sid was knocked out of the Penguins' lineup for several months by a concussion. The league had been dithering about bad hits for a while, but obviously the situation could no longer be tolerated and they really started cracking down.


There are a few things that they get upset about:

• Blindside hits (where the player doesn't see it coming and has no chance to protect himself)

• Late hits (well after the target has passed the puck along to another player)

• Hits targeting the head (where, for example, the elbow comes up)

• Hits where the offender's skates leave the ice (i.e., they jump into it to give it more oomph).

Now take a look at Aaron Rome and Nathan Horton, in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals last night. The one lying unconscious on the ice is Horton:

Guess how much trouble Rome is in.