The Headshot Epidemic – And the Possible Solution

In a year when headshots have become a hockey topic too often discussed, Patrice Cormier, of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, has gone above and beyond what anyone thought possible by committing the most egregious of fouls. For anyone who has not seen his gruesome elbow on Mikael Tam of the Quebec Remparts, or would like to see it again, it is posted here:



The most immediate question on everyone’s mind, aside from concerns about Tam’s health, is how will the league punish Cormier? The goal of the reprimand is of course to deter this sort of behaviour in the future, and the thought is to make the suspension so long that other players will never do anything like it again. The question is, can suspensions and fines actually teach players to stop hurting each other? Wouldn’t it be better to somehow increase the level of respect for the fellow athlete, so that people are not so quick to hurt each other when the chance arises?

On Wednesday’s SportsCentre on TSN, hockey analyst Bob McKenzie stated that he would like to see more: “I know there are studies at Harvard University, Boston University, where athletes are donating their brains to science and they’re studying the ill effects of concussions. I’d like these kids that are guilty of headshots to go and find out the true impact of what they’re doing to someone else and give them a better understanding.”

An excellent idea, but why not take it a step further? Instead of teaching hockey players who have committed offences to learn about the results after the fact, why could we not set up a program to teach this information to all young hockey players? Perhaps in doing this, a greater sense of respect could be developed at a younger age, and instead of trying to punish headshots out of the game, we can take a more grassroots approach to educating them away.

The “Head Down” Mentality

There is another problem with the way today’s youth are taught to play. Hockey players are cultured to think that playing with your “head down” is a capital offense and anyone who does so should be taught a lesson. Really, what does “head down” even mean? In plain terms, it suggests that a player was most likely more focused on the puck than on his surroundings. The hockey mentality is that if an individual is not watching out for himself by being aware of those around him, he is a fair target, and the results are his problem. True enough – hockey players do need to be taught awareness for their own safety, but I have issue with the idea that because he is more focused on the puck, he should have his neck snapped back in a massive open ice hit.

If you think about it, the average player has his “head down” at many instances during a hockey game. Any time a forward takes a pass slightly behind him or in his feet, or if a puck is bouncing or rolling, a player must focus on it that much more to make sure he has control. During that moment, the player has his “head down”. Luckily, Scott Stevens is not always present at that split second to “teach him a lesson”. In my mind, the culture of hitting the unaware player as hard as possible because he deserves it for not looking up is just plain wrong. There are many ways to separate player from puck that don’t involve potential injury or concussion that would be just as effective, so why are we teaching young players that the big hit is the right play?

NHL headshots are a by-product of the hockey culture, and the only way for this to change is through enlightenment. Mikael Tam, Paul Kariya, Eric Lindros, Brett Lindros, Pascal Dupuis – anyone ever affected by a headshot – education is the way to salvation.