The Role Of Concussions In Hockey

Contact sports today such as hockey are very fast paced, and dangerous. Due to the high level of contact in the game of hockey, injuries such as the concussion have become more common. Due to the injury, the National Hockey league has made various changes in rules and which has impacted the way the game is played. As both a player and a fan of the sport, I disagree with the alterations that have been made. In my argument, I intend to show organizations such as the National Hockey League that the injuries come from the players and that the added rules are lowering the enjoyment of the game. The NHL has no doubt increased the safety of players. However, numerous players and fans feel as if the enjoyment of the game has decreased. The big hits and fighting are what
fuels the excitement in the game of hockey. With the recent rule changes in leagues across the country, those factors have decreased in occurrence. In Brian Benson's article, A Prospective Study of Concussions among National Hockey League Players during Regular Season Games, he talks about how it is often the top players that suffer from concussions. For example, Sidney Crosby is arguably the best player in the world. Due to his high level of skill and talent, that makes him a target for some teams. He has suffered multiple concussions from blind side and other illegal hits. Teams often target people of high skill. Due to this, many top players are unable to play which is what upsets fans. The action the NHL has made here is the adding of penalties. They feel as if the players targeting these stars will refrain themselves from causing an injury. However, I feel the issue is the players, not the rules.
I argue that action needs to be put on the players that are making the illegal hits. The changes have decreased the amount of concussions. However, the illegal hits from repeating players is going to continue. Major injuries will unfortunately always be a factor in contact sports. The reason these injuries are still common in hockey is because no discipline has been put on the players causing injuries. Benson talks about how the NHL player safety may not be fining these players enough. Pro players now make enough to where the small fines doesn't impact them. Therefore, we don't see a tremendous decrease in the amount of illegal hits. In Wandlind, Michael W. and Oscar Guillamondegui's article, Eliminating the Confusion Surrounding Concussions in Sports, they both talk about how the majority of concussions in sports come from football. Football hits are a lot of the time less preventable because the goal of many players is to tackle the ball carrier in order to keep them from scoring. They mention how hits in hockey that are causing concussions are more preventable for the player.To conclude, my argument involving the issue of conclusions is as
follows. The NHL and other hockey organizations need to discipline the players making illegal hits. Meaning increase fine prices, longer suspension times, depending on the severity. The rule changes have negatively impacted the enjoyment of the game of hockey and should be restored. If the focus is put on the players actions, I suspect we will see a increase in player safety and the enjoyment of the game will be restored to it's original glory.