As a fan of old time hockey I certainly am not the poster child for the politically correct, pansy type play that Gary Bettman and the rest of the NHL are seeming to gravitate towards. I do however like to apply some method of reasoning to completing a hit in hockey as guys as people can get seriously hurt when people break the rules (both the written rules and the unwritten rules). The written rules are clear as day. The unwritten rules are such that you try not to do stupid things on the ice that might hurt another player…or fellow competitor.
Applying this logic to the game, I have to take some offense towards the recent hit made by Alexander Ovechkin on Brian Campbell of the Chicago Blackhawks. In the video you will see that Ovie skates in hard towards Campbell, Campbell makes the play and then Ovie pushes him into the boards to finish his check. Sounds good and all, accept that Campbell was in a vunlerable position and the push from behind that Ovie gives him at full speed into the boards is not only unnecessary but dangerous. Watching the video you see that Ovie stands up after the check (while Campbell is hurt), and seems unaware of what he has done.
In the old days Ovechkin would have gotten what was coming to him on the next shift when a guy like Dave “the hammer” Schultz, or Tiger Williams would have kicked Ovie’s ass six ways from Sunday. Just ask players from the 1980′s why they never touched Gretzky…they would have taken their lives in their hands. These days the NHL will suspend Ovie for a game or two (it is his 9th dirty play where a guy has gotten hurt in several years), but ultimately, nothing will come of it as Ovie is the face of the NHL and one of the best players in the world.
So my question is…what does this teach a new generation of hockey players?
