Marc Savard has a concussion – again. The Boston Bruins’ premier center has struggled to stay in the lineup after the crushing blow he sustained last year on March 7 at the hands of Pittsburgh Penguins bruiser Matt Cooke. This time Savvy was tackled by another “Matt,” former Bruins player Matt Hunwick of the Colorado Avalanche. Hunwick was moved from the B’s in order to clear cap space for Savard, so the product of that transaction has some special irony to it.

NHL players are sustaining concussions at an alarming rate. Though calls on boarding and hits to the head are claimed to be called more often by referees, hits like the ones on Savard continue to be rendered and players continue to head to the hospital bed as opposed to the ice. Hits that concuss were brought to light a little earlier this season in hockey. The face of the Penguins and of the NHL in general, Sydney Crosby, was aggressively hit in the Winter Classic this year while skating against the Washington Capitals. As a result, Crosby got a concussion and missed several games.

Hockey has historically been lackadaisical about protective headgear. At one time the league held helmet use to be optional. Despite NHL All Star contests proving that players can shoot the puck as much as 120MPH and despite the fact that each NHL player is a world-class athlete not running at other athletes, but skating toward them, the NHL regrettably still puts forth lax rules about helmets. The official rules of helmet use in America’s professional hockey league are listed publicly at:

http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=27011

Without having to click around to find the rules about helmet use in the NHL, here they are excerpted:

  • All players of both teams shall wear a helmet of design, material and construction approved by the League at all times while participating in a game, either on the playing surface or the players’ or penalty benches.

  • A player may continue to participate in the play without his helmet. However, if he goes to his players’ bench to be substituted for, he may not return to the ice during play without a helmet. Should he do so, the play shall be stopped once his team has gained possession of the puck. If the play is stopped for such an infraction in the attacking zone, the ensuing face-off will take place at the nearest face-off spot in the neutral zone of the non-offending team. If the play is stopped for such an infraction in the defending or neutral zone, the ensuing face-off will take place at the nearest face-off spot to the location of the puck in that zone when the play was stopped.

  • When a goalkeeper has lost his helmet and/or face mask and his team has possession of the puck, the play shall be stopped immediately to allow the goalkeeper the opportunity to regain his helmet and/or face mask. When the opposing team has possession of the puck, play shall only be stopped if there is no immediate and impending scoring opportunity. This stoppage of play must be made by the Referee. When play is stopped because the goalkeeper has lost his helmet and/or face mask, the ensuing face-off shall take place at one of the defending team’s end zone face-off spots.

  • When a goalkeeper deliberately removes his helmet and/or face mask in order to secure a stoppage of play, the Referee shall stop play as outlined above and in this case assess the goalkeeper a minor penalty for delaying the game. If the goalkeeper deliberately removes his helmet and/or face mask when the opposing team is on a breakaway, the Referee shall award a penalty shot to the non-offending team. If the goalkeeper deliberately removes his helmet and/or face mask during the course of a penalty shot or shootout attempt, the Referee shall award a goal to the non-offending team.

It would seem without any back story about these rules that the NHL is concerned more with stopping play for thirty seconds than it is with its players becoming concussed. There is no rule about the style of helmet used that is deliberately stringent, no ban on skating without a helmet and no rule for stoppage should a player’s headgear come off, with special exception to goalies.

Maybe it’s true that my ardent opposition of the lack of helmet rules springs from one of my favorite players being out of the game, but maybe that doesn’t matter. From my perspective, the NHL should forego its machismo in this one instance and keep helmets on its players. It is not as if such a rule would be difficult to enforce, and given the recent downfall of two impact players there should be little backlash from the stars themselves. I for one would like Savard to be the last Bruin this season to go down with a concussion. It will be interesting to see if Gary Bettman’s league officials think similarly, but tradition seems to point elsewhere.