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Players want more time, but NHL plans to implement headshots rule Thursday

By Helene Elliott
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This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

No sooner had the NHL Players’ Assn. released a statement saying it would take 24 to 48 hours to give its views on the league’s new rule banning head shots than NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly issued a statement saying the league plans to implement the rule on Thursday.

The league has moved quickly to ban blindside blows to the head, following a recommendation by general managers a few weeks ago that such hits be subject to supplementary discipline and, next season, to penalties. The NHL announced Tuesday that its Board of Governors had approved the rule, skipping the normal course of first convening with the Competition Committee for its input. The Competition Committee is made up of five players and five club executives.

Faced with that, the NHLPA issued this statement Wednesday:

‘Statement from NHLPA Competition Committee members Brian Campbell, Jeff Halpern, Ryan Miller, Mathieu Schneider and Jason Spezza regarding the league’s blindside hits to the head proposal:

“We have deliberated and endorsed to the NHLPA Executive Board the league’s proposal to implement supplemental discipline this season for blindside hits to the head. Our executive board will vote on this recommendation and we will respond back to the league with a decision in the next 24-48 hours.”

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A few minutes later, Daly issued his own statement:

‘Following discussions today between the NHL and the NHLPA, including player members of the Competition Committee, the NHLPA has requested additional time to secure the approval of its executive board prior to proceeding with the implementation of the proposed new rule regarding hits to the head. In response to the union’s request, the league has agreed to wait until [Thursday] before proceeding with implementation. Our strong preference remains to proceed on a cooperative basis with the players on this important issue.’

Stay tuned. The mudslinging isn’t over yet.

More later at www.latimes.com/sports

--Helene Elliott, in Denver

Sports Now
Helene Elliott

Helene Elliott was with the Los Angeles Times’ Sports department from 1989 to 2024, first as a staff writer and then, starting in 2006, as a columnist. She became the first female journalist to be honored with a plaque in the Hall of Fame of a major professional sport as the 2005 winner of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Elmer Ferguson Award, awarded to writers “who have brought honor to journalism and to hockey.” A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she has covered 18 Olympics.

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