NHL Suspension Protocol

The last couple seasons have proven that the NHL doesn't have a clue of what it's doing when it comes to suspending players for dirty hits. Some dirty hits go unpunished, some clean hits go punished and some suspensions are too big, and some are too small. This has caused controversy and problems among fans players, and the NHL as they don't seem to know what to do. Because of this I am going to attempt to come up with a black and white system in which the NHL would have rigid guidelines on how to suspend their players consistently and fairly.

Question #1

Was the head contacted?
If the head was contacted the hit should be reviewed
If the head was not contacted only review questions 4-5 to see if the hit was suspendable. If the hit was suspendable based one or both of those guidelines proceed to numbers 6-7 to see how many additional games should be added.

The main point of a lot of dirty hits is contact with the head. I think any hit where the head is contacted should automatically get a second look by the league. This leads into question number two.

Question #2
Was the head the principle point of contact?
If it was add two games to the suspension
If it was not move to the next question

I know the head being the principle point of contact is in the rules right now, and it can be somewhat grey, but I do think it is a good point. All this really means is did the head of the player who got hit take most or all of the impact from the hitting player. This really isn't that hard to figure out, if the head is almost exclusively the only thing that was hit it was the principle point of contact.

Question #3
Was the hit done with the shoulder/body? Or the elbow/arm?
If it was the arm or elbow add two games to the suspension

You want players to be leading with the shoulder. That's the safe way to hit.

Question #4
Was the hit from the blind side or behind?
If it was from a blind side add one game to the suspension, if it was from behind add two.

There is a difference between blind side and behind. Just to clarify a blind side hit is if the player might be facing sideways, but is looking the other direction. Behind is if the player delivering the hit can see the numbers, while both are dangerous, a hit from behind is far more dangerous.

Question #5
Was the stick at all involved in the hit (i.e. slash, cross check)?
If it was add two games to the suspension

Players can't be slashing or cross checking. That just adds to the chance of an injury and makes the hit even more dangerous.

Question #6
Has the player who committed the offense been suspended already either this season or the previous season?
If he has add the number of total games he has been suspended for to the suspension.

The NHL needs to send a message to repeat offenders if a guy is a recent offender he needs to be taught a lesson.

Question #7
Has the player who committed the offense been suspended before the previous season to the current one?
If he has, add one extra game for every two suspensions (regardless of the number of games). If he has an odd number of suspensions round down (three previous suspensions would add one game to this suspension).

If a player has cleaned up his act in recent years I don't think he deserves to be punished too severely. However, he is still a repeat offender and he does deserve something extra for that.

Under unusual circumstances The NHL Department of Player Safety may add or takeaway two games to the suspension based on factors not covered on this list. Those factors include but are not limited to if there was an injury on the hit, the player who got hit putting himself in a vulnerable position (i.e. turning towards the boards when he knows he's getting hit), and the severity of the hit (whether it was a really hard hit, or the offender lightened up).

I believe giving them that two game lee way would also cover for any unkowns in the questions that may come up.

Just like that there are now strict guidelines to follow on what may have been a dirty NHL hit.

Now allow me to give you three different scenarios to show how well it would work

1. Player A cross checks player B from behind, the head was not contacted. Player A has no suspension history.

For this hit player A would receive a four game suspension. It may sound a bit harsh based on what the NHL is doing now, but there is no excuse to use a stick in the check and checking from behind is always suspendable.

2. Player A hits player B in the head on a blindside elbow up, head was principle point of contact. Player A had been suspended three games the previous season.

Player A would receive an eight game suspension for this hit. He is a repeat offender and it was only the previous season. There fore add three games to what would be a four game suspension

3. Player A slashes Player B in the head from behind. The head was the principle point of contact and Player A was suspended four games the previous season and has two suspensions from before the last season.

Player A would receive an eleven game suspension for this. It doesn't sound like a lot for the severity, but because of how malicious it was it could likely be upgraded to 13 games. Some people still think that's too few, but remember it's a tenth of a season which would be a pretty good chunk of a season for a player to miss. I think it would be justified. Also remember this. When that player returned and if he did something else dirty, he would automatically have 12 games added to his suspension.

At the end of the date this format wouldn't be about throwing the book at players, but rather creating consistency. The average dirty hit that takes place in the NHL is probably a blind side shoulder to the head from a player with little or no history. Guys who did that would consistently receive a three game suspension. I believe this would be better than some guys vastly different suspensions for the same hit. There would be consistency and everyone would know what is coming in terms of a suspension for an NHL player after a dirty hit.


What do you think of my proposal for the NHL on suspending players for dirty hits? Let me know by either commenting below this post or find me on twitter @thewildman111


photo taken from nhl.com