Lack of respect is NHL’s biggest issue by The Sports Network

Fast forward to the present and the hockey world finds out that Bruins forward Nathan Horton will miss the remainder of the Stanley Cup Finals due to a severe concussion suffered in the first period of Game 3. A vicious and reckless blindside hit by Vancouver Canucks defenseman Aaron Rome sent the 26- year-old violently to the ice before he was then taken off on a stretcher and immediately transported to Mass General Hospital.

Not the type of sight anyone wants to see, especially in the midst of the Stanley Cup Finals where the focus belongs on the incredible brand of hockey being played and not on another malicious hit. But in a year when the world’s best hockey player (Sidney Crosby) was lost for half of the regular season and the entire playoffs due to a head injury, it’s fitting that the issue rear its head once more, to show the NHL that something drastic must be done to clean up the game.

The Rome hit on Horton is precisely the type of senseless behavior the NHL is trying to curb, but not too long ago it’s exactly that type of hit that would have been applauded. In those times, Rome would have been called “tough” while Horton, the victim, would be blamed for admiring his pass instead of bracing for a huge open-ice hit. It was in those days thugs like Scott Stevens thrived and concussions and head-shots were downplayed or ignored out right.

And while the NHL has made strides, mostly in reaction to the feverish criticism by the public, the old festering rot within the game still exists. That’s why Rome felt it right to step into a defenseless Horton, leaving him blank-faced and shuddering on the ice.

Unfortunately for the Bruins, they lost one of their best scorers — eight goals and 17 postseason points — but fortunately for the game of hockey it’s yet another example of why the status quo just doesn’t work.

We’ve all heard the quick fixes and the suggestions for making the game safer. Make the equipment softer, make specially designed helmets aimed at reducing concussions mandatory, enforce proper chin strap and mouth-guard usage, institute a no-touch icing rule, and levy stiffer fines and suspensions for offenders.

And all of these suggestions would help, but at the end of the day the main issue is a lack of respect among the players. And the only way to get them to start respecting each other is to banish fighting from the game. It’s impossible to have a league in which players revere each other, when they are allowed to solve disputes by way of barbaric and potentially dangerous bare knuckled combat. The bad attitudes, the goonery and the disrespect for fellow players all stems from the acceptance of fighting as a part of the game, and that must change.

Leave the hand-to-hand combat to the cage fighters and get back to playing hockey is the message here. It’s easy to point the finger at guys like Rome, but the game is as much a problem as the players are. Only when the NHL lays out the groundwork to clean up its act will the players have any chance at rehabilitating.

For now, Rome will have to sit and watch his Canucks from the press box because of his actions, while Horton will try and recover in time for training camp next season. But whichever city takes the Cup home, it’s unfortunate that this series could be remembered for yet another senseless potentially career- ending injury.

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