CHANGING THE RISK-REWARD RATIO FOR BIG HITS. Nicholas Cotsonika had a follow up article on hockey’s new system for imposing penalties. Cotsonika says that it is now risky to make a high hit because of the greater risk of being suspended. He argues that even if you think your hit is legal, the risk of being penalized is too great to make it worthwhile. Since I believe that intent should not be a factor in assessing penalties, I was pleased to see this quote from the Detroit Red wing coach on trying to cut down on head injuries: ” I don’t think it has anything to do with intent. Did you hit him in the head, or did you not hit him in the head?”
The success of the NHL efforts is shown from this quote from a defenseman: “”The risk-reward of trying to make that huge hit just isn’t there….There’s no point.†Interestingly, the quote implicitly acknowledges that for many years, the risk-reward ratio did favor the big hit.