What's worse? The Avery Rule, or the Matt Cooke Rule.

Well, it stands to reason that the NHL would be all over this but amazingly they are not. They want to cut down head shots but despite being given the opportunity to take care of this, they faultered. I do not think anyone can look at the Cooke/Savard hit and say it was even remotely clean, it baffles me.

i prefer to call it the “richards” rule cuz i hate that douche and i think he’s the one who started this whole controversy…but yea the “richards” rule is definitely worse cuz the man who he hurt and the players who were hurt because no rule was put in place had their life threatened…avery just looked like an idiot for 20seconds and the only person it pissed off was fatso

You know what is even more baffling? Avery gets 6 games for sloppy seconds and Matt Cooke plays on. I’m not a Don Cherry fan, but his tirade and the video of 13 questionable Matt Cooke incidents highlights that this guy is a cheap shot artist. It would really be interesting if someone targets the Pens better players for retribution. Sadly, the only way the NHL starts to protect its players is if someone runs Cindy.

This is a league that makes fundamental rule changes every single season. If you havent watched hockey in 10 years, you probably wouldnt know what the hell was going on in a game right now. Sure they’ll make a change to the rules in the middle of the season to the detriment of Sean Avery, but god forbid they do anything to protect their players when it might adversely affect Crysby and the Pengwhines.

It’s a sad state the way the NHL brass handles these types of incidents.

The worst part of it all is what it teaches the young kids who play hockey. It’s not alright to make a joke about an ex-girlfriend or to practice your figure skating in front of a goalie, but you can attempt to maim somebody, and because it’s “not against the rules”, it’s perfectly fine.

The hypocrisy is cosmically astounding. You can guarantee if this hit happened on Crosby, Bettman and Campbell would have instituted flag hockey. If somebody is carrying the puck, you pull a flag that’s velcroed to their jerseys, that player would have to stop and give the puck to the other player and stay where he was for 10 seconds before he could move.

It’s hard to fathom what the NHL’s thinking in regards to these rules. Is it “suspend Avery for a dumb comment because some bible-humping Mom doesn’t want to have to explain ‘sloppy seconds’ to her precious little Timmy”, but ignore blatant cheap-shots because “we don’t want to alienate the hardcore fan!”?

They can make a rule, and instate it just as quickly as the Avery rule, that deals with hits to the head. It can be done without taking ‘physicality’ out of the game, or taking away hits to the head. Hits to the head are going to happen, no matter what. What needs to be taken OUT of the game are blatant hits to the head, which are done with intent to injure. Exact examples being Richards and Cooke. On both of these hits, the offending player went out of their way to make contact with another player’s head, and so should the rule be:

“Hits to the head shall only be legal if done in the context of trying to make legal body contact. It will be illegal for any player to aim specifically at another player’s head. As judged by the on-ice official and the NHL Disciplinary Group, any player who leaves his feet, or uses any part of his body or equipment, or attempts to make body contact with the purpose of hitting the head area of another player, such an action will be construed as an Intent to Injure. The offending player shall be given a 5 minute major penalty, a game misconduct, and a mandatory minimum 10 game suspension, and an extra 10 games for every subsequent violation; after the 4th violation, a player will be suspended for 1 full season, including any playoff games the team he is currently under contract with plays, including all affiliate (AHL/ECHL) teams.”

Well, something like that. There’s a lot of discretion involved-hits to the head can be legal, if the player is trying to make a clean hit. But it will take care of the blatant stuff like Cooke/Richards.

I saw what Shawn Thornton did, but honestly tapping Cooke on the shoulder and telling him to go is just not enough justice in my eyes. Someone has to lower themselves to Cooke’s level and blast him when he isn’t looking.

Lower the shoulder and WHAMO! Or raise the elbow and POW! He is down on the ice and he ain’t moving a muscle. That’s how he should get payback.