Another suspension looms for a hit to the head

From where I sit it looks like Nazem Kadri could be getting two calls from NHL head office…

It’s not often one player get himself in big trouble twice in the same game.  But, Kadri managed to do it…with a pair of head shots.  Ok, the first one on Backstrom may have been incidental, but Kadri didn’t look like he was trying to hard to avoid contact.  And Backstrom had to leave the game.  The second hit however was simply reckless.  It wasn’t the initial point of contact that was the problem, but the follow through.  He rammed Granlund’s head into the wall.  There’s no real defense for that.  There’s also no justification for it.  The NHL has made it clear that players are responsible for their hit.  No matter what they were intending, it’s the result that counts.  And Kadri hammered Granlund.  This is what the League needs to get rid of.  Stop worrying about willing combatants in a fight.  Focus on the dirty hits.  I’m not saying Kadri is a dirty player, but both of those hits were.  The majority of concussions come from cheap hits.  The less of those we see, the safer the game will become.

At least that’s how I see it…and I sit in the cheap seats.