The National Hockey League has to take immediate aim at a culture in which the head is a target, as exemplified by the utterly sickening headshot - in effect, a brainshot - thrown by Matt Cooke of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Marc Savard of the Boston Bruins on Sunday. But only one part of the task, and probably the easiest part, involves attacks as blatant and vicious as Mr. Cooke's. Far more difficult to address, but equally necessary, are the headshots done with no intent to injure, and often within the current rules of the game.
Start with first principles. Nearly all the sports at the Winter Olympics involve a major risk of concussion. Hockey is a rough game in which speed and bodychecking create a high level of risk, especially at the professional level. Risk and sport go hand in hand.
But hockey's risks can be reduced without harming the essence of this contact sport. The head should be protected, in light of the brain's known vulnerability to lifelong damage from concussion. Many marquee players, such as Pat LaFontaine and Keith Primeau, retired early because of repeated concussions. The National Football League has outlawed the use of the helmet as a weapon in tackling. It has a strict rule against headshots on its marquee players, the quarterbacks. The NFL has not turned into a wimps' league.
Consider three types of headshots. First, Alexander Ovechkin, playing for Russia at the Olympics, flattened the Czechs' Jaromir Jagr at centre ice. This was, in hockey terms, a clean check - shoulder against the opponent's chest, the head not targeted - in open ice, one star player on another. It was legitimately a part of the thrill of the game. Mr. Ovechkin was, quite properly, not penalized or suspended.
Second, Mike Richards of the Philadelphia Flyers hurt David Booth of the Florida Panthers in October; Mr. Booth did not play again until Jan. 31. Mr. Booth made himself vulnerable by looking behind him as he passed the puck; under the norms of the game, Mr. Richards is allotted a brief period after Mr. Booth releases the puck to "finish the check." The NHL's current mindset is that the player who makes himself vulnerable in this situation is to blame; after all, Mr. Richards was doing what all players are asked to do. But Maple Leafs' general manager Brian Burke, deemed a hawk, now says the league needs to find a way to legislate such hits as the one by Mr. Richards out of the game. This is exactly the type of major attitudinal shift that needs to occur.
Third, Mr. Cooke's hit. Marc Savard, a highly skilled player, did nothing to make himself vulnerable. He could see the play in front of him: there was no opposing player, no seeming danger. As he shot the puck, his head turned, and stuck out from his body; Mr. Cooke came from behind and hit him directly in the head, and the head alone. There was no possible way for Mr. Savard to protect himself. Mr. Cooke was headhunting.
The stupidity of what Mr. Cooke did lies in this: In attacking the head, he reinforces a culture in which his own fragile brain becomes a target for similar attacks. The NHL should suspend him for the rest of the season and playoffs, and thereby begin to pull this culture out by its roots.