Hockey has always been tough. People get fucked all the time. We're just more aware of it.

plenty of fast skaters in the euro leagues, I haven't read as much about head injuries out there though.

better helmets would help a lot. mandatory mouth guards would make an impact (or technically less impact) as well.

OMG your son is a crusher. Those are some really amazing hits. Is he the biggest guy on the team?

In Sweden they are not allowed to tackle before the age of 12. Not sure how It is in Canada and the US but something tells me It's lower age lol

LOL those were clean hits he managed 99 penalty minutes in the Northen IL hockey league last year in 30 league games. He's not just a goon though healso was # 4 in goals and number 2 in assists for the entire 100+ plus team league inluding all levels.

Hes a bantam now and playiing at a higher level this year in Missouri for more exposure, though it costs us a fortune..lol..

Love to see Shemp see this this thread he saw the little one as a 3 pound preemie baby that we were told would be lucky if he lived without having probs:)

Wish I could figure out how to embedd youtube vids into a thread if some knows how embedd and says "tuffruffs kid" :)

And nno to your? Hes one of the smallest kids on the team and in the league he is just not afraid of anyone and has a desire to win that id crazy. Little kid from our small town in IL won mvp of the Silver Sticks International Tournament in Pelham Ontario a few years back

http://www.vidams.com/1gf.jpg
http://www.vidams.com/2gf.jpg

This is just a pic from a Spring tourny as a peewee in chicago, Hes now playing Central States Bantam AAA against the best of the best in the USA. Hes struggling this year beacause of his size but still young on the team. He will be fine!! and making great progress for the future

No, Soccer still holds the record as most dangerous sport in the world.


The Heysel Stadium disaster occurred on 29 May 1985 when escaping fans were pressed against a wall in the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, as a result of rioting before the start of the 1985 European Cup Final between Liverpool of England and Juventus of Italy. Thirty-nine Juventus fans died and 600 were injured.
More here

The Hillsborough disaster was a human crush that occurred on 15 April 1989 at Hillsborough, a football stadium, the home of Sheffield Wednesday F.C. in Sheffield, England, resulting in the deaths of 96 people,[1] and 766 being injured, all fans of Liverpool F.C.. It remains the deadliest stadium-related disaster in British history and one of the worst ever international football accidents.[2] It was the second of two stadium-related disasters involving Liverpool supporters, the other being the Heysel Stadium Disaster in 1985.
More here

Then there is the player deaths:
FootBaller Deaths

Put whatever comes after the equals sign in the url in |youtube|number here|/youtube| tags.
(Use square brackests instead of pipe symbols)

As a squirt winning the Northern Il Hockey League MVP Award His first interview it was broadcast as well as the game on cable for us hockey nuts:)

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1200111933470

go to youtube and find games from 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's - the speed difference is obvious, the speed of the game just keeps increasing decade by decade. when the NHL cracked down on obstruction fouls it weeded out all the slow skating players, you can't make an NHL team now if you can't skate, wasn't like that before. and LOL at are the players bigger? you only need to walk by a high school or anywhere else teenagers or young adults hang out and see how big kids are today - definitely a lot bigger than when I was in that age group. players are definitely bigger, stronger and faster now and it will keep increasing.

the equipment factor is real too. go to a sporting goods store which sells top of the line hockey equipment - my shoulder pads were cloth stuffed with some fuzzy cotton shit like old sleeping bags were, and some cheap light plastic that i could bend with my hands.

all the factors in this thread people have mentioned are real and contribute to the problem - how much each contributes to the concussion problem is up for debate.

the constant is that the human brain is just as fragile as it ever was meanwhile everything around it that impacts it in hockey has gotten bigger, faster, harder, stronger.

football has the same problems, the NFL has a new rule against hits where a player leads with his helmet using it as a weapon. the guys who play on the line in the NFL have always had horrible health problems following their careers, the average life expectancy of an NFL lineman is some ridiculously sad number like 54 years.

My favorite line as a kid was the French Connection for the Buffalo Sabres, Gilbert Perrault, Rene Robert and Richard Martin. Richard Martin died suddenly at 59 this summer, had a heart event while driving. His autopsy showed signficant brain damage of the kind caused by concussions. And Martin wasn't a goon, he was a scorer.

Clean hits my ass. At 0.17 seconds he's up in the air going for cross checking. Next hit is a take down on a breakaway. Your kid deserves one good Kevin Stevens shot in a kisser to learn his lesson. And you know its coming sooner or later. :2 cents:

Pronger had it coming, surprised it didnt happen sooner to be honest

This is a main topic of conversation for me and a buddy right now. A few things we've discussed are the obvious. The players today are bigger, faster and stronger and in MUCH better physical condition...ironically. It's great for endurance, not so good when getting hit by another physical specimen. The only thing that hasn't gotten bigger? The size of the playing surface.

The armor they wear compared to yesteryear is obviously a factor too.

The removal of the blue line has also made a difference. As has been said, players can gather a lot more speed whereas they used to have to hold up at the center line.

I don't doubt that there were concussions back in the day that went unnoticed or were even ignored. But there is NO way they had the number that they're having today.


It's gonna take some time, but in 15-20 years, this is what the NHL will look like imo in order of appearance...

-no touch icing
-no fighting
-center line reintroduced
-larger ice surface. Maybe not international size, but it might be.
-20ish teams due to poor markets
-higher scoring games comparable to the Oilers of the 80's due to the inability of the defense to defend on international ice IF more than 20ish teams remain. A lot of the defensemen now are just filling spots. The 3 and 4 defensemen on teams now would be relegated to the 6 or 7 spots with less teams, and less defense spots to fill.

Leave it alone. They get paid $7 million a year to get them and if they can only play for $35 million and more in endorsements... Oh fucking cry me a river?

Bums in Bum Fights get $20 for worse..