ANAHEIM, Calif. — National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman was in Southern California for business this week, allowing him to take in the Anaheim Ducks' 6-2 win over the Phoenix Coyotes Wednesday night at Honda Center.
Answering reporters' questions for almost 15 minutes, he discussed realignment, next year's Winter Classic and the Phoenix situation, among other topics. For more analysis of Bettman's discussion, make sure to check back early Friday for FOX Sports' NHL Notebook.
Player safety — and with it concussions, equipment, on-ice behavior and a fair justice system — has been a topic frequently discussed and scrutinized this season, and Bettman was eager to provide support for first-year Director of Player Safety Brendan Shanahan, whom he joked has "aged probably five years in the last five months."
"I think Brendan's doing a terrific job. He's working extremely hard," Bettman said. "I think this job is everything he expected and more. But I also think the players are hearing him and I think particularly with the videos, there's greater clarity as to what's expected on the ice and what won't be tolerated."
"He has an extremely difficult job. And I think part of what's happened is people have on second look given Colin Campbell a little more respect for the job he did for 13 years in this field. This is a hard, hard job that he has. The decisions are hard, and nobody's ever happy."
Player safety is not confined solely to questionable behavior between opposing teams, evidenced earlier this week when Oilers young star Taylor Hall was injured during warm-ups at Nationwide Arena prior to Tuesday's 4-2 Edmonton loss in Columbus. Hall, who was not wearing a helmet, slid after accidentally stepping on a puck and collided with teammate Ladislav Smid before taking an errant Corey Potter skate to the head. The scary pile-up resulted in 30 stitches for the former first overall pick, who scored an overtime game-winner at home against Los Angeles on Sunday. The Oilers will revisit their pre-game helmet policy, as reported by Travis Hughes of SB Nation.
But the vast majority of head injuries do result from heavy collisions and occasionally iffy decisions on the ice, leading many to call for reform in concussion prevention and treatment, an effort Bettman says is already well underway.
"We've been very proactive on player safety," Bettman said. "I know there are more concussions being reported, but that in part is a function of the fact that we're doing a much better job of reporting, diagnosing and treating. When you think about it, the education process that the league is going to and the players have changed the culture so that players are more willing to admit they've had a concussion and get treated. And I think that's all very important. We've been at this since '97. We were the first sports league to do baseline testing, the first sports league to have protocols for diagnosis to return to play. We have the quiet room protocol, which nobody has done. We've changed rules on more than one occasion. We have a department of player safety."
The prototype equipment — often referenced as softer shoulder pads and a helmet that provides more protection toward concussions — hasn't yet caught most players' attention. Jesse Spector of Sporting News reported earlier this week that Islanders forward Kyle Okposo had been provided a new pair of shoulder pads from Easton that were more of a front-of-the-line model rather than anything designed to specifically reduce injuries from shoulder-to-head hits. An NHL spokesman, though, told Sporting News that "we have several players wearing new CCM model shoulder pads that have almost no hard plastic and mostly high-density foam," which would be a step in the right direction.
Though the Messier Project, a Cascade Sports venture by Mark Messier and his sister Mary-Kay, has aimed to design a helmet able to provide the most sturdy protection against concussions, it has not been fully integrated into NHL locker rooms. Only a handful of players are currently using the M11, among them Willie Mitchell and Kevin Westgarth of the Los Angeles Kings.
"We take this stuff very seriously, and we're going to continue looking at equipment — that's one of the mandates that Brendan Shanahan has. But this is something we do in conjunction with the Players Association."
Last week, Kings forward Mike Richards expressed frustration over the somewhat conflicting rules regarding helmet visors. He drew an extra two-minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for fighting Dallas' Brendan Morrow while wearing a visor after a heavy hit levied against center Anze Kopitar.
"I think the most frustrating thing is if the NHL is trying to get us to wear visors, and then we get penalized for fighting with them on," Richards said. "I think it kind of defeats the purpose."
While Bettman didn't comment specifically on the visor rule as it pertains to two players squaring up for a fight, he did suggest a minor rift between the league and the players association over their use.
"I think I've been on record for most of the 18 (years) you referred to as thinking visors were a good idea," Bettman said.
"But that's something that the Players Association, at least to date, hasn't agreed to."
