John
It's about time. Now maybe the NHL will do something about the body Armour and headhunting

Stuart
The response from the insurance industry was totally predictable. The NHL better get in front of this issue and start taking headshots seriously. They end up chasing it, they lose.

Nick
I agree with the insurance companies! This would force the NHL to finally do something about the uncalled for hits that some players receive. I love the sport and agree with checking and such, buts it's the back-handed players that burns me!

Donna Cherry
STUPID equipment manufacturers!!! If the elbow and shoulder pads are causing concussions, FIX THEM across the league!!!!!

Jack
It is about time!

Melnick
As long as the NHL refs fail to call ALL the cheap shots, concussions will continue to happen. Eventually lawsuits will enter the equation for NHL negligence in officiating. The NHL Needs to scrap the instigator rule, scrap the touch icing rule. As for the goons, the teams can police the goons as they did in the past prior to the instigator rule and it worked fine. The NHL really needs to reassess referee O'Rourke who appears to have a clear one way agenda when officiating.

OhSweetPea
Hockey and Concussions: CHANGE CHANGE CHANGE! Slamming each other into the boards or while skating, etc, with force enough to rip one's head off needs CHANGE! Young children are taught to check their opponents...the skill of hockey boils down to; did you score? did you knock the opponent out of the way? did you knock the guys lights out in the rumble? Why not call it WWF on ICE?

DCI
Great idea. Maybe the NHL will smarten up. I'm not sure if the NHL knows that they are losing a lot of fan support due to the cheap shots from behind. And shots to the head. I for one don't watch hockey as much as I used to. To much garbage going on. These players are supposed to be there because of their talent. But every team needs a goon. Even in the Gretzky days , they had a lot of goons. And a few of them are having problems years later with brain function. It has been proven time and time again that repeated shots to the head will ultimattly lead to serious problems later in life. The NHL just doesn't get it ! I honestly hope that Sidney Crosby does not come back to play hockey in the NHL. It will be his downfall...

Anne
I suspect there are hefty premiums that these sports teams pay for insurance to cover their players. Insurance is a racket - try to put in a claim and you are treated like a criminal. Not to mention terrorized by threats should you have the audacity to follow through with a claim...such as we'll cancel your insurance, your premium will skyrocket etc etc. While I do think something needs to be done about dirty hits in hockey that cause injury - this insurance issue is a crock.

KC
Why don't they go after the culprit instead, and like auto accidents assess fault and sue. That would certainly clean up the cheap shots and hold temas accountable for their players actions against others.

joe canada
This is one rare time I will side with the insurance company. the Neanderthal Hooligan League (NHL) is pathetic.

Angus McIntosh
Maybe this will bring the NHL to it's senses and they will really get serious with those who do the headshots and start banning them for long, long periods.Hardly watch hockey now that Crosby is not playing.

Allan
Donna Cherry:The equipment is to blame? What a joke a comment. "Sorry office, even though I've had 8 or 9 beers, my car just plowed into that little kid over there"Donna, how about personal responsibility for your own actions?

Richard
The player that served a dirty hit to the head of another player should be paying for the insurance and all related cost assiciated with the concussion. Maybe this will aleviate the number of concussions.

Brandon in NB
I agree with what KC said below. Sue the culprit, or his team. That would make players think twice about lifting that elbow.

Tom
Interesting, how in the land of Private Health Care they think every city has a "right" to a hockey team. Having a NHL team should not be a "social program" if they can't afford to run it then close it down, or move it to a market that can afford it and wants it. Smaller markets have smaller teams, the formula worked for years until the 1% all had to own pro sport teams because someone else did. I have worked in the insurance industry, and am certain that it is not just hockey teams and players underwriting the costs of these huge claims. They come back to effect all of us. Let's go back to "real" hockey, with real talent and 6 teams.

Lorne
Insurance companies run a business and are in the business to make money. If they don't make money, the business becomes insolvent.When the premiums they charge and the return they get from their investments of these premiums is lower than the payouts, it's time to re-evaluate their position and decide on whether or not they will provide coverage.It's known as risk management.I'm almost certain that coverage for a concussion type injury will be eliminated or reduced drastically, along with a very high increase in the premiums that will be charged.NHL owners and players may as well be prepared for what will come.Business is business.If an insurance company is paying out $10 for every $1 garnered from premiums, the company will not be in the business very long.

Susan Fairbairn
I agree with the insurance companies on this one. It's time the NHL, the NHLPA and on-ice officials stepped up to the plate to put an end to the rough play that has entered the games. Too many players are receiving head injuries and medical personnel are beginning to see the long-term damage as a result. It's only a matter before the police and civil and criminal courts become involved to settle criminal charges and civil suits.

Sherry
Make it a rule that bans the kinds of cheap shots we have seen and also make it so that those players who do not go by the rule pay for the medical bills of the players they hit. Also mandatory that the refs call these cheap hits. Hits can still be done right but waiting to nail someone with their head down or nailing someone from behind are nothing but cheap shots and should be treated that way.

Shane
I agree with KC's statement, the party responsible for injuring the player should have to pay for it with some of their huge pay cheques.

reidjr
DCI
The issue is its no longer really the goons its the 1st and 2nd line players who are the ones who make the dirty hits.

PBW
With no insurance on their players for this type of injury, perhaps the owners will force the NHL to clean up its act. There is no reason on this earth why the NHL's need for violence should override nationals and state/provincial rules about aggression.

Rudy
To Donna Cherry: It is not elbow pads and shoulder pads that are causing the injuries. It is the goons wearing them.

reidjr
Allan
The issue is the equipment is to hard so yes thats part of the reason why so many are getting hurt.

Don
Good for the insurance company. Make this happen and then the NHL will be dancing and enforcing things to happen as they don't want to payout. Perhaps "Bateman" then will have a reason to look stupid like he does now....

A Concerned Canadian
Do not bring back the red line. It slows the game down.

Marc
Take the insurance companies out and make the NHL finacially responsible for all the players on ice injuries and see what happens.

Keith
I'm not the hockey fan that I used to be and it is because of the dirty shots to the head. I remember one hockey colour commentator stating, when a player was down on the ice bleeding and knocked out, "it was a clean shot." As long as hockey includes these "clean shots" I'll keep watching women's hockey, and less of men's hockey. I rarely watch hockey anymore, the exception being the odd game in between commercials of another more entertaining show on TV.

James in Strathmore
This may not be a popular opinion, but I think players should held accountable and be given heavier fines and larger suspensions regardless of intent or other factors. If you give someone a concussion you are liable. Sure some people will be unfairly affected by it, but I would suggest that there will be a steep drop in concussions, since a player has alot more control over how they hit then they are willing to admit!!

Pat in Mississauga
Finally, some balance. the NHL is now going to have to balance the cost of fighting and headbanging against the supposed reward. (ie.,'the fans want and expect it'). Now the cost of giving the fans 'what they want' may be too high and we can actually go back to playing some hockey with players with real skills. This is not unlike driving. You pay for your bad driving through you insurance company, not traffic act fines, which are a joke.

Rich
I think everyone knew that the only thing that would force the NHL to clean up their game would be economic reality. Like many other comments state, insurance companies are in business to make money. The problem is if the NHL does change their game to make it safer and appease the insurance industry, they are essentially admitting that they allow the game to be played under unsafe conditions. Based on this, how long would it be before some former NHL players who are living with symptoms from concussions or other game related injuries sue the NHL for unsafe working conditions?
However knowing the NHL they will probably lobby the Canadian Government to have Taxpayers und an insurance program exclusively for hockey players rather than change the game.

reidjr
James in Strathmore
My concern with that is you would have players turning there back like crazy in hopes a players get 10-20 games for a very basic hit.

S in Vancouver
Well, it's official: hell has frozen over. I'm actually applauding an insurance company.

Duke
Finally!!! The only thing Betman understands is dollars, hit him where he can feel the pain.