The general managers in the NHL are discussing head shots and honestly, it’s about time. Why there is even discussion about whether or not it’s necessary to implement changes to increase the safety of the players is absurd, but sadly, there are people who exist like Hockey Night in Canada analyst Mike Milbury, who is against changing the game. “Someone is going to die every day. If you don’t want to get hurt, then don’t play the game,” Milbury said.

This must be the goofiest thing ever said by anybody. Sports change; sports evolve; humans evolve. This concept appears to be foreign to Milbury.
Apparently Milbury doesn’t believe that there’s anything wrong with hockey. “Guys have been playing this game at a high-speed forever, and that’s when it’s fun… when these guys go after each other and play physically,” he said. What about scoring and excellent goaltending and other exhibitions of on-ice talent? It’s one thing to go out there and race up and down the ice after other guys, but what makes hockey “fun” at high-speed is the players who can avoid the big, physical goons that are simply there to break bones and crush bodies. Oh, and deliver repeated head shots throughout their careers.

Those people who say that changing the game de-values the product are ridiculous. Those that say there’s nothing wrong with fighting, head shots, et cetera, are the same people who laughed at Jacques Plante for wearing a mask in net in 1959, after having his nose broken. Repeat: his nose was broken. Last year Don Sanderson died as a result of a hockey injury. Whether you argue that happened because he wasn’t wearing his equipment properly or it was an unfortunate but isolated incident or whatever, Sanderson’s life ended because he played hockey. Try explaining to his family or other loved ones that his death was just part of the game.

Hockey is in desperate need of some changes, the first of which has to be the caveman mentality that the game is fine the way it is. It’s not. Milbury’s argument that “someone is going to die every day” is a fact of life, but it still might be one of those most inconsiderate comments ever made by an analyst. Hockey does not need to be one of the avenues for that daily death count, and anything that leagues can do to minimize risks of injury should be given serious consideration and ultimately, implementation. It’s time to put safety back into the game.