That's NOT Hockey

Once again, hockey is in the news for all the wrong reasons. Patrice Cormier has hit Mikael Tam with a sickening elbow and has subsequently been suspended indefinitely. As he should be.

TSN reported earlier in the week that Gary Bettman has said that the solution to head shots etc will take time and he is 100% correct. There is no quick fix to solve this problem, it's going to be a long process of education involving all of hockey governing bodies worldwide. Start educating the kids as soon as they are playing at a level that allows checking. When it comes to NHL (or any professional) players who are suspended for unsafe play such as head shots or hitting from behind, why not have them do some community service with people who have had serious sports injuries due to the neglect of other players? Surely that will make them think twice in future when they can see a players numbers going into the boards.

These are the kinds of plays that need to be removed from the game. It's not hockey. But to people around the world who are not hockey fans, its plays like this and this and this that they see and connect with hockey. Most of my Aussie friends have the perception that hockey is generally a brutal, violent game that you only watch to see fights. This is not the case at all as there is much much more to this game that needs to be appreciated and understood aside from the physicality of it.

To help out, here are a few more examples of what is and is not hockey. To me at least. Lets start with what hockey isn't to go along with the examples above.

Not hockey. Try soccer if you like that sort of thing.

Not hockey. Couldn't resist putting that one in.

And neither are these

Oh, this isn't hockey either. Just kidding, it almost is.

This is hockey (stick tap to Ron Francis and Sami Kapanen for getting up and heading "towards" the bench) . So is this and this and this and of course this

C