Amen, Brooks Laich!!

1) Last week Washington Capitals veteran forward said what Fauxrumors and I have been advocating/saying; That the pussification of the sport has gone too far. Laich was responding to questions about his team mate Jay Beagle who earlier in the night was knocked to the ice by enforcer Arron Asham, bloodying the 4th line forward. At the time is was suspected that Beagle had suffered a concussion in addition to a nice facial laceration. Beagle actually wanted to get back on the ice. However , he was not allowed.

2) The league's new rules which were implemented in March as a way to stem the rising rate of concussions in the sport state a player leaving the ice after a possible head injury must be examined by a doctor in the locker room or a "quiet room." A player exhibiting signs of a possible concussion is not allowed to play the rest of the game. Laich's reaction to Beagles plight was "I really don't care about that(concussion) awareness crap, to be honest, I'm sick of hearing all this talk about concussions and the quiet room," He went on," We accept that there's going to be dangers when we play this game and you know that every night you get dressed," he said. "Sometimes it feels like we're being babysat a little too much. We're grown men, we should have a little say in what we want to do."

3) Geez, finally a player steps up and says what I bet a lot of them are feeling and saying behind the scenes. What gives his statement even more weight is the fact that Laich is the Capitals player representative for the NHLPA. It leads us to ask, will there be push back by the players and their association to curb/reduce the current rules/protocol. Additionally, we feel there will also be some push back against the new hitting enforcement being implemented by Brendan Shanahan. As was (poorly) espoused by Don Cherry, but accurate the new rules changes has resulted in reduced hitting/body contact of all varieties. Is this the game the NHL wants to sell? Hopefully more players, like the respected Brooks Laich will continue to speak up!