An excellent standard for headshots

The Canadian Hockey League called a head hit by Brayden McNabb on Joey Hishon "was a reckless action by the player but not a deliberate attempt to injure” and suspended him one game. Awesome.

Here's a video of the hit, if you have not seen it already:



After the game, Hishon's coach said that there's a rule in the Ontario Hockey League against those hits while McNabb's side-stepped around the question with some crazy math about the height of the two players in question (Hishon is 5'10" and McNabb is 6'3") and how Hishon was ducking.

McNabb's Kootenay Ice (WHL) teammate, Team Canada World Jr. veteran Cody Eakin said "I don't think it was a dirty hit. Hishon was skating off the ice then looked at the ref and went back down."

So, really, while one side refuses to admit any wrongdoing on the part of their number one defenseman and captain, the CHL disagreed and slapped McNabb with a one-game suspension. If that's the standard the NHL kept, I would love it. McNabb got 5-and-a-game and the one-game suspension, which isn't much of a penalty, but enough to keep him from doing it a second time. You can watch the video over and think that McNabb got caught in a bad situation because Hishon is a small guy and was ducking, but at the same time, he recklessly left his elbow right out in the direction of Hishon's face. As long a consistent standard is applied, hockey will be made safer for all involved. McNabb will think twice the next time he's in a situation where he has the chance to land a devastating hit over centre.