Kings’ Mike Richards: Visor fight rule hypocritical under NHL’s player safety campaign

The additional 2 should of been sufficient for Richards jumping in, the double minor end up costing the Kings the game.

how about drop the instigator? then people will think twice about running players cause they suck at every other facet of hockey. I'm a Sabres fan for life and hate the Maple Leafs, but Brian Burke is right, rats are running this league and the poster boy should be Dan Carcillo

Thank you for writing this. This is a very NFL-y rule in that it contradicts other rules, and also spits in the face of the NHL's "player safety" campaign. Richards is right, but only because he trusts the league's stance on safety (i.e. wear a visor). Although, obviously, this recommendation of safety is still penalized in the rule book in some form. Bravo, NHL.

he is correct. not all fights can start by guys removing their helmets. they just happen sometimes.

Theres a lot to discuss with this topic but the one thing I'm going to point I think is the most important. Why is it such a big deal if someone starts or is in a fight with a shield on? Close to the 60% of the league comes from major juniors in Canada, where visors are mandatory and fights are much more abundant. So why does it become a problem once they get to the NHL. Do you ever hear about any Canadian hockey leagues worried about what a visor could do to someones hand if they choose to fight someone with one? No you dont. Why? Because its stupid to try to protect somones hands when its his decision to fight.
Now in this case some may say well Mike jumped Morrow and he was forced to fight. Well thats utter crap too. You've never seen someone back down from a fight? Now granted Mike went right after him so it wasn't like a challenge where he just couldve said no, but he still is not forced to fight. He couldve grabbed a hold of him or simply turtled. Only a handful of hockey players will actually do this but it is absolutely doable. If you dont believe me then you probly havent seen Sean Avery play in the last 6 years.
And to top it off I have 1 more thing...Why is the visor considered more dangerous than the helmet? I realize you're trying to punch the guys face and the visor is right there but any good fighter in the league knows how to protect their faces by turning their head. Watch any fight where it's 2 guys that know what they're doing. You will see them both turn their head when they think theyre about to get punched and wouldnt you know the punch goes right into the hard plastic helmet. Maybe the league should make fighters keep their heads straight too? Gotta protect those knuckles!

What about the scrum with 21 secs left in overtime? Williams is held down on the ice while two Stars players pound on him, and not so much as a single roughing penalty is called? Doughty gets sucker punched and HE's the one to get the extra penalties for defending himself? (Maybe doughty's immaturity is causing officials to WANT him to get smacked around a bit...)

This was one humdinger of a game. One of the worst, as far as officiating goes.

This is absolutely ridiculous, yes we know it's a clean hit because we saw it on TV and replay a bunch times. How is Mike Richards supposed to know that kopitar is looking down not ready for this hit. The debate isn't whether or not Richards should have fought or whether this was a clean or dirty hit. It's whether the NHL's rule is hypocritical in this day and age. Richards did what any other player who was close would have done, defend your best player. Everyone rage's over "why should a guy have to protect himself over a clean hit". He has to defend himself because a player is laying on the ice and not moving very much. Players don't have the luxury of a replay right in front of them while they are deciding hmmm should I fight? Furthermore, Mike Richards wasn't thinking oh okay i'm about to fight I should definitely take off my visor, he's thinking my teammate and leading scorer is laying on the ice, hurt. The rule needs to be changed, or the mindset of the NHL has to be changed.

This game me sick. Not only was Morrow not penalized for the hit, but neither were Benn and Souray, who both pummeled a prone Justin Williams as the refs looked on. Again, no penalties called.

need to drop the instigator rule and let the players settle the score

The Refs actually have been calling it this way. The Blackhawks took two Instigator penalties against Columbus Tuesday 1/10, after Jared Boll took two cheapshots. In teh first period, Steve Montador answered the bell, and in th second period, Jamal Mayers stood up for a teammate again after Boll delivered another cheapshot. Both Blackhawks were given Instigators, and Montador was assessed the Unsportsmanlike (Visor) additional 2 minute penalty. Rules are what the rules are, if Richards does not like it, then remove the visor or don't play. Otherwise, shutup, play the game, and accept the consequences of the rulebook.

The additional penalty for visor wearers should be up to the Refs discretion, not a fixed rule. The days of Pepe Lepew Claude Lemieux are long behind us, we don't need a rule to address one of the few players at the time to have a visor and regularly started fights. Ones he didn't turtle on anyway...

Sucks Kopitar got hurt, but that was a solid, legal hit.

The instigator rule sucks. But man what a hit by Morrow, that was a beauty!!!

If this rule is in place it should be used to stop players from being attacked after a big hit.... I should add,big CLEAN hit... after a dirty hit anything goes(baseball swing to the head would serve justice). Richards hit it on the head with the visor debate! I'm not opposed to getting rid of this rule at all, I just dont find it necessary to have to defend yourself because you caught someone with his head down...

I've heard about that rule but I've never seen it been called. Also, its kinds ironic that it was called on Richards because that guy almost always takes off his helmet before a fight. Look up any of his fights on youtube when he was with the flyers, most of the time he drops the gloves and then takes off his helmet.

Players should wear visors, so make it legal for them to fight without taking it off. Then players who don't wear visors will be at a disadvantage in fights which will encourage them to wear them. Simple.

It was a clean hit. Robidas got wipedout and so did wandell with clean hits. There was no fights after these hits. If it is a clean hit,so be it. If you don't like it,do not play hockey.

If you''re choosing to wear a visor for player safety, you probably shouldn't be fighting. That's not very safe. If you wear a visor you have two choices, let an unvisored team handle the issue or remove your helmet. Otherwise, what would prevent players from donning full cages and then fighting everyone knowing they they can't get hit in the face. Players drop their gloves before a fight all the time. Flipping a helmet off would become second nature with time.

Funny how this whole ridiculous conversation goes away if you don't PROMOTE fighting by having explicit rules to deal with it.