With today being the last day of 2011, I thought now would be the perfect time to cover the biggest hockey related stories from the year. 2011 was a historic year for hockey and the game continues to change as we move into the new year. Starting with Sidney Crosby's concussion suffered almost a year ago, to the Boston Bruins historic championship and the tragic deaths that came in the summer, there was plenty of hockey news this past year. 2011 changed the game in both positive and negative ways and here is why.
When David Steckel collided with Sidney Crosby during the Winter Classic last New Years day, a spark was set on an incredible concussion roller coaster. The biggest star in the game was severely injured and soon the word concussion became a bad omen of an injury. Stars like Chris Pronger, Jeff Skinner, Kris Letang and Ryan Miller have all missed time this season due to concussions and there are certainly others out there that the media doesn't know about. Crosby went through extensive therapy to recover but he wasn't able to return until November 21 where he was only able to play 8 games before the symptoms returned. He has yet to play since.
The concussion increase caused the NHL to look into changing the game in a way that tries to eliminate dangerous hits. In the spring of 2011, the league added a new rule that allowed officials to penalize players for hitting other players from the blind side, or an area where the victim player cannot see their aggressor. It was a good start but over the summer, some evaluations were made and some new rewording of rules was introduced. The words blind side were removed and replaced with the words incidental contact with the head. This means that any non-accidental contact with the head from any direction can be penalized and reviewed for suspension. Lead by Brendan Shanahan, the Department of Player Safety was created to evaluate injuries and to impose supplementary discipline upon players who commit illegal actions. A welcoming addition to the department has been the inclusion of a video, explaining why a player gets suspended, which has been a great teaching tool for players as they learn to be more careful when throwing and receiving hits. Hopefully in 2012, further advancements can be made to keep the stars healthy and all the players safe while they play the game we all love.
Another big news story from 2011 was the Boston Bruins returning as Stanley Cup champions after a 39 year absence. The Bruins beat the Vancouver Canucks in game 7 in Vancouver, creating large riots of angry Canucks fans and mischief makers. The Bruins were the better team though, lead by big Zdeno Chara as well as star forwards Milan Lucic, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. But the most important piece to the winning puzzle was goaltender Tim Thomas, who took home the Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP. 2011 was a great year for Thomas. Besides the prizes mentioned above, he also won the Vezina trophy as top goalie during the regular season, all while being 37 years old. The Bruins started the new season this fall slowly but have since returned to their dominant ways and are in second place in the Eastern Conference. At this rate, they will be a big contender in the 2012 playoffs as they look to defend their title.
The most shocking of all the hockey stories this year was the deaths of three NHL players and the tragic plane crash in Russia resulting in the entire Lokomotive Yaroslavl team of the KHL being killed. It all began on May 13 when Derek Boogaard of the New York Rangers was found dead in his apartment. Then on August 15, Rick Rypien of the Winnipeg Jets was found dead in his home in Alberta. Then former Toronto Maple Leaf player Wade Belak was found dead in a Toronto apartment. All 3 of these men were enforcers and their deaths triggered large debates over the affects of fighting in hockey. The 3 men each suffered from depression but whether that was the result of playing in the NHL remains unclear. What is clear is that the NHL lost 3 players in unfortunate circumstances and that an investigation and improvement of league provided assistance is needed.
The worst blow of the summer came September 7th when a plane carrying the Lokomotive Yaroslavl team of the KHL crashed on takeoff, killing the entire team. The news shocked the whole hockey world from North America to Europe. Almost every team in the NHL was connected to someone on that plane through either a player or a coach, especially the Detroit Red Wings who lost former prospect Stefan Liv as well as player Ruslan Salei and coach Brad McCrimmon who were both with the team during the 2010-11 season. This crash will remain in the memories of all who play or follow hockey as a terrible day of loss and sorrow. Hopefully tragic events like this do not happen in the new year.
2011 was a busy year for hockey and 2012 looks to continue that trend. Already scheduled for next year are the Winter Classic on January 2nd, the NHL All-Star game on January 29th and the Stanley Cup playoffs which begin in April. Hopefully 2012 does not see as much death and tragedy as 2011 did but instead brings plenty of exciting hockey to watch. 2012 is ready to be the best year for the game yet and I can't wait to continue blogging about it.
Please feel free to comment on this post below or contact me via email at josh@jbenny.com. You can follow me on Twitter at @jbenny15 or visit my website www.jbenny.com. This has been a great year for the blog and I hope to continue the excitement in the new year. Thanks for reading.
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