In the wake of Aaron Rome's controversial hit that left Nathan Horton hospitalized last night, it struck me just how much the NHL has changed in recent years in regard to hits in which a player's head is targeted. Such hits have not gone away -- and I doubt they ever will entirely -- but the attitude toward such plays has shifted.

As I watched Horton sprawled out on the ice, the first thing that came to my mind is that it's good thing for Scott Stevens that he is not playing today, because he'd be serving a lot of suspensions otherwise. His hits on Eric Lindros in Game 7 of the 2000 Eastern Conference Final and Paul Kariya in Game 6 of the 2003 Stanley Cup Final were pretty similar to the play that resulted in Rome receiving a major penalty, game misconduct and probable suspension.



On the Lindros play, the Flyers' forward at least had control of the puck (and also had his head down) as he crossed the blueline. Stevens zeroed in directly on Lindros' vulnerable head with a "clean" shoulder check. At the time, the consensus was that Lindros was solely to blame because he put himself into a dangerous position -- unfortunately, Eric's tendency to skate with his head down as he carried the puck resulted in several concussions during his too-short career.




On the Kariya play, however, the Anaheim forward had just passed the puck and got blindsided -- as did Horton -- as the defenseman finished his check a half-second later.




Stevens was playing within the rules of the time, and those checks were considered examples of tough-but-fair open ice hits. I thought the Rome hit was delivered a fraction of a second later than the one on Kariya but the intent and effect were the same.

Rome is deserving of the suspension he's about to receive. I don't believe in blaming the victim, but players need to act to protect themselves, too. No matter what the rule book says, a player takes a big risk when his gaze lingers just a little too long at the pass he just made. He's leaving himself vulnerable.

Hockey moves so quickly that there's often little to no time to let up. But that doesn't exonerate the player who targets another player's head -- there really is no such thing as a clean check to the head, whether it's what used to be called a clean shoulder hit or if the player leaves his skates or leads with the elbow. The concussed human brain doesn't distinguish whether it was a hockey play or a cheap shot.

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