Cheap shots must be dealt with or stars could be lost

Sporting News, The, August 31, 1998 by Larry Wigge

When Paul Kariya looks in the mirror, he now recognizes the good-looking fellow staring back at him. And he no longer has to worry about offending a friend by calling him a second time because he can't remember whether he made the first call.

Kariya's memory lapses were that bad after his fourth career concussion, caused by a crosscheck to his jaw by Chicago defenseman Gary Surer in a February 1 game at Anaheim. Kariya's headaches and dizziness also are gone, and his hand-eye coordination is exceptional once again after more than two months of doubt.

Kariya missed the last 28 games of the season and he didn't begin to feel "right" until mid-April, when he began a series of acupuncture treatments to help ease the pain in his neck and head.

You could say life is back to normal again for Kariya. You could, but you wouldn't if you have talked to Paul recently.

The 23-year-old star says he is ready to return to the game he loves. He's excited about again weaving magic on the ice with linemate Teemu Selanne. But he warns that he no longer will be Mr. Nice Guy if someone gets his stick up on him.

"I'm not going to change my game as far as slowing down to avoid a hit or anything like that," this gifted but small superstar says, eyes fixed to show that he means every word. "But if there's a guy coming at me, my stick is going to come up. I'm not going to just stand there and take it from someone else like I did in the Surer hit."

New NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell says he wants input on how the league can get better. My suggestion: Talk to Kariya. Or Eric Lindros. Or Pat LaFontaine, who suffered three of the league's reported 82 concussions last season.

Kariya is one of the great athletes of our time--and it's criminal to hear him say that if the league isn't going to protect its stars, the stars will have to protect themselves.

"The amount of cheap shots has increased since the league added the instigator penalty (two-minute penalty and a game misconduct) for starting a fight," he says, referring to a 1992-93 rule change. "That has resulted in a lot more high sticking, spearing, elbowing, hits from behind, players going for another player's knees--cheap shots like the crosscheck I received. There's too much of a lack of respect players have for one another--and it's got to stop.

"If the league wants to stop that kind of conduct, it will have to punish players. Suter got four games, (Toronto's Mathieu) Schneider three (on another hit to Kariya's jaw that resulted in a concussion in 1996-97). Ten-game suspensions ... and more, have to be brought back to help wake up players, to teach them about having respect for one another."

Campbell agrees, saying, "The first guy who injures another player with his stick on my watch gets 10 games for starters. The commissioner had it right when he gave Dale Hunter 21 games for a cheap shot against Pierre Turgeon in 1993--and we're going to get back to that kind of justice."

The hit by Suter was a savage two-hander to Kariya's chin. Kariya previously suffered two concussions in junior hockey and another on a check by Schneider--all resulting from hits to his chin, not to the back of his head.

But let's really think about the ramifications for a moment. One more illegal hit to Kariya and we might needlessly lose one of the game's most dynamic stars. That's how serious this issue is. But it's not about just one player, as last year's 82 concussions and other cheap-shot injuries indicate.

"If you want to know the truth," Kariya says. "There probably isn't a player in the league who hasn't had a concussion."

Kariya plans to wear a mouthpiece for the first time, he will continue to do exercises to strengthen his neck and he will wear a safer helmet. But Paul has rejected several test helmets, saying they would draw attention to his head and perhaps make him a target.

Kariya has talked to Lindros, who sustained a concussion late last season, about concussions. Lindros, whose brother Brett had to quit the game because of post-concussion syndrome, suggested the acupuncture treatments that worked wonders for Kariya.

"Before I began the treatments April 20, it was like I couldn't remember the last time I felt good," he says. "Now I almost can't remember the last time I felt bad."

Let's hope the league's rules makers make mouth pieces mandatory and mete out more 10-game suspensions to players who show no respect for fellow competitors. The use of two referees--in about 20 games for each team--will help police the hooligans in the game. But that's not enough. It's clearly time for the league to get tougher on cheap-shot infractions.

Maybe then we won't have to worry so much about one illegal hit taking a Kariya or a Lindros from this game prematurely.

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