Time for a change

For years we looked at the 2-to-23 ratio of goalies to skaters inside the National Hockey League Players Association, and wondered why it took so long to make headway with goaltending equipment. And we were always told the NHLPA was the biggest reason why change was so slow to come.

And today we are at least a decade into the hard-cap shoulder and elbow pads era. But we are still awaiting change because, well, players still aren't sure they want to give up the gear they've become accustomed to.

Quietly, we still hear how matters like these -- even when they directly affect players' health -- always seem to morph into some kind of collective bargaining chip. Privately the league and the PA push it to the back burner, while publicly fans hear ridiculous platitudes like this old standard:

"We have to be sure suppliers can provide enough soft-capped equipment before we mandate out the old stuff…"

The players would, however, like the league to get this issue of no-touch icing sorted out right away.

"I don't know of any players who aren't for changing the rule (to no-touch icing)," Edmonton Oilers captain Shawn Horcoff told the Edmonton Journal. "They know our stance on this. We don't have control over this, but don't you have to protect your assets?"

Horcoff lost potential teammate Taylor Fedun to the latest crippling mishap on Friday. There's no question it is time to address the issue, and the hybrid icing rule being discussed seems a perfect solution.

It would preserve the races that are legit, and protect defencemen from over-exuberant, under-intelligent forwards who make high-risk plays like the one Eric Nystrom made, in situations where they should realize the risk far out-weights the reward.

MacArthur MacGuilty

If you've read this space over the past few years, you're likely tired of hearing our assertion that it is the players who will have the greatest impact on stopping head shots, not the rule changes made by a bunch of NHL people in suits.

Well, as it turns out, it's both. Brendan Shanahan has finally been given the go-ahead to shift the burden of responsibility from the hittee to the hitter.

"The onus is on Clarke MacArthur to make full body contact, and not pick his opponent's head," Shanahan said on his latest ruling, before handing a two-game suspension to the Toronto winger.

Replied MacArthur: "There's going to be a lot of money in that fine fund, but I just think there's going to be no hitting in this game. I think that's what's going to happen. No one wants to take five or 10-game suspensions."

As Shanahan has said before, hockey players need to attack bent over and defend standing upright. There was no better example of that than Alex Edler's hit on a reaching Taylor Hall on Saturday.

The Vancouver Canucks are lucky they're not starting the season minus their best defenceman. And to Hall's credit, he did admit post-game: "I did put myself in a vulnerable position and was right there for the taking."

So there is some inconsistency left, it seems. MacArthur is responsible for his head shot, but Edler was not for his.

Funny, though. Nothing but silence from the West Coast on that Edler check. Do you think there would be more noise from Vancouver if that had been a Sedin taking a hard elbow to the melon?

Just asking…

Poor Rich Guys

Under the heading: "Stories I'm Getting Sick Of," or, "Try Getting A Real Job," how long are we going to have to hear about the brutal transition for retiring NHL players?

The latest, from Tyson Nash, who felt upon his retirement in 2007, "It was like I'm not Tyson Nash the hockey player any more. I'm just plain old Tyson Nash and you better like what you see because that is what you get."

So what did Nash see when he looked in the mirror? How about a 32-year-old with career NHL earnings of just less than $5.5 million -- not to mention four seasons of AHL pay -- and the promise of more than 90 per cent of his full NHL pension later in life.

Look, we realize these guys have done nothing but play hockey since they were 16. But the NHLPA has an excellent program to help them into retirement, and so does the game: It's called an average salary of about $1.8 million.

Try transitioning from the GM plant to the unemployment line, when the economy tanks -- with career earnings of, well, somewhat less than an NHLer.

Sorry, but we'll save our heartstrings for those families.

Mark Spector is the senior columnist on sportsnet.ca