Elbow, shoulder pads under scrutiny in bid to reduce NHL head injuries
04.02.12
The NHL and the Canadian Hockey League, which is made up of the three major-junior leagues across Canada, are using softer elbow pads and shoulder pads but it is not known for sure if this is making a difference in the number and severity of head... Crosby is back on the injured list just eight games after he returned from a concussion as the result of a blow on the head from an elbow pad. Critics have long complained shoulder pads are so big and hard that they act as body armour in big hits, leaving many players concussed. Giroux was concussed when a Philadelphia Flyers teammate, Wayne Simmonds, accidentally hit him on the head with his knee pad. An NHL executive said Tuesday the league is working to make shoulder pads, which were softened and reduced in size by the start of the 2010-11 season, even smaller. s biggest star, Sidney Crosby, and leading scorer, Claude Giroux, out indefinitely with head injuries along with at least 25 other players, the league&rsquo. While medical experts and others are calling on the NHL to introduce more severe penalties for all hits to the head and for fighting, the players&rsquo.
Source: Globe and Mail