re: Is hockey as violent as football?

I love when non-hockey fans wake up and realize hockey exists and try to make salient points that are grossly misinformed. It's cute. To answer the questions.

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Is hockey as violent as football?

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Yes and no. But they don't have tackling and the real problem in football, the repeated stress of linemen bashing their heads into each other after every play.

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If so, why don't we hear more about concussions/injuries?

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Because you don't listen. There was this Eric Lindros guy who was sort of famous in the 1990s who had his career derailed by concussions. Hockey's most famous player right now, Sidney Crosby, has had a string of concussions. He even missed nearly a full season due to head injuries.

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How long until hockey players start filing lawsuits?

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They already have.

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Is it because most hockey players are foreign and don't have a sense of entitlement that Americans have?

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I like when we look to a bunch of socialists for toughness. I mean, the NHL is full of Canadians, Scandanavians, and Russians.

But it's not that they are tougher (though hockey players are really f'n tough, a guy scored a game winning goal last week with his face smeared with his own blood because he lost part of his ear earlier in the game). It's that the NHL has actually been somewhat proactive regarding head injuries instead of just going the NFL "deny everything" tact.

Every head shot is reviewed by the league and suspensions are given by a designated office. They even release a video to explain their decisions. Repeat offenders get longer suspensions and there is a certain point at which you'll be banned from the league (though if Matt Cooke is still allowed to play, I don't think that will ever happen).

Also, fighting has been almost completely scrubbed from the game. There's still some holdouts, but the era of every team carrying a goon on the end of the bench has long since passed. the culture of the game changed, with the voluntary support of the players. Oh, and Scott Stevens retired, lowering head injuries by about 50%.