Update: 1:43 PM Pacific Time -- Closed comments on this article. The point of the article was not to debate the legality of the hit. The point was to use the hit to explain a potential/possible loophole in the new ‘head hit’ rule moving forward. Your comments are always appreciated and welcome. I thank you all for taking the time out of your day to comment. However, after almost 90 comments it’s clear that the intended point was not getting across and that is my fault.

If you were watching the Phoenix Coyotes/Vancouver Canucks game last night in Vancouver, you will remember Canucks forward Ryan Kesler leveling Coyotes defenseman Derek Morris and his head into the boards.

If you haven’t seen the hit, here’s the video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQug6qoqBOc

Now I’m not going to debate the legality of the hit as I’m pretty sure armchair NHL referees from the City of Vancouver will invade this thread and relay to me their interpretations of the rule book.

No, this article is about how this hit is the first new test of the NHL’s new ‘Head Shot’ rule.

If you aren’t familiar with this new rule, that was fast-tracked into the NHL rule book, check out this page with a video describing the new rule:

http://coyotes.azvibe.com/2010/03/27/nhl-releases-new-head-hit-rule-instructional-video/

Ok, back to the story…

Kesler was penalized on the play (5 minute major for roughing a ten minute misconduct and was thrown out of the game) but the hit brings up an interesting loophole in the new rule.

What happens when a player uses the opposing players body to drive his head into the boards?

Technically, the rule applies to this hit as Morris’s head was leveled into the glass, but it’s not explicitly written down in the books. If the NHL really wants to remove head shots in the game, they need to take this new loophole in the rule and seal it up.