from Tony Gallagher of the Vancouver Province,

Players are not only bigger and faster as a result of genetics, nutrition and their training regimen improvements, they are increasingly wearing lighter and in some cases even more lethal elbow and shoulder pads to further their on-ice velocity. It only stands to reason that increased player size and velocity in the same confined area of a rink will increase the frequency and impact of collisions and thus increase the likelihood of concussions growing in frequency.

So how about slowing the players down the way Formula One and IndyCar racing did with its cars? What about doing something like going back to tube skates or insisting a skate weight more —a set percentage of a player’s weight for instance — as a way of slowing down the players if you doggedly insist on playing the games on the same size ice surface.

It’s radical and perhaps even a stupid idea, maybe the dumbest this column has ever floated. But the concept of sitting the offending player out as long as the injured player is out with a concussion is surely just as dumb, and that gets floated all the time.

Punishing players because collisions cause concussions seems inherently unfair and ill advised. Collisions are bound to increase as players’ size and speed increases.

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