As the league’s 30 general managers wrapped up meetings on Wednesday they were closer than ever to a recommendation as to how to address the dangerous headshots plaguing the NHL. With designs on getting a small committee together to deal with the issue before the next meeting in March, it’s possible that some new rules might be in place for the 2010-2011 NHL season to deal with the problem.

Headshots have always been discussed by GMs at these meetings, but this time things seemed different.

“It was quite a bit different, some of the guys who have taken a strong position that it may take hitting out of the game have adjusted their views a little bit,” said Carolina Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford. “If we continue down what was talked about today then we will see a change.

The tone of the conversation seemed to have deepened in seriousness, with a few notable checks this season drawing the issue into the light. The Mike Richards hit on David Booth and the Willie Mitchell hit on Jonathan Toews were among those discussed, although neither hit resulted in suspension as there’s nothing in the current rules to determine such a punishment.

Whether those hits (or any other hits) deserved suspension is not the issue, in my opinion, as the NHL clearly needs to set forth a policy on what is and what isn’t acceptable in the land of hitting. And there will doubtlessly be purists that assume the hazards of high hits as part of the game, but protecting the players within reasonable limits has to be at the forefront of the GM committee.

Bodychecks to unsuspecting players is also on the list of some GMs.

“A player should have an ability to anticipate a hit, prepare for a hit or avoid a hit,” said Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke. “If he doesn’t have those, then I think the onus has to shift to the hitter. He’s got to deliver a safe hit.”

“The Booth hit in particular, I personally feel that if that was my son I wouldn’t want for that to be the way he was hit,” said Pittsburgh Penguins GM Ray Shero. “What Mike Richards did was within the rules we have currently. That’s not the issue. The issue is making the game as safe as can be. I don’t think we’re looking for a big rule change, but maybe we can tweak something.”

Making the game as safe as possible should be an ultimate goal that all hockey fans, purists or not, can agree to. Surely we want to protect the ability of players to enjoy long, productive careers and surely updating the rules in terms of hitting can be a part of such protection.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.