Nope. Can't do it.

I'm a pretty big hockey fan. I don't have, like, Gretzky posters on my walls or anything, but I do watch it when I can find it, and I even go down to the Ice Center to watch the local club teams sometimes.

But if there's one thing that I've always had a little trouble with, it's the violence. I understand, the game is so ridiculously frustrating, sliding around, running into things, getting bumped and pulled constantly, back and forth, back and forth. That frustration percolates quickly and people need to blow off steam (that's all without even mentioning the strategic aspects of fighting).

But the NHL's reaction to Matt Cooke's recent hit on Marc Savard... well, I think I might've hit my breaking point. Here's the hit:

The NHL has determined that this hit does not merit a penalty.

The thing is, based on their own rules, they're right. Shoulder-to-head hits are perfectly legal. Yep. Despite the fact that Cooke very intentionally blindsides Savard's head with his shoulder (elbow?), the game's own rules make it so that the NHL gets to say it can't really do anything.

I can't get behind that. In fact, I kind of feel sick about the idea of watching hockey after learning this. I'm not interested if it's going to be a bloodsport (I reserve the right to complete hypocrisy regarding my enjoyment of boxing). Yeah, I've seen worse, but I've also seen the league suspend people for those things.

I mean, head shots? Really? That's all good?

Apparently, after this, the league's general managers proposed a rule that disallows intentional head hits. I will be very glad if this rule is adopted. But, really, doesn't this seem like something that probably should have been taken care of earlier?