Another Hockey Game, Another Hit

Guest written by our friend Gladys Fuentes
When I sit down in front of my new high-def set and watch sports, there's probably nothing I like better than watching hockey in high definition on directv. But one thing I don't care for are hits that are intended to hurt another player, and that's exactly what happened with Niklas Hjalmarsson, who plays for the Chicago Blackhawks, tried to lay out Jason Pominville of the Buffalo Sabres. To be honest, Pominville was fortunate to just get off the ice with only stitches. The blow by Hjalmarsson was so vicious he could have seriously injured Pominville's neck. I think that the only reason Hjalmarsson did not get suspended is because the injury wasn't more severe.
But that begs the question: does it matter how injured a player is? That's exactly what has led to some of the nonsense in soccer, where players dive all of the time trying to pretend that they are more injured than they are. The reason they do that is because soccer referees make judgement calls on the severity of a foul based on the injury to a player. That's unacceptable. A foul is a foul, regardless of whether a player is hurt or not.
I want to see more consistency, and it starts with plays like the foul committed by Hjalmarsson. He should be suspended to send a message to the rest of the league.