slewfoots, blindside hits, and hits from behind

There has been a rash of suspensions and fines handed out in the past couple of weeks. Tuomu Ruutu's blatant hit from behind on Darcy Tucker, Alexander Ovechkin's slewfoot on Rich Perverly, Evgeny Artyukhin's slewfoot on Matt Niskanen, and the list goes on and on.

Not only have there been suspensions and fines, but there have been the hits where players go unpunished and the only player that suffers is the player that received the damage. Take Mike Richards and Willie Mitchell for example; both delivered crushing hits that did damage to the opposing players. Both Jonathan Toews and David Booth are still out after being destroyed by the aforementioned players.

It seems to me that there is a definite lack of respect from players to other players in the NHL. It's not like the good old days where when you have a problem with someone on the ice, you fight them and get it over with. Nowadays, if you want to get back at another player, it's not enough to just beat them in a fight; you REALLY have to do some damage.

The funny thing is, most of these plays aren't out of revenge. These are just players that get caught in a vulnerable position and get taken advantage of in that position. Sure, you might say that Darcy Tucker got what he deserved because he's not the cleanest player. But, there is no known history between him and Ruutu.

If you respect another player, you're not going to take their feet out from underneath them as they go towards the boards. You're going to think twice before you slam that player's head facefirst into the boards. You're not going to come from where the player can't see you and destroy them with a blindside hit. You would take that split second to consider your next actions before you might end that player's career. Players need to look at the good examples in the league and follow those examples.