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Krys Barch says players can deal with concussions because they’re not soldiers fighting war

Florida Panthers v New Jersey Devils

NEWARK, NJ - JANUARY 06: Krys Barch #21 of the Florida Panthers looks on during their game against the New Jersey Devils on January 6, 2012 at The Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

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Florida Panthers tough guy Krys Barch may not be someone you know very well, but when it comes to one of the league’s hot-button topics he’s making sure he’s being heard.

With the NHL GMs meeting in Florida to discuss player safety, Barch let his thoughts be known about what he thinks about the league potentially tweaking the rules to help protect the players better from concussions. Rather than looking at things just in the context of the NHL, Barch gave Harvey Fialkov of the Sun-Sentinel more of a world view on matters.

“I don’t know why you try to correct what’s working. The hits are always part of the game,” Barch said. “I had a twitter account a few years ago and you look at guys going over to Iraq and Afghanistan and they’re doing it for their country and they’re not getting compensated near as much as we are so why do we have to take less risks than them? That’s part of the sport. We get paid huge money to do it and most of the time you get paid big money it comes with a lot of risks involved and we’re compensated.

“We know that risk when we step on the ice so you go along with it, so everybody just shut up! These guys are going overseas spending nine months away from their wives and kids and risk their lives and do it for X amount of dollars, and we’re going to sit here and cry because one guy’s making $5 million and he’s out with a concussion then shame on us,” Barch said. “Shame on us, that’s what I think.”

Well when you put it that way, it’s hard to not say Barch is right. Of course, you could say that any man or woman that enlists in the Armed Forces takes the same risks on themselves and knows full well what they’re getting into and why they’re doing it.

The jobs are totally different and Barch’s point is solid on the grand scale. For the job he’s doing playing hockey, however, not wanting the players to be better protected when the ability to do that is there comes off poorly.