I agree with your comments in this thread, but I do want to point out that this shit is happening more in the NHL now. Players are putting themselves in really bad positions to take shots to the head or get boarded, thinking players will pull up because the rules will save them. Stupid shit like players turning at the last second to show the numbers, getting boarded, and then crying foul because they get injured. Same shit with guys putting their heads down. It's happening more and more, especially in the corners and below the red line.
And you know what? The NHL is obliging them. Yeah, they leave with a concussion, but the other guy gets suspended - shocker, it's absolutely not a deterrent to either party! What's the first thing they teach you? KEEP YOUR FUCKING HEAD UP. Suddenly the pros don't do it.
I'm not so sure this is due to the rule changes, or that it is worse now than before. Scott Stevens dealt a lot of concussions to guys long before there were rules against head shots. I still have some rock-em-sock-em video tapes at my parents' house which contain an abundance of evidence that idiots have been cruising through the neutral zone with their head down for a long time.
Back then they barely ever diagnosed the concussion though, so guys didn't miss as much time when they got hurt.