Aretha Franklin sang about it, Rodney Dangerfield never got any of it and it seems a good portion of NHL players refuse to give it to their opponents.

Respect is something which many say is earned and not just given so if you apply the same logic to the NHL it would appear many players are lacking in the earning department.

How else can we explain the weekly hits to the head or checks in the back whereby a player suffers a concussion or worse?

One would think with all the information sessions and discussions about the dangers of head shots out there the players would get together and figure out the best course of action is to not be hitting each other in the noggin or pushing someone into the boards from behind.

It seems the message is encoded in some cryptic language so as to confuse a reader thereby not allowing the message to get out.

Or maybe the players just don’t give a rat’s arse about the damage they can do to someone by dislodging their ear wax with a well placed forearm or making their helmet size a little smaller by sending them headfirst into the boards.

Neither of these plays are allowed, don’t add to the game and really are bad things to be doing to anyone but the message is lost on so many players who it would appear have lost the ability to hear.

The NHLPA isn’t helping matters any by supporting their membership which includes those one dimensional players whose presence on the bench is filled by opening and closing the gate for about 57 minutes per game.

One would think a professional mime is presenting the talk on head shots and checking from behind.

John Scott is the latest to cross the line by delivering a head shot and he says he didn’t mean to aim for Louie Eriksson’s head.

Did he think that was a block of cheese on Eriksson’s shoulders? What exactly was he aiming for?

He texted an apology to Eriksson calling it a “bad play.” Well John, making a pass up the middle and it ends up in your net is a bad play. Taking your large forearm and braining another player is a stupid play and as they say, you can’t fix stupid.

So I suppose we should get settled in for another year of ‘bad plays ‘ and lame apologies until respect makes a return.

sports@reddeerexpress.com