Is it a bad thing that the Bruins’ 4-0 trouncing of the ex-Whale left me wanting more? Not that four beautiful goals and 60-minutes of in-your-face checking wasn’t enough, it is just that as of right now, a serious injustice has been wrought on the Black and Gold.
Scott Walker, he of the gross sucker punch of Aaron Ward late in the game, will not be suspended for jumping the Bruins blue-liner with a right hand shot that probably broke a bone in Ward’s face. Reports late last night and throughout the day have indicated a broken orbital for the three-time cup winner. Whether or not that renders him out the all-important game six is not the question here. What is the heart of my rant is how NHL head of discipline Colin Campbell handled this situation.
The NHL rulebook states that any player who received an instigator penalty in the final five minutes of a game is AUTOMATICALLY suspended for the next game pending a review. Okay, I understand the need to check and see what events led to the skirmish that resulted in the extra two for instigating a fight late in the game. However, a quick look at the tape from the final minutes in the Garden will show that Walker crossed a line and pretty much stepped in where he didn’t belong, throwing a punch at a defenseless player and probably breaking a bone in his face.
However, it appears that the league missed most of that. Instead of sitting out game six (at least), Walker was fined $2,500. Countless hockey analysts with a great understanding of the sport than I predicted anywhere from 5-10 games as the length of suspension for the fourth-line winger who has a history of antics which cross the line of normal, grinding hockey. How can guys like Barry Melrose, Pierre LeBrun and Darren Eliot all be wrong?
It isn’t like the NHL is afraid to suspend players in the playoffs for egregious misconduct (I am looking at you NBA and Kobe…). In the first round, I can remember two players of the top of my head who were suspended for hits determined too violent by the league. Boston’s Milan Lucic sat out a game against Montreal for coming up too high with his stick. You think the fact that he was being charged at and he was reacting because he was target No. 1 of the Canadiens ire had anything to do with getting his stick up? So, apparently, if he just dropped his stick and gloves and tossed a right at Maxim Lapierre, he would have been fined a couple grand and welcomed back for the next game. How is what Lucic did worse than Walker’s roundhouse facebreaker? Yes Looch used his stick, but got Lapierre mostly with glove while Walker’s fist was dead on against a man who clearly wasn’t going to fight.
The other major suspension from the first round was levied to the Capitals’ Donald Brashear. The big enforcer was suspended six games for his actions in game six against the Rangers. First, he got a little feisty before the game and then, after he was knocked down by a Ranger with a clean but heavy hit, Brashear responded by searching out the closest player in a Ranger uni – in this case Blair Betts – and laid him out with an elbow while the forward wasn’t looking. Now, I appreciate what Brash brings to the table in a game, and actually enjoy a little gamesmanship while the teams are warming up. That being said, he is big enough to handle his business in the proper manner. No need to search out just any player and take him out. All Brash had to do was follow the time-honored hockey tradition of getting the player’s number and waiting for the right moment to pay him back with a big hit of his own. Even my Caps fan friends couldn’t argue with Brashear being suspended.
However, with Walker being slapped on the wrist guard by the League principal, I am opening the door for Caps fans to complain. Just as Betts wasn’t ready for the hit from Brashear, Ward was not interested in fighting Walker. Walker claims, “Based on what was said on the ice as I was dropping my gloves, it was my understanding that I was engaged in an altercation.”
Okay Scott, you were engaged in an altercation. Except it was between Ward and Matt Cullen. You came out of nowhere and inserted yourself into it. Why would Ward, in a 4-0 game, choose to take on two players at once?
Another beaut of a quote came from Whalers’ GM Jim Rutherford.
“After our team received several punches throughout the series leading up to Game 5, it was a matter of time before one was going to be thrown back.”
Okay Jim, I will play your game. Is this your first playoff series? Have you never even watched one on TV? Scrums in front of a net or in a corner are where a series gets its character. Sure, Zdeno Chara has thrown a few punches or facewashes after a whistle at your guys. But let’s not act like your players are holy rollers. And in game five alone, there were two fights – both involving Tim Conboy from your squad, who appears to e your only actual tough guy. Does that not count as throwing punches back? Or is it because it was against a willing, ready combatant that you weren’t satisfied?
Yet, this is not the first time a player has sought out a Bruin with a cheap shot. I submit a date almost 16 years earlier to the day – May 11, 1993 – when Ulf Samuelsson kneed Boston’s star player, Cam Neely in the Wales Conference Finals. Neely was never really the same and his career was cut short way too early because Ulfie couldn’t handle being taken to school by the burly right-winger and had to take the easy way out.
Not that Ward is suffering at the same level Cam did and, no offense to Wardo, but he isn’t as vital to Boston’s success as Cam was, but it isn’t right that a player can just take a situation into his own hands, do whatever he wants and act without proper penalty. Maybe Walker doesn’t deserve 10 games, but at least the suspension of one game that is MANDATED BY LEAGUE RULES should be upheld. If only for Walker’s own safety. You don’t think if the game gets out of hand one way or another on Tuesday that Ward, Chara, Lucic or Shawn Thornton won’t search Walker out for retribution? And, just a hunch here, but Walker will know it is coming and will have a chance to take it like a man or duck and turtle like countless cowards have before him – see Ulfie or Claude Lemieux. Hockey prides itself as a game of honor.
Scott Walker, he of the gross sucker punch of Aaron Ward late in the game, will not be suspended for jumping the Bruins blue-liner with a right hand shot that probably broke a bone in Ward’s face. Reports late last night and throughout the day have indicated a broken orbital for the three-time cup winner. Whether or not that renders him out the all-important game six is not the question here. What is the heart of my rant is how NHL head of discipline Colin Campbell handled this situation.
The NHL rulebook states that any player who received an instigator penalty in the final five minutes of a game is AUTOMATICALLY suspended for the next game pending a review. Okay, I understand the need to check and see what events led to the skirmish that resulted in the extra two for instigating a fight late in the game. However, a quick look at the tape from the final minutes in the Garden will show that Walker crossed a line and pretty much stepped in where he didn’t belong, throwing a punch at a defenseless player and probably breaking a bone in his face.
However, it appears that the league missed most of that. Instead of sitting out game six (at least), Walker was fined $2,500. Countless hockey analysts with a great understanding of the sport than I predicted anywhere from 5-10 games as the length of suspension for the fourth-line winger who has a history of antics which cross the line of normal, grinding hockey. How can guys like Barry Melrose, Pierre LeBrun and Darren Eliot all be wrong?
It isn’t like the NHL is afraid to suspend players in the playoffs for egregious misconduct (I am looking at you NBA and Kobe…). In the first round, I can remember two players of the top of my head who were suspended for hits determined too violent by the league. Boston’s Milan Lucic sat out a game against Montreal for coming up too high with his stick. You think the fact that he was being charged at and he was reacting because he was target No. 1 of the Canadiens ire had anything to do with getting his stick up? So, apparently, if he just dropped his stick and gloves and tossed a right at Maxim Lapierre, he would have been fined a couple grand and welcomed back for the next game. How is what Lucic did worse than Walker’s roundhouse facebreaker? Yes Looch used his stick, but got Lapierre mostly with glove while Walker’s fist was dead on against a man who clearly wasn’t going to fight.
The other major suspension from the first round was levied to the Capitals’ Donald Brashear. The big enforcer was suspended six games for his actions in game six against the Rangers. First, he got a little feisty before the game and then, after he was knocked down by a Ranger with a clean but heavy hit, Brashear responded by searching out the closest player in a Ranger uni – in this case Blair Betts – and laid him out with an elbow while the forward wasn’t looking. Now, I appreciate what Brash brings to the table in a game, and actually enjoy a little gamesmanship while the teams are warming up. That being said, he is big enough to handle his business in the proper manner. No need to search out just any player and take him out. All Brash had to do was follow the time-honored hockey tradition of getting the player’s number and waiting for the right moment to pay him back with a big hit of his own. Even my Caps fan friends couldn’t argue with Brashear being suspended.
However, with Walker being slapped on the wrist guard by the League principal, I am opening the door for Caps fans to complain. Just as Betts wasn’t ready for the hit from Brashear, Ward was not interested in fighting Walker. Walker claims, “Based on what was said on the ice as I was dropping my gloves, it was my understanding that I was engaged in an altercation.”
Okay Scott, you were engaged in an altercation. Except it was between Ward and Matt Cullen. You came out of nowhere and inserted yourself into it. Why would Ward, in a 4-0 game, choose to take on two players at once?
Another beaut of a quote came from Whalers’ GM Jim Rutherford.
“After our team received several punches throughout the series leading up to Game 5, it was a matter of time before one was going to be thrown back.”
Okay Jim, I will play your game. Is this your first playoff series? Have you never even watched one on TV? Scrums in front of a net or in a corner are where a series gets its character. Sure, Zdeno Chara has thrown a few punches or facewashes after a whistle at your guys. But let’s not act like your players are holy rollers. And in game five alone, there were two fights – both involving Tim Conboy from your squad, who appears to e your only actual tough guy. Does that not count as throwing punches back? Or is it because it was against a willing, ready combatant that you weren’t satisfied?
Yet, this is not the first time a player has sought out a Bruin with a cheap shot. I submit a date almost 16 years earlier to the day – May 11, 1993 – when Ulf Samuelsson kneed Boston’s star player, Cam Neely in the Wales Conference Finals. Neely was never really the same and his career was cut short way too early because Ulfie couldn’t handle being taken to school by the burly right-winger and had to take the easy way out.
Not that Ward is suffering at the same level Cam did and, no offense to Wardo, but he isn’t as vital to Boston’s success as Cam was, but it isn’t right that a player can just take a situation into his own hands, do whatever he wants and act without proper penalty. Maybe Walker doesn’t deserve 10 games, but at least the suspension of one game that is MANDATED BY LEAGUE RULES should be upheld. If only for Walker’s own safety. You don’t think if the game gets out of hand one way or another on Tuesday that Ward, Chara, Lucic or Shawn Thornton won’t search Walker out for retribution? And, just a hunch here, but Walker will know it is coming and will have a chance to take it like a man or duck and turtle like countless cowards have before him – see Ulfie or Claude Lemieux. Hockey prides itself as a game of honor.
1 comment:
How about the "honor" of getting eliminated by the same player, Scott Walker? Haw haw haw! Enjoy your tee time. -a Habs fan.
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