I once loved Hockey.
When I was 6, I remember throwing a tantrum when my sister wouldn't let me watch a Maple Leafs / Bruins preseason game (I promised her half of my allowance and I got my way, in case you were wondering). In the many years that have followed, my love for the sport has faded, because of the constipated play that was the hallmark of the dead puck era, and because of the overexpansion into cities that had never seen ice, except in their cocktails.
But I am Canadian where, NHL is in our DNA, and I do want the sport to thrive for many decades to come. That being said, what has most disappointed me is how the NHL has allowed every opportunity to establish itself as a League to be taken seriously, slip through its fingers. So here is yet another chance to draw a line in the sand and although it is a difficult decision, it is one that has to be made. The NHL must suspend Scott Nichol for life.
Nichol's disgusting cheap shot on Sabres Defenceman Jaroslav Spacek was utterly reprehensible and a 9 game suspension is an absolute joke. What is it going to take for Hockey's powers that be to yank their collective heads out of the sand? For Nichol to miss his intended target by 3 inches, connecting with Spacek's temple and possibly maiming or killing him? Perhaps I am exagerating to convey my point but is a situation like that so unfathomable.
Their will be those that see such an action as making Nichol a scapegoat whereas former Canuck Todd Bertuzzi was reinstated the next season for a similar attack on Colorado's Steve Moore and that the NHL wasn't brave enough to give a 'star' player like bertuzzi a more severe penalty. Examine the Bertuzzi situation more closely. The Canucks were a talented team poised to make a serious Stanley Cup run. The suspension took away one of their most important contributors and the media distractions that followed, ultimately crippled Vancouver's shot at a championship. The Canucks have been a mediocore, also ran ever since. Bertuzzi on the other hand, has since been traded to the panthers and has yet to recapture the all around game that once made him one of the most dominating power forwards in the League. Was Bertuzzi's punishment severe and effective? Yes. But did it prove to be a deterrant? Absolutely not.
So regardless of who the next offender is, the NHL must increase the severity of the penalty. By no means is this an easy verdict to deliver, but it must be delivered in order that the NHL sever itself from its reputation for thuggery and so that the sport of Hockey can be appreciated for its speed, skill, and clean physical play.
Like it or not, the cliche that is synonomous with the sport is, 'I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out'. Until the League takes a hard line on this issue it will always act as red headed stepchild to the other 3 major sports.
The buck, or in this case the puck, must stop here.
Gotta go, 'The Ringer' is on.
When I was 6, I remember throwing a tantrum when my sister wouldn't let me watch a Maple Leafs / Bruins preseason game (I promised her half of my allowance and I got my way, in case you were wondering). In the many years that have followed, my love for the sport has faded, because of the constipated play that was the hallmark of the dead puck era, and because of the overexpansion into cities that had never seen ice, except in their cocktails.
But I am Canadian where, NHL is in our DNA, and I do want the sport to thrive for many decades to come. That being said, what has most disappointed me is how the NHL has allowed every opportunity to establish itself as a League to be taken seriously, slip through its fingers. So here is yet another chance to draw a line in the sand and although it is a difficult decision, it is one that has to be made. The NHL must suspend Scott Nichol for life.
Nichol's disgusting cheap shot on Sabres Defenceman Jaroslav Spacek was utterly reprehensible and a 9 game suspension is an absolute joke. What is it going to take for Hockey's powers that be to yank their collective heads out of the sand? For Nichol to miss his intended target by 3 inches, connecting with Spacek's temple and possibly maiming or killing him? Perhaps I am exagerating to convey my point but is a situation like that so unfathomable.
Their will be those that see such an action as making Nichol a scapegoat whereas former Canuck Todd Bertuzzi was reinstated the next season for a similar attack on Colorado's Steve Moore and that the NHL wasn't brave enough to give a 'star' player like bertuzzi a more severe penalty. Examine the Bertuzzi situation more closely. The Canucks were a talented team poised to make a serious Stanley Cup run. The suspension took away one of their most important contributors and the media distractions that followed, ultimately crippled Vancouver's shot at a championship. The Canucks have been a mediocore, also ran ever since. Bertuzzi on the other hand, has since been traded to the panthers and has yet to recapture the all around game that once made him one of the most dominating power forwards in the League. Was Bertuzzi's punishment severe and effective? Yes. But did it prove to be a deterrant? Absolutely not.
So regardless of who the next offender is, the NHL must increase the severity of the penalty. By no means is this an easy verdict to deliver, but it must be delivered in order that the NHL sever itself from its reputation for thuggery and so that the sport of Hockey can be appreciated for its speed, skill, and clean physical play.
Like it or not, the cliche that is synonomous with the sport is, 'I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out'. Until the League takes a hard line on this issue it will always act as red headed stepchild to the other 3 major sports.
The buck, or in this case the puck, must stop here.
Gotta go, 'The Ringer' is on.
posted by average john at 9:30 PM
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