Secret Squirrel has turned his attention to events that have taken place in the Canadian sport of Ice Hockey,in the NHL,and Squirrel has happened to see certain events transpire,between players,of a rather dubious nature, involving penalties of a rather strange nature for interference coupled with a match penalty(player ejected from the game for same),on two occasions,both resulting in serious injury to one of the other, and yet has seen a different outcome, not in there refereeing, but in the after punishments meated out by the NHL itself.This perplexes Squirrel,and, needless to say, displeases Squirrel.Now,let us consider that violence,of various sorts, has been a part of ice hockey since at least the early 1900s.More modern examples of violence include brawls, fan involvement, physical abuse of officials, and deliberately injuring opponents,even yet biting opponents(do they taste like chicken?). Violent actions, such as kicking, hitting from behind, and prohibited stickwork(they have hit each other over the head with their ice hockey sticks), are penalized with suspensions or fines,and in some cases local policing actions. Fighting, or fisticuffs, is also penalized but is considered by many hockey enthusiasts, particularly in North America, to be quite distinct from stick-swinging or other violent acts,but again, not to the local constabularies which have been noted to press aussault charges.The referees are there to meat out the punishments, and they do,and in some cases, the courts have too(particularly those in the Canadian City Of Toronto).
But afterwards,after the referees award their penalities for the said misconduct, for the more violent acts, the league,the NHL, must meet in the boardroom to discuss the incidents,investigate, and meat out more punishment as necessary, in all equity and fairness,consisting of fines,suspensions, and sometimes fines and suspensions. However, one sees flaws in league function with regards to punishments in certain incidents,one sees inequity,inequality in the decisions meated out.Hardly fairness,equality, justice for all, no indeed. Perhaps it is time for the lawyers to enter in to the fray,and take the NHL to court for certain incidents,to secure compensation for their then clients, and punishment for the most severe miscreants in the NHL,since the NHL seems to have a perplexing inequality with respect to said after the fact punishments it meats out.The
NHL has staretd to exhibit an inability to fairly judge events which occur on the frozen ice surface,within it's boardroom and perhaps it is time to make the NHL legally accountable.
The league has acted grandly in some cases, such as Dale Hunter given one of the NHL's longest suspension records: 21 games for delivering a late hit to Pierre Turgeon from behind.Late in the deciding Game 6 of the 1993 Patrick Division Semifinals between the Capitals and New York Islanders, Turgeon stole the puck from Hunter and scored, putting the game out of reach. Hunter, who was trailing Turgeon on the play, checked Turgeon well after the goal as he started to celebrate. Turgeon sustained a separated shoulder from the hit, causing him to miss all but Game 7 against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round, as well as most of the series against the Montreal Canadiens in the conference finals. New NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, who had earlier promised to crack down on violence, suspended Hunter for the first 21 games of the 1993–94 season—at the time, the longest suspension in league history for an on-ice incident (in terms of games missed).However,Bettman's still
present,but the league has fallen considerably off the wagon in terms of league punishments for violent incidents.
Let's have a serious look at Boston Bruins defenceman,Zdeno Chara, and an atrocity committed on Montreal Canadiens player Max Pacioretty.............
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdkPZrGL21I
Here we see Zdeno Chara's late hit on Max Pacioretty in Boston's 4-1 loss on 08/03/2011.
Pacioretty suffered a severe concussion and a broken vertebra in his neck on the hit.Like many of you, I saw the video. Then I saw the other pictures, images clearly showing that Chara not only knew what he was doing and where he was on the ice, but also that he intentionally pushed Pacioretty on the turnbuckle, driving his head towards it with his left arm.Chara received a penalty for interference and a match penalty as well.
The NHL rendered the decision,the league’s decision, to not suspend Zdeno Chara for his hit on Max Pacioretty , not even yet a fine, reasoned that there was no malicious intent,but on seeing the video for yourself you have to question things grandly,also take a look at this image of the hit,
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/NHL-No-suspension-no-fine-for-Zdeno-Chara-on-P?urn=nhl-331961
and at
http://habsterix.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/charapacioretty.jpg
One has to question the league on their "no malicious intent" reasoning,the image is quite plain, the truth,the plain truth, speaks for itself, speaks of all things to do with the term malicious,pre meditated,planned, a conscious act and yet there is
the strange ruling of the league,and there is the picture,the image of the act, the intent,...
Now we see a hit on a Boston player, late, rendering him semi-consious, concussion,and we find the league, et all, rendering a 4 game suspension on the Vancouver player,unhesitatingly.So we have a conflict, Montreal-Boston, Boston-Vancouver,and an outcome in one, yet not in the other.
There seemed to be no malicious intent on the hit Vancouver's Aaron Rome levelled on rendered on the Boston player Nathan Horton,it was at center ice, no post to run the lad's head in to, and quite clean as a matter of fact, just a touch late,the hit by the Boston Player Chara on Pacioretty was also a tuch late, but with the added flare of running Pacioretty's head in to a post...."Two factors were considered in reaching this decision," the NHL's representative said in a news release "The hit by Rome was clearly beyond what is acceptable in terms of how late it was delivered after Horton had released the puck and it caused a significant injury." Well the hit on Pacioretty was late, rendered an interference penalty, and quite clearly he ran the lad's head in to a post yet the NHL's decision there was..........to do nothing at all, no suspension, no fine.
Curious.
Lets look at the Rome Horton video,for which Rome also got a interference major and a match penalty...........
http://guyism.com/sports/video-aaron-rome-knocks-out-nathan-horton.html
We see a late hit,and the lads head runs in to a solid, shoulder, not a post, but hey what's the difference between a
shoulder and a post.The NHL seems to think so, but not many others do.The Boston player had a severe concussion, the Montreal player ,on his hit by a Boston player, had a severe concussion and fractured vertabrae........more.Fascinating are the league's differing decisions.No the league must be taken to task over its operations, operations which are not in the least satisfactory,nor can one say fair and equitable, but as to a punishment for such misconduct, yes, that's grand,with respect to the Boston Vancouver incident(the Horton incident) but when one looks at the lack of league action with respect to the Pichorretty incident(Montreal Boston), one must soundly and roundly condemn the league, and wonder if it is wise that it is to be left to it's own devices in policing the league.The policies and politics of hockey in the NHL leave one seeing inequity, iniquity,inequality, not with respect to the refereeing but with respect to league diciplines hidden in the board
room.Secret Squirrel is displeased.
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