Wheel o' Stephanie (formerly Shanny)

Don't mean to overreact here, the nhl has a chance to stand behind it's product and show the rest of the sporting world that it needs to be taken seriously like the other three sports. If someone were to swing the light side of a baseball bat in someone's face, you can imagine the outrage in the baseball world, the suspension would be at least forty games or more. If Bettman wants to attract the new fans and brand his product in a professional manner then make this illegal act mean something in the form of a legitamate suspension time wise. A twenty game "what were you thinking and never do this again" suspension would've been more like it.

 

im not arguing against Duncan Keith sitting, just that real world scenarios don't equate to NHL ones. for instance, you can't step up on a co-worker and lay them out cleanly shoulder to shoulder. its unfortunate really.

 

I understand what you"re saying, in the real world you aren't already in the middle of mixing it up here and there. So let's leave the real world out of it and look at this for what it was. You're given a stick to play a game and are expected to use it in a responsible and reasonable way. He intentionally swung a stick at someones head, which has nothing to do with the game and not the reason why you use one in hockey.
Let's look at precedent, McSorley swung a stick at brashears head and was charged with assault and given a 23 game suspension plus the playoffs. Difference? Brashear was injured, which makes no sense, and marty was classified as a "goon" which amounts to a 2nd class citizen in the eyes of the league. This is totally preferrential treatment to a higher tier player against your average joe, charlie coyle.

 

You make some great points, Skinny and i tend to agree with you.

I dont believe precedents was followed in this case and it seems as tho these days in the NHL it all depends on who you are and the severity of the injury.

I wonder how many games he would have gotten if he hit him with more destruction than a broken or bloody nose.

One thing for certain... Keith will be well rested come playoff time.

By the way... Im not a Duncan Keith or Hawks hater here. I just think the NHL is really wishy washy on these cases and I blame Bettman. Gary needs to step up and at least give an opinion and make a statement on just where the NHL draws the line on stick/weapons to the head.

[video]https://youtu.be/l2EGRziK0_0[/video]

 

Unreal, that one on carter resembles the marty incident so much. That's so true, one day someone will lose an eye and then you'll get your tough guy turned analysts like pj stock not defend the code like the scumbag he is.

 

I think the last three posts (from Matty, skinny, & Will) were excellent; great dialog between informed and passionate hockey minds.

Earlier I stated that I expected a shorter suspension than what Duncan got. I based that on how I view the NHL's process, and "fairness" is not part of their thinking. The league has their "image" as their uppermost concern. The cabal of 30 place the "bottom line" as the most important thing.

Until they codify these offenses, i.e., pre establish the penalties for certain offenses much like the criminal justice system, I think the maddening capriciousness of their rulings will continue. They need to put more sting in this for the teams (read: owners) too. A player's action, to a degree, reflects the culture of the organization. When the owner has to pay a meaningful fine, or perhaps even risk salary cap space, then the word will get down to the lockerroom that "we won't countenance this horseshit".

Make all fines and lost player salaries HRR. That would reduce the pool of money for the salary cap for the entire league. That hurts the owners that want to spend to win; the players who want to earn more; and, it tarnishes the image of the league.

If the league, the owners, and the PA cannot find a way to mitigate the ridiculous number of thuggish incidents, then they need to consider an independent (truly independent) panel to render all decisions on punishment.

 

Suspensions are based on who's doing the swinging and who's on the receiving end. If coyle swung the stick in keith's face it would've been 15 games no questions asked. I always go back to the 80's, there was that kid that got called up and in his first game looking to impress he laid out gretzky with a great check. Instead of being rewarded he never played another game and was never heard from again.

 

This is not an attack on the blackhawks, I happen to think they're a model franchise in today's nhl. This is about the double standard rulings we so often see where gary's influence in undeniable.

 

If only they set the bar in 2007 or 2008 instead of only a couple years prior to the CBA negotiation, they might have done more to prevent this stuff. At the very least they would have been able to set stronger precedents.

Keith gets off light.
The sport permits fighting, charging, interference, and all sorts of "accountability" (excuse me as I gag about all the bullshit the league holds dear) to retaliate against hits that never should be allowed to happen anyway.

This is the "classy" and professional way to deal with an abrasive piece of trash:

Keith should have done that instead, then Lennie wouldn't be drumming up the fake or late (by 3 or 4 years) outrage about this event.

Or you take the less, but still legal, classy way and score a goal to get some payback...like Hall (pretend it wasn't his goal)


Shawn likes fighting, he knows classiestness and would never do something dirty.


So yeah, the league is a joke and has their pants down. Raffi didn't give them enough reason to find some teeth, so it's foolish to think this may change anything. That said, maybe because it's an increasingly polarizing Chicago franchise involved, it may lead the league to embrace public sentiment/opinion a little more when it comes to supplemental discipline. I'm not very hopeful that anything will change, the PA will trump anything short of sponsors abandoning the league. I wouldn't have complained if the league sat him for the year even though there was no precedent to give him much more than they gave him already.

 

I really don't see a double standard.
I just see a consistently weak and increasingly reliable standard.

 

I think the ship to respectability (in terms of supplemental discipline) sailed away with Capt Matt Cooke at the helm 4 seasons ago.

Since they only nailed Keith for one game before with his stickwork, they can only do so much before the PA makes a giant expensive shit storm. They were already taking away 150K, the PA doesn't like that. IF they go much further, not only would it be unprecedented, the league invites a powerful franchise owner (who stays quiet and off to the side) and the PA to start disrupting business. Not as much is on the line as in 11' or 12' with the CBA looming, but there are still some very big $$$ issues coming up on the horizon.

 

Wait, I take this back, I'm not sure what you mean exactly.

 

Refer to Dan's post about the franchise being responsible.

 

This paragragh stood out to me. It sounds to me the NHL is limited and has it's hands tied because of the union and the BOG. Kinda implies that the talk of safety and cleaning up the game and ridding it of cheap shots and fighting is just talk coming out of the side of Gary's mouth when he is addressing those particular issues.

If the NHL has to base it's disciplinary conclusions based on what the reperecussions from the union might be there is nothing going to change. If they are following a standard that has been set in stone by accepting the last CBA... shame on them for night having the hind-sight to know this was and is going to be an issue.

 

The suspensions are weak, but, the 4th liners seem to get a few more games most of the time.

 

I believe you're right about the league having their hands tied. An arbitor just knocked a suspension by half, mostly on the grounds of compensation rather than playing time imo.

It is talk coming out of the side of Gary's mouth, but he's just the front man, the PR guy.
The second bolded part is why I call the league archaic, dinosaur-like, and mickey-mouse. Nothing changes because if any one rule adversely favors or disfavors one side over the other, there's going to be hell to pay...or money to pay from one pot to the other.

I'm not sure what the answer is. It's too beneficial, and too energy consuming, for both sides to pick particular and/or isolated issues to stand on (and die on if necessary).

All this stuff is part of a big moving puzzle, all it takes is a few people to see something a little differently and everything gets clogged up in my opinion. I think Fehr and Bettman are the only two that can see the whole thing based on their track records. I can't imagine how challenging it is to get the groups they represent on board with common goals...like player safety.

 

I missed your post before, shame on me.
The other day I was thinking about the bolded part when they were talking about Keith on the radio. I was thinking something along the exact same lines. I was going the opposite direction with the money though. I say add it on to the following year's HRR before the split.

Stop with the charity fund and tack suspension cash onto HRR. Owners get half their money back and players get the money back indirectly. The overwhelming majority of PA membership will not be suspended but almost every franchise will have some payroll vaporized on what is probably an inefficient charity (the voices make me question charities).

The CBA allows for a % to diverge from the cap midpoint, meaning floor teams aren't going to be penalized as badly for any rise in the cap floor too. Before the teams were +/- 8 million, now they go up or down as a % rather than fixed amount. This change will fit now and fit better with what will likely happen in the next CBA in my opinion.

nice use of "Cabal" btw, I always enjoy when somebody isn't as lazy with language as I am.

 

I see what you're saying. From one side I agree.

Overall, once TOI, salaries, and precedent are taken into account, I think they've done a pretty good job keeping things consistent (bad).

Suspensions are counted by days out of the season, not just games. I believe they focus on the salaries, more than playing time lost. I think that's why we've seen some suspensions +/- a day or two from what people were expecting.

 

i think the suspended player should lose his parking privilege and have to park at the outer realm of parking, and walk the mile the fans do. players, coaches and owners should pony up in the fine category. arbitration on suspensions is laughable. repeat offenses with teams losing draft picks would hit that team hard and this is a team game.

 

Kadri suspended 4 games for cross-check on the Wings, Glendening.

NEW YORK - Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri has been suspended for four games, without pay, for cross-checking Detroit Red Wings forward Luke Glendening during NHL Game No. 1170 in Toronto on Saturday, April 2, the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety announced today.

The incident occurred at 7:23 of the second period. Kadri was assessed a two-minute penalty for cross-checking.

Kadri is considered a repeat offender under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and, based on his average annual salary, will forfeit $200,000. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.