I am leaving town for a few days so don't expect anything here for a minute.
And I don't have time to really comment on two important Hockey Cop issues.
The Simmonds banana thrower was charged.
I leave you with this thought. What if some prospect is playing in one of these games and delivers a blow that merits suspension from regular season games but is sent down before the season starts? I don't know. No time to wonder about that now.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Signs of Troubled Support In Winnipeg Already?
I was checking out the roster trim announcement to see if Scheifele was being sent down to St. John's or if he's still in the hunt. He's still in Winnipeg with two games left, along with another up and comer, Postma. But it was the last paragraph that struck me as potentially alarming.
"Jets next pre-season home game is scheduled for Wednesday, September 28th at 7:30 pm against the Carolina Hurricanes. The game will be broadcast on TSN and TSN-Jets. Individual tickets are still available, [sic]"
Individual tickets are still available? Really? Isn't this the coming back of an era? Isn't the city so hungry for hockey that they just can't stand themselves? How can there possibly be individual tickets still avaiable in the smallest NHL arena during the genesis of the Jets triumphant return?
Maybe it was a typo. After all, the sentence did end in a comma, not a period like most do. I should judge that harshly on grammar and spelling. Have you read this blog? I make stupid mistakes all the time,
But there might be a realistic explanation as to why there's some tickets ready to buy. Big sporting events sometimes have an unusual side effect of creating the illusion they are sold out and impossible to get tickets when in fact there are seats available. The Braves played the Red Sox and Yankees at Turner Field a few season ago and there was massive hype for the games. But they didn't sell out because there was no walk up. There was a great amount of presale. In fact, all of the parking lots were sold out before the games. But there were tickets for sale at the box office. It's just that no one showed up at the stadium to get them. The few that did were all shocked. They caught a bus to the stadium in hopes that maybe something was there, but planned on paying lots of money to a scalper.
Maybe that's what happened. Maybe Winnipeggers just assumed that there were no tickets left and just didn't bother looking. Maybe. I can understand that. But, now there's an article talking about the potential new face of the Jets and it mentions that tickets are for sale. Surely they will be jumped on immediately, right?
The article was published at 2:00 pm (est) on Tuesday. Surely SURELY when I check Ticketmaster, there's nothing available anymore. Not in Canada. Not in Winnipeg. That can't be.
Note the time. Almost a day later than the press release. And aisle seats too, down low. I did a little bit of searching and there's nothing in the 300 section, only single(s) in the 200, but the high dollar (excuse me high looney) seats in the 100 section are there.
Before I explain my research, let me say I know that ticket availability is subject to change quickly. Teams will sometimes hold on to tickets for players or emergencies or groups or whatever for a while. Then, as it gets closer to game time, release those seats to the general public when it becomes more apparent they won't be needed for whatever reason they were being held on for. Still doesn't change the fact that seats were available for the MTS Centre at the time the article was written and the time I checked out Ticketmaster myself.
I looked at the other Canadian teams with remaining preseason games too. Montreal doesn't have anything for their game against the Lightning. There are less than 100 seats in all of the others, including the Vancouver games, and the games in Toronto and Calgary. These teams are utilizing the new interactive map with Ticketmaster making it extrodinarily easy to see what's left.
The Jets are not on board yet, so I don't know exact availablity at this time. It may be just those three seats I found. But even if its just those two seats, that's a sign.
I know the markets are different and Winnipeg is much smaller, but this should be alarming. Tickets are available in this solid hockey market that's so awesome. That's a problem to me. Not even the scalpers are snatching them up? I understand there's a law against selling tickets in Manitoba for more than face value, but still.
I understand it's the preseason and it's (for lack of better terms) not really the team and not really games. But see, in every single other NHL city, you are looking at the same thing. Prospects playing the non-game. And they are sold out or close to selling out in established markets for the remaining games in other Canadian cities. I didn't check to see how the attendance was for the other preseason games, just those that haven't happened yet. Some teams have a new look with new uniforms they are wearing (Nashville especially, but not Florida who will not wear red till opening night) or new players (Jagr on the Flyers comes to mind). But the Jets are new new new. And the hype over the tickets is incredible.
They sold out of the alotted 13000 season tickets in a few minutes. Now the remaining 2000 tickets will be sold based on a lottery system. That's how in demand we are suppose to believe they are. Fans at the first preseason game in Winnipeg (which did sell out) were quoted as saying that this was the only chance they could see the team because of the limited ticket availability for the rest of the season. Why are games against the Canes tonight and Nashville on Friday different (besides the obvious not-being-first)?
I would assume that season ticket holders got preseason tickets as well in their package. So that leaves the 2000 tickets remaining. 6000 tickets total over 3 games for a city that's been begging for hockey to return for 15 years. Some might argue that they purchased the season tickets. But that's still only 19000 tickets available for purchase for the new Jets so far (13000 season tickets plus the remaining 6000 single game preseason tickets left). And they haven't met those numbers. Even if season tickets weren't included, that's still just 45,000 tickets.
The lottery system for Winnipeg will limit a person to be considered just once this season to purchase individual game tickets. You have your name drawn before the next month's games and you can purchase up to four tickets for a game of your choice that month based on availability of course with others drawn for that month. The preseason is just first come, first serve. Buy for all three. Buy 10 tickets, a group of 20. Whatever.
Let's put this in comparison. Remember when I talked about the Florida Marlins game where only 347 people showed up? The official attendance was announced as 22,505. That means that 22,505 tickets were sold (maybe some comps too). Winnipeg, with a triumphant return to the NHL has sold less tickets for their first three games than the lowly Florida Marlins did against the Reds for one day game in August. Tickets that popular speculation says will not be able to be made up by fans that miss the opportunity, unlike Marlin fans. If you miss a particular game in Florida, you can find tickets for another game in Florida. But not Winnipeg.
I'd say there are signs of trouble.
And here's something else to consider. We will never know if there is trouble with the team for several years if we use the ticket sales as a messuring rod. Season tickets were sold on a multi-year contract only leaving 2000 single game tickets for years to come. Putting those tickets into a lottery system may have been smart because it will all be done in house. No one can confirm how many tickets are available for a particular game. No one will be able to tell if enough people even entered the lottery to sell out all the games in that allotment. But Winnipeg will sell out every game because any remaining ticket will be compensated towards someone boosting the number and putting butts in the seats, even if those people didn't pay for those seats. I'm sure some of the 22,505 in Florida were in the same category of freebies too. Doesn't change the fact that less than 19,000 or 45,000 tickets have been sold in Manitoba. It actually makes the team look worse if you consider some of those might be complimentary tickets as well, so I'm giving benefit of the doubt in assuming all tickets are tickets sold.
I'm not saying that the ticket number manipulation will certainly happen, but it will be difficult to confirm that it's not (unless attendance really starts to suffer, like in Florida where you can count the number of people in the stands over your lunch break by hand). The citizens of Winnipeg may legit sell out every game, I hope so. I'm just starting to see a small chink in the armor of the Winnipeg Jets' support. It may be more lip service than what a team really needs, people paying money.
"Jets next pre-season home game is scheduled for Wednesday, September 28th at 7:30 pm against the Carolina Hurricanes. The game will be broadcast on TSN and TSN-Jets. Individual tickets are still available, [sic]"
Individual tickets are still available? Really? Isn't this the coming back of an era? Isn't the city so hungry for hockey that they just can't stand themselves? How can there possibly be individual tickets still avaiable in the smallest NHL arena during the genesis of the Jets triumphant return?
Maybe it was a typo. After all, the sentence did end in a comma, not a period like most do. I should judge that harshly on grammar and spelling. Have you read this blog? I make stupid mistakes all the time,
But there might be a realistic explanation as to why there's some tickets ready to buy. Big sporting events sometimes have an unusual side effect of creating the illusion they are sold out and impossible to get tickets when in fact there are seats available. The Braves played the Red Sox and Yankees at Turner Field a few season ago and there was massive hype for the games. But they didn't sell out because there was no walk up. There was a great amount of presale. In fact, all of the parking lots were sold out before the games. But there were tickets for sale at the box office. It's just that no one showed up at the stadium to get them. The few that did were all shocked. They caught a bus to the stadium in hopes that maybe something was there, but planned on paying lots of money to a scalper.
Maybe that's what happened. Maybe Winnipeggers just assumed that there were no tickets left and just didn't bother looking. Maybe. I can understand that. But, now there's an article talking about the potential new face of the Jets and it mentions that tickets are for sale. Surely they will be jumped on immediately, right?
The article was published at 2:00 pm (est) on Tuesday. Surely SURELY when I check Ticketmaster, there's nothing available anymore. Not in Canada. Not in Winnipeg. That can't be.
Note the time. Almost a day later than the press release. And aisle seats too, down low. I did a little bit of searching and there's nothing in the 300 section, only single(s) in the 200, but the high dollar (excuse me high looney) seats in the 100 section are there.
Before I explain my research, let me say I know that ticket availability is subject to change quickly. Teams will sometimes hold on to tickets for players or emergencies or groups or whatever for a while. Then, as it gets closer to game time, release those seats to the general public when it becomes more apparent they won't be needed for whatever reason they were being held on for. Still doesn't change the fact that seats were available for the MTS Centre at the time the article was written and the time I checked out Ticketmaster myself.
I looked at the other Canadian teams with remaining preseason games too. Montreal doesn't have anything for their game against the Lightning. There are less than 100 seats in all of the others, including the Vancouver games, and the games in Toronto and Calgary. These teams are utilizing the new interactive map with Ticketmaster making it extrodinarily easy to see what's left.
The Jets are not on board yet, so I don't know exact availablity at this time. It may be just those three seats I found. But even if its just those two seats, that's a sign.
I know the markets are different and Winnipeg is much smaller, but this should be alarming. Tickets are available in this solid hockey market that's so awesome. That's a problem to me. Not even the scalpers are snatching them up? I understand there's a law against selling tickets in Manitoba for more than face value, but still.
I understand it's the preseason and it's (for lack of better terms) not really the team and not really games. But see, in every single other NHL city, you are looking at the same thing. Prospects playing the non-game. And they are sold out or close to selling out in established markets for the remaining games in other Canadian cities. I didn't check to see how the attendance was for the other preseason games, just those that haven't happened yet. Some teams have a new look with new uniforms they are wearing (Nashville especially, but not Florida who will not wear red till opening night) or new players (Jagr on the Flyers comes to mind). But the Jets are new new new. And the hype over the tickets is incredible.
They sold out of the alotted 13000 season tickets in a few minutes. Now the remaining 2000 tickets will be sold based on a lottery system. That's how in demand we are suppose to believe they are. Fans at the first preseason game in Winnipeg (which did sell out) were quoted as saying that this was the only chance they could see the team because of the limited ticket availability for the rest of the season. Why are games against the Canes tonight and Nashville on Friday different (besides the obvious not-being-first)?
I would assume that season ticket holders got preseason tickets as well in their package. So that leaves the 2000 tickets remaining. 6000 tickets total over 3 games for a city that's been begging for hockey to return for 15 years. Some might argue that they purchased the season tickets. But that's still only 19000 tickets available for purchase for the new Jets so far (13000 season tickets plus the remaining 6000 single game preseason tickets left). And they haven't met those numbers. Even if season tickets weren't included, that's still just 45,000 tickets.
The lottery system for Winnipeg will limit a person to be considered just once this season to purchase individual game tickets. You have your name drawn before the next month's games and you can purchase up to four tickets for a game of your choice that month based on availability of course with others drawn for that month. The preseason is just first come, first serve. Buy for all three. Buy 10 tickets, a group of 20. Whatever.
Let's put this in comparison. Remember when I talked about the Florida Marlins game where only 347 people showed up? The official attendance was announced as 22,505. That means that 22,505 tickets were sold (maybe some comps too). Winnipeg, with a triumphant return to the NHL has sold less tickets for their first three games than the lowly Florida Marlins did against the Reds for one day game in August. Tickets that popular speculation says will not be able to be made up by fans that miss the opportunity, unlike Marlin fans. If you miss a particular game in Florida, you can find tickets for another game in Florida. But not Winnipeg.
I'd say there are signs of trouble.
And here's something else to consider. We will never know if there is trouble with the team for several years if we use the ticket sales as a messuring rod. Season tickets were sold on a multi-year contract only leaving 2000 single game tickets for years to come. Putting those tickets into a lottery system may have been smart because it will all be done in house. No one can confirm how many tickets are available for a particular game. No one will be able to tell if enough people even entered the lottery to sell out all the games in that allotment. But Winnipeg will sell out every game because any remaining ticket will be compensated towards someone boosting the number and putting butts in the seats, even if those people didn't pay for those seats. I'm sure some of the 22,505 in Florida were in the same category of freebies too. Doesn't change the fact that less than 19,000 or 45,000 tickets have been sold in Manitoba. It actually makes the team look worse if you consider some of those might be complimentary tickets as well, so I'm giving benefit of the doubt in assuming all tickets are tickets sold.
I'm not saying that the ticket number manipulation will certainly happen, but it will be difficult to confirm that it's not (unless attendance really starts to suffer, like in Florida where you can count the number of people in the stands over your lunch break by hand). The citizens of Winnipeg may legit sell out every game, I hope so. I'm just starting to see a small chink in the armor of the Winnipeg Jets' support. It may be more lip service than what a team really needs, people paying money.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Suspension #6 of the Preseason, Not the One I Was Expecting
Anaheim Ducks forward Jean-Francois Jacques has been suspended for the remainder of the preseason and for five regular-season games for leaving the bench on a legal line change for the purpose of starting a fight with Vancouver Canucks forward Mike Duco during a preseason game on Sept. 24, NHL Senior Vice President of Player Safety Brendan Shanahan announced Tuesday.
I was expecting a ruling on the Tom Sestito's hit during the Monday game between the Flyers and Rangers. It is the first time I'm aware of such a hit that is expecting a response from Shanahan.
I don't know why I was suspecting an immediate response. If you look at the six suspensions, the only ones that has occurred the day after are ones where the team is playing that day. One of those was Buffalo's Boyes. Plus, that wasn't as bad of an incident as the others so far this preseason.
Calgary's Letourneau-Leblond suspension came two days after the incident and two days before their next game.
The duel suspensions for seperate incidents with Minnesota's Staubitz and Columbus' Wisniewski did not happen like the previous examples. The game was on Friday the 23. Both players were suspended indefinately as Minnesota played the next day (Saturday) and Columbus played two days later on Sunday. The suspensions came on Monday the 26th, the day before Minnesota's next game on Tuesday and the day of Columbus' next game as they played that on the 26th. The indefinate suspensions gave the League the chance to properly look at the situations.
Philadelphia's Shelley was suspended on the 22nd, the day after his hit and the day of the next Flyers game (the one against the Red Wings with the banana). By the way, the London Police are reporting that they think they've identified the tosser and another banana was thrown towards the ice while Simmonds was skating, but the fruit never made it onto the rink.
Now, we get to Anaheim's Jacques. He was automatically suspended from the Ducks next game for starting a fight in the last five minutes of regulation. The Ducks next game was the day after his fight. The further suspension came the day before the next Ducks game, a full three days later.
I say all that to say this: We should expect to hear something from Shanahan on Sestito today, Wednesday. The Flyers next game is on Thursday. That is assuming there will be a suspension. If there is not, it will be interesting to see if there is a statement or video on that.
I'm waiting for that day too, whenever it comes. The day when there's a safety issue on the ice that Shanahan decides not suspend or further discipline. Will he explain why? Time will tell.
The Philadelphia Flyers are really dominating my blog posts of late, aren't they?
I was expecting a ruling on the Tom Sestito's hit during the Monday game between the Flyers and Rangers. It is the first time I'm aware of such a hit that is expecting a response from Shanahan.
I don't know why I was suspecting an immediate response. If you look at the six suspensions, the only ones that has occurred the day after are ones where the team is playing that day. One of those was Buffalo's Boyes. Plus, that wasn't as bad of an incident as the others so far this preseason.
Calgary's Letourneau-Leblond suspension came two days after the incident and two days before their next game.
The duel suspensions for seperate incidents with Minnesota's Staubitz and Columbus' Wisniewski did not happen like the previous examples. The game was on Friday the 23. Both players were suspended indefinately as Minnesota played the next day (Saturday) and Columbus played two days later on Sunday. The suspensions came on Monday the 26th, the day before Minnesota's next game on Tuesday and the day of Columbus' next game as they played that on the 26th. The indefinate suspensions gave the League the chance to properly look at the situations.
Philadelphia's Shelley was suspended on the 22nd, the day after his hit and the day of the next Flyers game (the one against the Red Wings with the banana). By the way, the London Police are reporting that they think they've identified the tosser and another banana was thrown towards the ice while Simmonds was skating, but the fruit never made it onto the rink.
Now, we get to Anaheim's Jacques. He was automatically suspended from the Ducks next game for starting a fight in the last five minutes of regulation. The Ducks next game was the day after his fight. The further suspension came the day before the next Ducks game, a full three days later.
I say all that to say this: We should expect to hear something from Shanahan on Sestito today, Wednesday. The Flyers next game is on Thursday. That is assuming there will be a suspension. If there is not, it will be interesting to see if there is a statement or video on that.
I'm waiting for that day too, whenever it comes. The day when there's a safety issue on the ice that Shanahan decides not suspend or further discipline. Will he explain why? Time will tell.
The Philadelphia Flyers are really dominating my blog posts of late, aren't they?
Results of Simmonds Slur
The NHL has ruled on at least one issue I expected them to rule on. And it came from my old friend Colin Campbell. (Where's the sarcasm font?)
Wayne Simmonds will not be punished for the slur "possibly" made on the ice towards Sean Avery, an advocate for gay rights though not a homosexual himself.
Campbell issued the following statement:
"All Players, Coaches and Officials in the National Hockey League deserve the respect of their peers, and have the absolute right to function in a work environment that is free from racially or sexually-based innuendo or derision. This is the National Hockey League's policy and it will remain so going forward.
"It also is important to emphasize that the National Hockey League holds, and will continue to hold, our Players to higher standards with respect to their conduct both on and off the ice. While we recognize that the emotion involved in certain on-ice confrontations may lead to the use of highly charged and sometimes offensive language and commentary, certain lines cannot be crossed. Specifically, we have for many years emphasized to our Clubs and Players that commentary directed at the race or ethnicity of other participants in the game (or even non-participants), or that is otherwise socially or morally inappropriate or potentially hurtful -- including as it may relate to sexual orientation -- is absolutely unacceptable and will not be tolerated.
"With that as background, we have looked into the allegations relating to the possible use of a homophobic slur by a Flyers player in the Rangers/Flyers preseason game last night in Philadelphia. Since there are conflicting accounts of what transpired on the ice, we have been unable to substantiate with the necessary degree of certainty what was said and by whom. Specifically, Flyers Player Wayne Simmonds has expressly denied using the homophobic slur he is alleged to have said. Additionally, none of the on-ice officials close to the altercation in question heard any inappropriate slurs uttered by either of the primary antagonists. In light of this, we are unable at this time to take any disciplinary action with respect to last night's events. To the extent we become aware of additional information conclusively establishing that an inappropriate slur was invoked, we are reserving the option to revisit the matter."
A couple of things. Saying that there are conflicting reports is a bit of stretch. Avery says it was said. Simmonds just said "things were said, but he doesn't recall that". And the officials didn't hear anything. That's one positive, one i-don't-recall, and one i-didn't-hear-nothing.
Here's where things get complicated. I'm referring to the original statements Simmonds made to a pool of reporters after the game. This is that video again, if you want to see it.
And it's not just me that thinks Simmonds didn't give a denial. The New York Post had an article published at 2:08am after the incident. And I quote:
"Though Simmonds implied Avery had provoked him through words of his own, the Flyers player did not deny the charge, stating repeatedly that he could not remember exactly what words were exchanged early in Philadelphia's 4-3 victory."
Again, proof that it is not a denial. But in the official statements sent to the NHL, Simmonds denied saying the statements. ABC News reports, quote,
"Video replay appeared to catch Simmonds making an anti-gay slur against Avery during a preseason game in Philadelphia on Monday night. Avery confirmed that Simmonds made the remark, but Simmonds didn't reveal if he did. However, Campbell said in his statement that Simmonds "expressly denied" making it."
That report came out today after the ruling.
I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I may have to agree with Campbell in not punishing. No official heard it. There's no audio of the slur, just video. And I cannot for the life of me find any footage of the incident.
DO NOT LOOK AT THE YOUTUBE RESULTS IF YOU SEARCH FOR THE SIMMONDS SLUR.
There are about five videos that are labeled in such a way that make you think the video will show the incident. They don't. They are all the same video with still images and directions to a seperate website claiming YouTube has a policy against the posting of the original content. That link will not give you the results you were looking for. The link is corrupt.
The closest I have is this from the CBC which came out before the ruling.
But I must say you can't completely trust the video. Yeah, it may really REALLY look like he made a slur, but "vaccum flag" would look bad if you only read the persons lips. And no, I don't know what Simmonds is accussed of saying. I'm sure that he did actually use a slur, but I can't prove it without a video. Even with video, is that enough to actually suspend someone? It would set a bad level of precidence. This wasn't a gesture gone unnoticed by the officals. You can absolutely confirm that. Without audio for a verbal attack, there is that level of doubt (even if it's minimal) that has to make the video evidence inconclusive. It would be wrong of the NHL to start suspending players without absolute evidence.
So Campbell might be right in saying the evidence doesn't justify a suspension. He did leave the door open to revisit the case, but I can't believe that will ever happen. I think this might be the right move, not even taking into account Simmonds recent victim status of a racial act.
For anyone curious, Campbell made the ruling on this potential discipline and not Brendan Shanahan because Shanahan is in charge of player safety and this incident was not a safety issue.
Now, let's look at the fallout of the decision not to discipline Simmonds. Remember how I said that a lack of discipline against Simmonds could result in the gay rights groups having a problem with the NHL? Yeah. It happened, but not nearly to the extend I thought might happen.
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation called for Simmonds to apologize for the slur and pressed the NHL to educate its fans about such remarks.
"Hate speech and anti-gay slurs have no place on the ice rink," GLAAD acting president Mike Thompson said in a statement. "The word that Simmonds used is the same word that is hurled at LGBT youth on the playground and in our schools, creating a climate of intolerance and hostility.
"He should not only apologize for this anti-gay outburst, but the Philadelphia Flyers and the NHL have a responsibility to take action and educate their fans about why this word is unacceptable."
GLAAD said it has talked to the Flyers and the NHL about what specific steps can be taken. The organization added that it has worked with sports leagues such as the NBA, Major League Baseball, and the WWE to address issues of homophobia in sports.
I agree with GLAAD. They seem extrodinarily level headed with their suggested response to this incident. They didn't call for fines or donations. No speeches or community service. No suspension even. They simply want an apology and to have the NHL educate on homophobia in sports. Their Sports Resource Center doesn't exactly have a set plan readily available for public view, but does offer a few stats:
•Openly lesbian tennis player Billie Jean King was the first tennis start to be named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year in 1972.
•When asked if it was okay for openly gay athletes to participate in sports, over three-quarters of Sports Illustrated readers said “yes.”
•Many of the same readers (68%), however, also admitted it would hurt an athlete’s career to be openly gay.
•Even when openly LGBT athletes win big, like Matthew Mitcham’s Olympic gold in Beijing, the media often doesn’t include details about their stories and families like it does for their straight peers.
•There are more than 600 gay teams and leagues across the country, including basketball, rugby, softball, cycling, water polo, tennis, crew, soccer, football, volleyball and ice hockey.
•An openly transgender athlete has never competed in the Olympics, but media have started talking about the policies that make it hard for trans athletes to participate.
•Over 20,000 LGBT athletes participated in the Chicago Gay Games and the Montreal World Outgames in 2006.
While I cannot blindly accept a program without looking at some details, I certainly don't think it would be a bad thing to highly consider it and perhaps use some of their suggestions. But the apology? That's a no brainer. That needs to happen immediately. Even in the event that Simmonds didn't actually say a slur, there is no way he can convience people he didn't. Bite the bullet and talk about how certain phrases are wrong. He might be able to get away with just educating on the harm of words without having to admit he said the slur. You don't have to say there's an elephant in the room, but talk about the harm of animals with trunks and large ears and tusks.
I'm impressed with the tact that the NHL showed in issuing it's response, though I do think they should work with GLAAD in some way. What's the harm? Many will see it as a pure PR stunt and not really listen to the message. Some will actually listen and learn, a win for all. I just don't see it being very negative. In this day and age of such pomp and circumstance with the public relations aspect of professional sports, I can't see an attempt by the NHL to promote anti-homophobic behavior turning a huge number of people away from the NHL. Frankly, people have come to expect such actions and responses to these types of incidents.
The NHL is already taking a step in the right direction in a very small way with Campbell's statement, but more, I'm sure, could be done. I don't have a suggetion on that though at this time.
Wayne Simmonds will not be punished for the slur "possibly" made on the ice towards Sean Avery, an advocate for gay rights though not a homosexual himself.
Campbell issued the following statement:
"All Players, Coaches and Officials in the National Hockey League deserve the respect of their peers, and have the absolute right to function in a work environment that is free from racially or sexually-based innuendo or derision. This is the National Hockey League's policy and it will remain so going forward.
"It also is important to emphasize that the National Hockey League holds, and will continue to hold, our Players to higher standards with respect to their conduct both on and off the ice. While we recognize that the emotion involved in certain on-ice confrontations may lead to the use of highly charged and sometimes offensive language and commentary, certain lines cannot be crossed. Specifically, we have for many years emphasized to our Clubs and Players that commentary directed at the race or ethnicity of other participants in the game (or even non-participants), or that is otherwise socially or morally inappropriate or potentially hurtful -- including as it may relate to sexual orientation -- is absolutely unacceptable and will not be tolerated.
"With that as background, we have looked into the allegations relating to the possible use of a homophobic slur by a Flyers player in the Rangers/Flyers preseason game last night in Philadelphia. Since there are conflicting accounts of what transpired on the ice, we have been unable to substantiate with the necessary degree of certainty what was said and by whom. Specifically, Flyers Player Wayne Simmonds has expressly denied using the homophobic slur he is alleged to have said. Additionally, none of the on-ice officials close to the altercation in question heard any inappropriate slurs uttered by either of the primary antagonists. In light of this, we are unable at this time to take any disciplinary action with respect to last night's events. To the extent we become aware of additional information conclusively establishing that an inappropriate slur was invoked, we are reserving the option to revisit the matter."
A couple of things. Saying that there are conflicting reports is a bit of stretch. Avery says it was said. Simmonds just said "things were said, but he doesn't recall that". And the officials didn't hear anything. That's one positive, one i-don't-recall, and one i-didn't-hear-nothing.
Here's where things get complicated. I'm referring to the original statements Simmonds made to a pool of reporters after the game. This is that video again, if you want to see it.
And it's not just me that thinks Simmonds didn't give a denial. The New York Post had an article published at 2:08am after the incident. And I quote:
"Though Simmonds implied Avery had provoked him through words of his own, the Flyers player did not deny the charge, stating repeatedly that he could not remember exactly what words were exchanged early in Philadelphia's 4-3 victory."
Again, proof that it is not a denial. But in the official statements sent to the NHL, Simmonds denied saying the statements. ABC News reports, quote,
"Video replay appeared to catch Simmonds making an anti-gay slur against Avery during a preseason game in Philadelphia on Monday night. Avery confirmed that Simmonds made the remark, but Simmonds didn't reveal if he did. However, Campbell said in his statement that Simmonds "expressly denied" making it."
That report came out today after the ruling.
I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I may have to agree with Campbell in not punishing. No official heard it. There's no audio of the slur, just video. And I cannot for the life of me find any footage of the incident.
DO NOT LOOK AT THE YOUTUBE RESULTS IF YOU SEARCH FOR THE SIMMONDS SLUR.
There are about five videos that are labeled in such a way that make you think the video will show the incident. They don't. They are all the same video with still images and directions to a seperate website claiming YouTube has a policy against the posting of the original content. That link will not give you the results you were looking for. The link is corrupt.
The closest I have is this from the CBC which came out before the ruling.
But I must say you can't completely trust the video. Yeah, it may really REALLY look like he made a slur, but "vaccum flag" would look bad if you only read the persons lips. And no, I don't know what Simmonds is accussed of saying. I'm sure that he did actually use a slur, but I can't prove it without a video. Even with video, is that enough to actually suspend someone? It would set a bad level of precidence. This wasn't a gesture gone unnoticed by the officals. You can absolutely confirm that. Without audio for a verbal attack, there is that level of doubt (even if it's minimal) that has to make the video evidence inconclusive. It would be wrong of the NHL to start suspending players without absolute evidence.
So Campbell might be right in saying the evidence doesn't justify a suspension. He did leave the door open to revisit the case, but I can't believe that will ever happen. I think this might be the right move, not even taking into account Simmonds recent victim status of a racial act.
For anyone curious, Campbell made the ruling on this potential discipline and not Brendan Shanahan because Shanahan is in charge of player safety and this incident was not a safety issue.
Now, let's look at the fallout of the decision not to discipline Simmonds. Remember how I said that a lack of discipline against Simmonds could result in the gay rights groups having a problem with the NHL? Yeah. It happened, but not nearly to the extend I thought might happen.
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation called for Simmonds to apologize for the slur and pressed the NHL to educate its fans about such remarks.
"Hate speech and anti-gay slurs have no place on the ice rink," GLAAD acting president Mike Thompson said in a statement. "The word that Simmonds used is the same word that is hurled at LGBT youth on the playground and in our schools, creating a climate of intolerance and hostility.
"He should not only apologize for this anti-gay outburst, but the Philadelphia Flyers and the NHL have a responsibility to take action and educate their fans about why this word is unacceptable."
GLAAD said it has talked to the Flyers and the NHL about what specific steps can be taken. The organization added that it has worked with sports leagues such as the NBA, Major League Baseball, and the WWE to address issues of homophobia in sports.
I agree with GLAAD. They seem extrodinarily level headed with their suggested response to this incident. They didn't call for fines or donations. No speeches or community service. No suspension even. They simply want an apology and to have the NHL educate on homophobia in sports. Their Sports Resource Center doesn't exactly have a set plan readily available for public view, but does offer a few stats:
•Openly lesbian tennis player Billie Jean King was the first tennis start to be named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year in 1972.
•When asked if it was okay for openly gay athletes to participate in sports, over three-quarters of Sports Illustrated readers said “yes.”
•Many of the same readers (68%), however, also admitted it would hurt an athlete’s career to be openly gay.
•Even when openly LGBT athletes win big, like Matthew Mitcham’s Olympic gold in Beijing, the media often doesn’t include details about their stories and families like it does for their straight peers.
•There are more than 600 gay teams and leagues across the country, including basketball, rugby, softball, cycling, water polo, tennis, crew, soccer, football, volleyball and ice hockey.
•An openly transgender athlete has never competed in the Olympics, but media have started talking about the policies that make it hard for trans athletes to participate.
•Over 20,000 LGBT athletes participated in the Chicago Gay Games and the Montreal World Outgames in 2006.
While I cannot blindly accept a program without looking at some details, I certainly don't think it would be a bad thing to highly consider it and perhaps use some of their suggestions. But the apology? That's a no brainer. That needs to happen immediately. Even in the event that Simmonds didn't actually say a slur, there is no way he can convience people he didn't. Bite the bullet and talk about how certain phrases are wrong. He might be able to get away with just educating on the harm of words without having to admit he said the slur. You don't have to say there's an elephant in the room, but talk about the harm of animals with trunks and large ears and tusks.
I'm impressed with the tact that the NHL showed in issuing it's response, though I do think they should work with GLAAD in some way. What's the harm? Many will see it as a pure PR stunt and not really listen to the message. Some will actually listen and learn, a win for all. I just don't see it being very negative. In this day and age of such pomp and circumstance with the public relations aspect of professional sports, I can't see an attempt by the NHL to promote anti-homophobic behavior turning a huge number of people away from the NHL. Frankly, people have come to expect such actions and responses to these types of incidents.
The NHL is already taking a step in the right direction in a very small way with Campbell's statement, but more, I'm sure, could be done. I don't have a suggetion on that though at this time.
Jets Undefeated in Preseason "Home" Games
Though this contest was held in St. John's, the Jets were considered the home team and they beat the Senators 3-1.
Screw it. I'm exhausted after talking about that Avery Simmonds thing with the hit and 77 penalty minutes and Sestito's hit, so I'm just copying the whole article and giving no commentary myself.
My apologies / thanks to Brian Compton of NHL.com
--
For one night only, there was NHL hockey on "The Rock." And the fans genuinely appreciated every second of it.
When the final horn sounded Monday night, the Winnipeg Jets had earned a 3-1 victory against the Ottawa Senators at Mile One Centre in what was a tremendous conclusion to the 2011 Kraft Hockeyville festivities.
While the Jets won the game, the people of Conception Bay South, St. John's and other nearby communities in Newfoundland were the biggest winners. They proved once and for all how much they truly love this great sport.
"The crowd was really good," Jets coach Claude Noel said. "We felt welcomed. It was hard to say who they were cheering for, but it was all good. I thought it was very well-run and very professional. I think everything went real smoothly."
Noel's counterpart Monday agreed.
"I think it's awesome," Senators coach Paul MacLean said. "I enjoyed every minute of it. I'd like the result to be better, but it's a tremendous privilege to be in this League and if you have an opportunity to give something back to a small community, I think it's great. I think it's a great thing that Kraft does and it's a great thing the National Hockey League does. It's what makes us good."
It was special, indeed. Ottawa forward Colin Greening, a St. John's native, was in the starting lineup and had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play an NHL game in his hometown. Cody Porter, a 13-year-old youth hockey player from Conception Bay South who had a growth on his heart last month and flatlined twice on his way to the hospital, received a standing ovation as he walked out to center ice to drop the puck during an emotional pre-game ceremony. Fans clapped in unison to the music that blared through the speakers during play stoppages.
For the people of Newfoundland, this was no preseason game. This was their Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, and they treated it as such.
"I'd like to get a win, but it was still a great experience," Greening said. "I don't think there are other Newfoundlanders who can say they were able to play a game at home. It was very special to me. It was a lot of fun. I love the Newfoundland music. You never hear that in other arenas. It was nice to hear that."
Mark Scheifele broke a scoreless tie for the Jets at 1:19 of the second period. Senators goalie Alex Auld, who had denied all 16 shots he faced in the opening period, made a stop on an initial shot by Tim Stapleton, but Scheifele --Winnipeg's first-round draft pick (No. 7) in June -- was on the doorstep and backhanded the rebound home as the Jets grabbed a 1-0 lead. Scheifele also had a pair of goals in last Tuesday's 6-1 win against Columbus.
Troy Bodie put the Jets up by a pair with 3:36 remaining in the second period. With the teams at even strength, Bodie -- a 6-foot-4, 220-pound winger -- drove to the net and one-timed a nice feed from Patrice Cormier to make it 2-0.
"I felt like I had a game's worth (of shots) in 40 minutes," said Auld, who stopped 26 of 28 shots before cramping forced him to leave the game after the second period. "A lot of action, but it was good."
Mika Zibanejad, who was drafted by Ottawa immediately before Scheifele went to Winnipeg, cut the deficit in half with 14:15 left in the third as he took a pass from Sens captain Daniel Alfredsson and made a nifty move on Ondrej Pavelec before softly placing the puck past the Jets' goaltender to make it 2-1. But the Sens couldn't find the equalizer and Ben Maxwell restored Winnipeg's two-goal lead when he beat Mike McKenna with a wrister at 13:37.
"It was great to come here," Pavelec said. "There was a lot of kids in the stands, and they don't have many chances to see an NHL game. It was great that the NHL came to them and they could see the hockey game. A lot of kids play hockey here, so I think it was great for them. We had fun."
Everybody did, as Kraft Hockeyville -- a competition that seems to grow by leaps and bounds every year -- has evolved into a tremendous annual event.
"It's enjoyable for us," Sens forward Chris Neil said. "The fans come in here and they don't get to see us too often. How they respond to us … it's sold out for a pre-game skate. That just shows the intensity of the crowd. I applaud them."
--
These are tough to really talk about anyway since I didn't see the game. That will change when the regular season comes around as I can watch all the games online.
Screw it. I'm exhausted after talking about that Avery Simmonds thing with the hit and 77 penalty minutes and Sestito's hit, so I'm just copying the whole article and giving no commentary myself.
My apologies / thanks to Brian Compton of NHL.com
--
For one night only, there was NHL hockey on "The Rock." And the fans genuinely appreciated every second of it.
When the final horn sounded Monday night, the Winnipeg Jets had earned a 3-1 victory against the Ottawa Senators at Mile One Centre in what was a tremendous conclusion to the 2011 Kraft Hockeyville festivities.
While the Jets won the game, the people of Conception Bay South, St. John's and other nearby communities in Newfoundland were the biggest winners. They proved once and for all how much they truly love this great sport.
"The crowd was really good," Jets coach Claude Noel said. "We felt welcomed. It was hard to say who they were cheering for, but it was all good. I thought it was very well-run and very professional. I think everything went real smoothly."
Noel's counterpart Monday agreed.
"I think it's awesome," Senators coach Paul MacLean said. "I enjoyed every minute of it. I'd like the result to be better, but it's a tremendous privilege to be in this League and if you have an opportunity to give something back to a small community, I think it's great. I think it's a great thing that Kraft does and it's a great thing the National Hockey League does. It's what makes us good."
It was special, indeed. Ottawa forward Colin Greening, a St. John's native, was in the starting lineup and had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play an NHL game in his hometown. Cody Porter, a 13-year-old youth hockey player from Conception Bay South who had a growth on his heart last month and flatlined twice on his way to the hospital, received a standing ovation as he walked out to center ice to drop the puck during an emotional pre-game ceremony. Fans clapped in unison to the music that blared through the speakers during play stoppages.
For the people of Newfoundland, this was no preseason game. This was their Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, and they treated it as such.
"I'd like to get a win, but it was still a great experience," Greening said. "I don't think there are other Newfoundlanders who can say they were able to play a game at home. It was very special to me. It was a lot of fun. I love the Newfoundland music. You never hear that in other arenas. It was nice to hear that."
Mark Scheifele broke a scoreless tie for the Jets at 1:19 of the second period. Senators goalie Alex Auld, who had denied all 16 shots he faced in the opening period, made a stop on an initial shot by Tim Stapleton, but Scheifele --Winnipeg's first-round draft pick (No. 7) in June -- was on the doorstep and backhanded the rebound home as the Jets grabbed a 1-0 lead. Scheifele also had a pair of goals in last Tuesday's 6-1 win against Columbus.
Troy Bodie put the Jets up by a pair with 3:36 remaining in the second period. With the teams at even strength, Bodie -- a 6-foot-4, 220-pound winger -- drove to the net and one-timed a nice feed from Patrice Cormier to make it 2-0.
"I felt like I had a game's worth (of shots) in 40 minutes," said Auld, who stopped 26 of 28 shots before cramping forced him to leave the game after the second period. "A lot of action, but it was good."
Mika Zibanejad, who was drafted by Ottawa immediately before Scheifele went to Winnipeg, cut the deficit in half with 14:15 left in the third as he took a pass from Sens captain Daniel Alfredsson and made a nifty move on Ondrej Pavelec before softly placing the puck past the Jets' goaltender to make it 2-1. But the Sens couldn't find the equalizer and Ben Maxwell restored Winnipeg's two-goal lead when he beat Mike McKenna with a wrister at 13:37.
"It was great to come here," Pavelec said. "There was a lot of kids in the stands, and they don't have many chances to see an NHL game. It was great that the NHL came to them and they could see the hockey game. A lot of kids play hockey here, so I think it was great for them. We had fun."
Everybody did, as Kraft Hockeyville -- a competition that seems to grow by leaps and bounds every year -- has evolved into a tremendous annual event.
"It's enjoyable for us," Sens forward Chris Neil said. "The fans come in here and they don't get to see us too often. How they respond to us … it's sold out for a pre-game skate. That just shows the intensity of the crowd. I applaud them."
--
These are tough to really talk about anyway since I didn't see the game. That will change when the regular season comes around as I can watch all the games online.
Monday, September 26, 2011
A Test For Shanny / The Avery & Simmonds Situation
This will be brief, because I have to get some sleep at some point, but it's just such a blending of recent events.
The main characters?
Brendan Shanahan. NHL Discipline Distributor. I've talked about his strict, awesome discipline so far this preseason.
Sean Avery. One of the most hated players in the NHL whom I mentioned in passing when taking about Wisniewski's suspension and past interactions between the two.
Wayne Simmonds. The target of an apparent racial act.
So, the Rangers are playing the Flyers and they combine for 77 minutes of penalties (what?!) proving the rivalry is strong. Those jokes told on the dugout of the Phillies seem less funny now.
I've said that so far, there hasn't been a major penalty that people think the NHL should suspend for but haven't done so yet. Again, based on my very limited view. I do have a life outside this blog and NHL rules and the Jets, but I do try to keep up. Anyway, now there's been an incident that has many talking suspension. Here's what happened.
Philadelphia’s Tom Sestito racked up 20 minutes in penalties after boarding New York’s Andre Deveaux behind the net in a move that will likely draw another suspension for the Flyers.
After the play, Sestito and Stu Bickel fought, resulting in misconducts for both players. Bickel also was given an instigator penalty.
Rangers coach John Tortorella called for Sestito to be suspended.
“Shanny should have a field day. As far as hits from behind, he should have a field day,” he said. “Jody got what, 10 games? This one is worse than that.”
Yeah. Jody Shelley of the Flyers did get 10 games, 5 preseason and 5 regular season.
The gauntlet has been set. Or laid. I forgot the phrase, but there is a call for Shanahan to step up. Will he? Is the Rangers coach right? Is this a worse hit?
Oh hell ya, that was a horrible act. The player was not playing the puck. His back was to the attacker. He didn't make any sudden movements beforehand. It seems to meets the criteria set up in the Shanahan era. So will we see the 6th suspension of the preseason?
It should be. If not, Shanahan has failed me and the NHL.
On a somewhat seperate note, it will be interesting to see what the suspensions will be during the regular season when the preseason is over. I don't know if Shanahan is considering preseason games really "games" as far as suspensions goes or not. What I mean is, if the exact same play happens in the regular season (say Shelley's hit), would he still issue a 10 game suspension?
I may need to reanalyze everything after a few weeks in the regular season. It's a little hard to judge, though I think it will still be stern, strict, and fair.
This is the first test for Shanny on my end.
But that doesn't have to do with Simmonds and Avery? What happened there?
Simmonds made a homophobic slur towards Avery. Not even apparently. Camera caught it and the post game conference with Simmonds is not a denial.
When Avery was asked by reporters after the game if Simmonds called him “what we think he called you,” he answered: “Yeah, yeah.”
This kind of thing happens all the time. The cameras just happen to catch it. I cannot find any of that video right now. Guys jaw with each other. I'm not justifying it, but it happens. It's kinda a non-story if it had been any other players.
But with Simmonds being the target of a, well, basically a hate crime, it makes it ironic that he would now be an aggressor with some hurtful words in the same vein.
And, it's Sean Avery. One of the most polarizing figures in hockey. I don't like him. I mean, they actually had to create a rule dubbed the Sean Avery Rule during the 2008 playoffs as the Rangers faced the Devils.
Avery turned his back on the play in order to face and screen goaltender Martin Brodeur during a two-man advantage on the power play. He waved his hands and stick in front of Brodeur in an attempt to distract him and block his view. The puck was later cleared out of the Devils' zone but on the second Rangers offensive attack, Avery scored the power play goal.
While it was not an explicit rules violation at the time of the game, many NHL commentators and players described Avery's actions as unsportsmanlike. The following day, the NHL issued an interpretation of the league's unsportsmanlike conduct rule to cover actions such as the one employed by Avery, which would now result in a minor penalty.
Avery's tactics during that series against the Devils earned multiple power plays. Avery had particularly agitated Brodeur during these games, causing Brodeur to crash into Avery on several occasions. Avery's actions coaxed Brodeur into trying to draw penalties on Avery which led to poor positioning on several Rangers goals. During game two, Avery confronted Brodeur despite the play headed towards the other end, with Brodeur even leaning his head against Avery's helmet during the exchange. His controversial, yet very effective antics helped lead the Rangers to a 4-1 series win. At the end of the series, Brodeur refused to shake Avery's hand. He was the only Devils player not to.
And that's just one reason I'm anti-Avery.
HOWEVER:
Did you know that Avery was the first professional athlete to come out in favor of same sex marriage?
He is a supporter noting that many of his friends are gay. He also worked with men's fashion label Commonwealth Utilities to present a clothing line for Fashion Week in New York City and is a documented clothes lover. This adds to a popular rumor that Avery is himself gay, but thoses are just rumors.
Okay, so he does have a good quality in that he took up a controversial issue and supports it. You have to give the man credit for that. And to use a gay slur against a man who, for lack of a better terms, is a face of gay marriage is wrong. I hate Avery for his agitator status on the ice, so it feels weird to defend him. In any circumstance. But this was wrong. Just as wrong as the Wisniewski incident with Avery where Wisniewski acted out an oral act towards Avery.
Here's the interesting part. Should Simmonds be punished for the act?
I have mixed emotions on this. He shouldn't because a lot of players make remarks about each other, insult each other, and call each other out. Plus, Avery isn't gay, so it's technically not an assault on him. But it is because of his open support. But Simmonds should be punished because it was unsportsmanlike. Specifically, it's written in Rule 75. 75.2i - Any identifable player who uses obscene, profane, or abusive language or gestures directed at any person should get a minor penalty. It can be escalated to a misconduct, or even a game misconduct depending on the situation and persistance.
The League has a delicate issue to deal with here. They are already dealing with a tolerance problem with the banana throw, and now you have a homophobic slur that could be viewed by some as further evidence the NHL is not tolerant.
But the banana was tossed by a fan who wasn't caught. There can be no punishment and it wasn't someone whose actually a part of the game. But now. You know exactly who said the slur. You can easily punish that person because he is an actial part of the League and therefore represents them.
But it's the same person whose a victim of the banana incident. So if you do punish him, even if you have every right to, you could be seen as even harder towards the black community while appeasing the gay rights group. Don't punish Simmonds and the black community remains even at the moment, but same sex marriage advocates have a solid argument that the League allows "gay bashing".
A PR nightmare.
It will be interesting how the League handles this incident.
I said I'd be brief, but this is such an interesting topic it's hard to stop talking about.
The main characters?
Brendan Shanahan. NHL Discipline Distributor. I've talked about his strict, awesome discipline so far this preseason.
Sean Avery. One of the most hated players in the NHL whom I mentioned in passing when taking about Wisniewski's suspension and past interactions between the two.
Wayne Simmonds. The target of an apparent racial act.
So, the Rangers are playing the Flyers and they combine for 77 minutes of penalties (what?!) proving the rivalry is strong. Those jokes told on the dugout of the Phillies seem less funny now.
I've said that so far, there hasn't been a major penalty that people think the NHL should suspend for but haven't done so yet. Again, based on my very limited view. I do have a life outside this blog and NHL rules and the Jets, but I do try to keep up. Anyway, now there's been an incident that has many talking suspension. Here's what happened.
Philadelphia’s Tom Sestito racked up 20 minutes in penalties after boarding New York’s Andre Deveaux behind the net in a move that will likely draw another suspension for the Flyers.
After the play, Sestito and Stu Bickel fought, resulting in misconducts for both players. Bickel also was given an instigator penalty.
Rangers coach John Tortorella called for Sestito to be suspended.
“Shanny should have a field day. As far as hits from behind, he should have a field day,” he said. “Jody got what, 10 games? This one is worse than that.”
Yeah. Jody Shelley of the Flyers did get 10 games, 5 preseason and 5 regular season.
The gauntlet has been set. Or laid. I forgot the phrase, but there is a call for Shanahan to step up. Will he? Is the Rangers coach right? Is this a worse hit?
Oh hell ya, that was a horrible act. The player was not playing the puck. His back was to the attacker. He didn't make any sudden movements beforehand. It seems to meets the criteria set up in the Shanahan era. So will we see the 6th suspension of the preseason?
It should be. If not, Shanahan has failed me and the NHL.
On a somewhat seperate note, it will be interesting to see what the suspensions will be during the regular season when the preseason is over. I don't know if Shanahan is considering preseason games really "games" as far as suspensions goes or not. What I mean is, if the exact same play happens in the regular season (say Shelley's hit), would he still issue a 10 game suspension?
I may need to reanalyze everything after a few weeks in the regular season. It's a little hard to judge, though I think it will still be stern, strict, and fair.
This is the first test for Shanny on my end.
But that doesn't have to do with Simmonds and Avery? What happened there?
Simmonds made a homophobic slur towards Avery. Not even apparently. Camera caught it and the post game conference with Simmonds is not a denial.
When Avery was asked by reporters after the game if Simmonds called him “what we think he called you,” he answered: “Yeah, yeah.”
This kind of thing happens all the time. The cameras just happen to catch it. I cannot find any of that video right now. Guys jaw with each other. I'm not justifying it, but it happens. It's kinda a non-story if it had been any other players.
But with Simmonds being the target of a, well, basically a hate crime, it makes it ironic that he would now be an aggressor with some hurtful words in the same vein.
And, it's Sean Avery. One of the most polarizing figures in hockey. I don't like him. I mean, they actually had to create a rule dubbed the Sean Avery Rule during the 2008 playoffs as the Rangers faced the Devils.
Avery turned his back on the play in order to face and screen goaltender Martin Brodeur during a two-man advantage on the power play. He waved his hands and stick in front of Brodeur in an attempt to distract him and block his view. The puck was later cleared out of the Devils' zone but on the second Rangers offensive attack, Avery scored the power play goal.
While it was not an explicit rules violation at the time of the game, many NHL commentators and players described Avery's actions as unsportsmanlike. The following day, the NHL issued an interpretation of the league's unsportsmanlike conduct rule to cover actions such as the one employed by Avery, which would now result in a minor penalty.
Avery's tactics during that series against the Devils earned multiple power plays. Avery had particularly agitated Brodeur during these games, causing Brodeur to crash into Avery on several occasions. Avery's actions coaxed Brodeur into trying to draw penalties on Avery which led to poor positioning on several Rangers goals. During game two, Avery confronted Brodeur despite the play headed towards the other end, with Brodeur even leaning his head against Avery's helmet during the exchange. His controversial, yet very effective antics helped lead the Rangers to a 4-1 series win. At the end of the series, Brodeur refused to shake Avery's hand. He was the only Devils player not to.
And that's just one reason I'm anti-Avery.
HOWEVER:
Did you know that Avery was the first professional athlete to come out in favor of same sex marriage?
He is a supporter noting that many of his friends are gay. He also worked with men's fashion label Commonwealth Utilities to present a clothing line for Fashion Week in New York City and is a documented clothes lover. This adds to a popular rumor that Avery is himself gay, but thoses are just rumors.
Okay, so he does have a good quality in that he took up a controversial issue and supports it. You have to give the man credit for that. And to use a gay slur against a man who, for lack of a better terms, is a face of gay marriage is wrong. I hate Avery for his agitator status on the ice, so it feels weird to defend him. In any circumstance. But this was wrong. Just as wrong as the Wisniewski incident with Avery where Wisniewski acted out an oral act towards Avery.
Here's the interesting part. Should Simmonds be punished for the act?
I have mixed emotions on this. He shouldn't because a lot of players make remarks about each other, insult each other, and call each other out. Plus, Avery isn't gay, so it's technically not an assault on him. But it is because of his open support. But Simmonds should be punished because it was unsportsmanlike. Specifically, it's written in Rule 75. 75.2i - Any identifable player who uses obscene, profane, or abusive language or gestures directed at any person should get a minor penalty. It can be escalated to a misconduct, or even a game misconduct depending on the situation and persistance.
The League has a delicate issue to deal with here. They are already dealing with a tolerance problem with the banana throw, and now you have a homophobic slur that could be viewed by some as further evidence the NHL is not tolerant.
But the banana was tossed by a fan who wasn't caught. There can be no punishment and it wasn't someone whose actually a part of the game. But now. You know exactly who said the slur. You can easily punish that person because he is an actial part of the League and therefore represents them.
But it's the same person whose a victim of the banana incident. So if you do punish him, even if you have every right to, you could be seen as even harder towards the black community while appeasing the gay rights group. Don't punish Simmonds and the black community remains even at the moment, but same sex marriage advocates have a solid argument that the League allows "gay bashing".
A PR nightmare.
It will be interesting how the League handles this incident.
I said I'd be brief, but this is such an interesting topic it's hard to stop talking about.
Wisniewski & Staubitz Suspensions / Winter Classic / CBA Explanation
This post has been edited since it was first put up on the blog.
First things first.
It's official. The Winter Classic will be played January 2, 2012 in Philadelphia between the Flyers and Rangers.
I'll try to get to more of that in the future. But really nothing of exciting note, especially given the leak of the logo early in the week.
There was some good jabs back and forth during the announcement.
But let's get to some more news. The suspensions of Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman James Wisniewski and Minnesota Wild forward Brad Staubitz for seperate incidents during the same game on September 23. Both had hearings concerning their cases before the suspensions were dealt, unlike the other three this pre-season.
Wisniewski is suspended for the remainder of preseason and eight regular season games.
Wisniewski, who was suspended last season, is classified as a repeat offender under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Accordingly, he forfeits his salary based on the number of games in the season (82), rather than the number of days (185). $536,585.36. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
Following the horn that ended the third period, Wisniewski delivered a blow that targeted Clutterbuck’s head and made it the principal point of contact. Wisniewski was assessed a minor penalty for illegal check to the head.
Staubitz is suspended for remainder of preseason and three regular-season games.
Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Staubitz will forfeit $9,324.33. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.
At 4:24 of the third period, Staubitz hit Bass from behind and into the glass. Bass was injured on the play. Staubitz was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for checking from behind.
Did you get all that with the Collective Barganing Agreement?
That's something I didn't know, but the price is different depending on if you are a repeat or first time offender. It is all layed out there in Article 18 of the CBA (which is 475 pages long, so feel free to just trust me on this unless you want to go through all that yourself). How is the fine determined for suspensions?
See, the season is 82 games which lasts over 185 calendar days (in 2010-11 season). It will not be less than 184 by the agreement by the way. Your average salary is divided by one of those numbers depending on which type of offender you are. I'm not going to get into how one determines average salary, but basically your average salary. This doesn't include signing bonuses and stuff like that. Oh, and the offender status is on a rolling basis meaning that if it has been 18 months since a player's last offense, the new offense will be treated as his "first". Last note: suspension days are only counted towards the fines for regular season games, not preseason games. All moneys go towards the NHL Players Emergency Assistance Fund.
Still with me?
Wisniewski was suspended last season, so he is in the 18 month range making his offense a repeat one. Staubitz was last suspended in 2009, so he is outside the range making him a "first" offender.
Okay, so what's the coin one has to pony up? Well, the repeat offender has his salary divided by 82 (the number of games in a season) and then multiplied by how many games he was suspended. The first time offender has his salary divided by 185 (the number of calendar days in a season).
Repeat: (Salary/82) x #GamesSuspended
First Time: (Salary/185) x #GamesSuspended
Or, with real numbers. Let's say two players both make 1 million dollars and are both suspended 5 regular season games (we'll keep things simple). What will they pay?
Repeat: ($1,000,000.00 / 82) x 5 = $60,975.61.
First Time: ($1,000,000.00 / 185) x 5 = $27,027.03.
You pay roughly 56% more per suspension if you are a repeat offender.
Based on the formula and the money figures presented above, Wisniewski made about $5.5 million while Staubitz made $575 thousand. Those figures don't include any signing bonus or personal promotions or anything of that sort.
But what are you paying into? The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund. What is that?
Out of roughly 700 current NHL players and 3,000 living NHL alumni, 60 to 70 people (including several widows) currently receive financial help from the fund. A lot of players back in the day didn't have big contracts either and most oldtimers have very little schooling because they quit to play hockey, there were also some that ran into bad agents. Like Alan Eagleson.
But let's get to the reasonings behind the most recent suspensions. Thank you Brendan Shanahan for the videos and look into your reasoning. I don't have to type out what happened. It's right there. First, the Staubitz video.
This is the video for the Wisniewski.
Applause Shanahan. Keep it up. Don't go soft on me once the regular season rolls around. I don't think that will happen. It looks like Shanahan's a tough guy. Have you seen his face? Yeah. That's an old-soul hockey face. Like it was hit with a puck a few times. He was picked in the first round (second overall) in the 1987 and played a total of 1,524 regular season games with an additional 184 post season games. He started his career with 4 years in New Jersey, but also played a few seasons with the Rangers, Whalers, Blues, and a long time in Detroit (9 seasons total) before returning to the Devils for his final season in 08-09.
But keep it up with the suspensions that violate the rules. Injuries will go down as players stop committing the penalties once they are reconditioned. And negative reinforcement is just about the only way to go. You can't give out lollipops to players if they do good. But you apparently can do that in the NBA.
On a side note, Wisniewski is just not a nice guy. He made an obsence gesture towards NHL villian Sean Avery last season. You can view the video here, but I'm not posting it here.
And I hate Sean Avery, but the video is pretty inappropriate for this blog.
First things first.
It's official. The Winter Classic will be played January 2, 2012 in Philadelphia between the Flyers and Rangers.
I'll try to get to more of that in the future. But really nothing of exciting note, especially given the leak of the logo early in the week.
There was some good jabs back and forth during the announcement.
But let's get to some more news. The suspensions of Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman James Wisniewski and Minnesota Wild forward Brad Staubitz for seperate incidents during the same game on September 23. Both had hearings concerning their cases before the suspensions were dealt, unlike the other three this pre-season.
Wisniewski is suspended for the remainder of preseason and eight regular season games.
Wisniewski, who was suspended last season, is classified as a repeat offender under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Accordingly, he forfeits his salary based on the number of games in the season (82), rather than the number of days (185). $536,585.36. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
Following the horn that ended the third period, Wisniewski delivered a blow that targeted Clutterbuck’s head and made it the principal point of contact. Wisniewski was assessed a minor penalty for illegal check to the head.
Staubitz is suspended for remainder of preseason and three regular-season games.
Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Staubitz will forfeit $9,324.33. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.
At 4:24 of the third period, Staubitz hit Bass from behind and into the glass. Bass was injured on the play. Staubitz was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for checking from behind.
Did you get all that with the Collective Barganing Agreement?
That's something I didn't know, but the price is different depending on if you are a repeat or first time offender. It is all layed out there in Article 18 of the CBA (which is 475 pages long, so feel free to just trust me on this unless you want to go through all that yourself). How is the fine determined for suspensions?
See, the season is 82 games which lasts over 185 calendar days (in 2010-11 season). It will not be less than 184 by the agreement by the way. Your average salary is divided by one of those numbers depending on which type of offender you are. I'm not going to get into how one determines average salary, but basically your average salary. This doesn't include signing bonuses and stuff like that. Oh, and the offender status is on a rolling basis meaning that if it has been 18 months since a player's last offense, the new offense will be treated as his "first". Last note: suspension days are only counted towards the fines for regular season games, not preseason games. All moneys go towards the NHL Players Emergency Assistance Fund.
Still with me?
Wisniewski was suspended last season, so he is in the 18 month range making his offense a repeat one. Staubitz was last suspended in 2009, so he is outside the range making him a "first" offender.
Okay, so what's the coin one has to pony up? Well, the repeat offender has his salary divided by 82 (the number of games in a season) and then multiplied by how many games he was suspended. The first time offender has his salary divided by 185 (the number of calendar days in a season).
Repeat: (Salary/82) x #GamesSuspended
First Time: (Salary/185) x #GamesSuspended
Or, with real numbers. Let's say two players both make 1 million dollars and are both suspended 5 regular season games (we'll keep things simple). What will they pay?
Repeat: ($1,000,000.00 / 82) x 5 = $60,975.61.
First Time: ($1,000,000.00 / 185) x 5 = $27,027.03.
You pay roughly 56% more per suspension if you are a repeat offender.
Based on the formula and the money figures presented above, Wisniewski made about $5.5 million while Staubitz made $575 thousand. Those figures don't include any signing bonus or personal promotions or anything of that sort.
But what are you paying into? The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund. What is that?
Out of roughly 700 current NHL players and 3,000 living NHL alumni, 60 to 70 people (including several widows) currently receive financial help from the fund. A lot of players back in the day didn't have big contracts either and most oldtimers have very little schooling because they quit to play hockey, there were also some that ran into bad agents. Like Alan Eagleson.
But let's get to the reasonings behind the most recent suspensions. Thank you Brendan Shanahan for the videos and look into your reasoning. I don't have to type out what happened. It's right there. First, the Staubitz video.
This is the video for the Wisniewski.
Applause Shanahan. Keep it up. Don't go soft on me once the regular season rolls around. I don't think that will happen. It looks like Shanahan's a tough guy. Have you seen his face? Yeah. That's an old-soul hockey face. Like it was hit with a puck a few times. He was picked in the first round (second overall) in the 1987 and played a total of 1,524 regular season games with an additional 184 post season games. He started his career with 4 years in New Jersey, but also played a few seasons with the Rangers, Whalers, Blues, and a long time in Detroit (9 seasons total) before returning to the Devils for his final season in 08-09.
But keep it up with the suspensions that violate the rules. Injuries will go down as players stop committing the penalties once they are reconditioned. And negative reinforcement is just about the only way to go. You can't give out lollipops to players if they do good. But you apparently can do that in the NBA.
On a side note, Wisniewski is just not a nice guy. He made an obsence gesture towards NHL villian Sean Avery last season. You can view the video here, but I'm not posting it here.
And I hate Sean Avery, but the video is pretty inappropriate for this blog.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Hurricanes Shut Out Jets in Preseason Action
From Carolina:
Cam Ward made 36 saves and the Carolina Hurricanes got their offense going in a 4-0 preseason victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday night.
Zac Dalpe and Jay Harrison both scored 69 seconds apart in the first period, and Jerome Samson and Riley Nash added second-period goals as Carolina won its first NHL exhibition game this season.
Dalpe scored off a breakaway with 13:17 left in the first, getting a shot past Jets goalie David Aebischer into the upper-right corner of the net. Harrison then knocked down a wayward shot near the blue line, slotting it past Aebischer with 12:08 remaining.
Samson and Nash both put in rebounds, Samson scoring with 6:55 remaining and Nash with 1:26 left in the second. That gave Carolina more goals in one game than it had scored in its previous two (3), both losses.
Aebischer had 26 saves for Winnipeg, which fell to 1-3 in preseason games.
---
You have a prospect goalie for Winnipeg going against an Eastern Conference All Star tender. So you kinda expect a lopsided score.
Second, we'll have to see how Stuart does with that knee on knee hit.
Here are the highlights.
You know what I'm still not seeing? The defense coming together. It's not panic time by any means, but it is concerning.
TTFN
Cam Ward made 36 saves and the Carolina Hurricanes got their offense going in a 4-0 preseason victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday night.
Zac Dalpe and Jay Harrison both scored 69 seconds apart in the first period, and Jerome Samson and Riley Nash added second-period goals as Carolina won its first NHL exhibition game this season.
Dalpe scored off a breakaway with 13:17 left in the first, getting a shot past Jets goalie David Aebischer into the upper-right corner of the net. Harrison then knocked down a wayward shot near the blue line, slotting it past Aebischer with 12:08 remaining.
Samson and Nash both put in rebounds, Samson scoring with 6:55 remaining and Nash with 1:26 left in the second. That gave Carolina more goals in one game than it had scored in its previous two (3), both losses.
Aebischer had 26 saves for Winnipeg, which fell to 1-3 in preseason games.
---
You have a prospect goalie for Winnipeg going against an Eastern Conference All Star tender. So you kinda expect a lopsided score.
Second, we'll have to see how Stuart does with that knee on knee hit.
Here are the highlights.
You know what I'm still not seeing? The defense coming together. It's not panic time by any means, but it is concerning.
TTFN
Boyes of Buffalo Now Suspended
Brad Boyes of the Buffalo Sabres joins the list of players suspended this preseason. He is number 5. Two of the previous suspentions will last the remainder of the preseason (one regular season game for the first offense with five reg. games for the other) while two are indefinate suspensions pending a hearing.
Boyes will not miss any regular season action as his suspension will be 2 pre-season games.
This suspension comes with a video explanation from Shanahan.
This is a brilliant move. One of my complaints of the past under the Colin Campbell system was the secret formula for suspensions. No one knew why he dealt out punishment the way he did.
Now, there is a video showing the incident with an explanation on how the decision was reached.
As long as he stays consistant with the punishments for similar incidents, I am loving Shanahan. This is exactly what the League needed. And you know I've thought that for a while. I've said it. It never should have come to this point, but Shanahan has to dig his way out of a hole to get people to trust him again and he is certainly doing that with these videos.
Oh yeah. Videos. With an 's'.
Here's one explaining the first suspension of the preseason on the Flames PL^3.
And a video on the Flyers' Shelley.
This man could save the NHL's reputation on suspensions and horrible discipline for the past several years. He uses the same language to explain each hit (the secret formula revealed!) and isn't afraid to suspend when players violate a rule, even unintentionally.
There is no video yet on the suspensions pending the hearing of Minnesota's Staubitz and Columbus' Wisniewski. I'm assuming that's because the decision hasn't been reached. Makes sense. I do wonder if he will issue a video on non-calls and no suspensions for questionable hits. I'm not aware of any so far this preseason that have people questioning his ability to be fair in justice, but I admit I don't keep track of every game and pulse of its fans.
This new era of discipline truly started with the Rome suspension for the hit on Horton during the playoffs last year. Mike Murphy reached the decision, but Shanahan was involved.
Now, you know that I've talked about the need to condition behavior before. I won't repeat it nor link to it again (not counting the link already in this post). But I remember that I was opposed to the Rome suspension at the time. Frankly, I had my reasons. Given the circumstances and history of punishment from the League up to that point, he perhaps shouldn't have been when this occurred. The League was so all over the place on suspensions, it didn't make sense to me then.
Looking at the hit under the new standards with Shanahan's explanation, Rome should be suspended. Horton did not see the hit coming, Rome had time to adjust the severity of the hit, and the head was a principle point of contact (perhaps not targeted, but still the principle point of contact). Plus, there was significant injury.
Here it is again. Think about what you've heard Shanahan say when he revealed the "Head Hit Suspension Formula".
--Was the head the principle point of contact?
--Does the victim make any sudden movements just prior to or simultaneous with the hit? (The onus is then on the checker not to hit him in the head.)
Under Shanahan, I can clearly see why he would get a suspension. I maintain my previous believe that the suspension seemed steep at the time given the lack of consistant discipline throughout Campbell's tenure, particularly the 2010-2011 season (cough, Chara, cough). But the Rome suspension seems totally justifiable in the new Shanahan era.
I do wish they hadn't changed the suspension guidelines in the middle of the Stanley Cup playoffs. That just doesn't seem fair.
But I may have predicted this back in June.
I did a blog post on an interview with Mike Murphy who was tapped by Colin Campbell to deliever punishment in the Finals before Shanahan took over.
The entire interview was Murphy talking about the people he consulted and how the decision to suspend Rome was Murphy's. And how Murphy used the words "my" and "mine" a whole lot instead of "the League".
Here are some quotes I made then analyzing the situation.
"I will say, there seems to be an undertone of Murphy's statements. All this "my choice", "my decision" stuff. I suspect it's one of two things. Either this is something others in NHL Operations have wanted to do for a while and were unable to under Campbell (as I suspected earlier) or Murphy thinks it is the wrong decision and is regretting it. Murphy might just be the scape goat and he knows it. End the Campbell era and get the Shanhan started on a new note of strictness.
"I believe the first is more likely because while Murphy continously said it was his decision, his call, mine-mine-mine [but] it comes with lots and lots of name dropping. He mentions a list of people he consulted giving the impression that others approved this decision and would have made the same one. He does slightly distance himself from Campbell too. Not terribly far (don't want to bite the hand that feeds you), but enough to give the impression it is not what Campbell would have done.
"I guess my hope is that Rome is setting precedent, not adhearing to it. If the battle line has been drawn, I can understand that and even be on board. While there was no intent, the play was late and there was serious injury. If players know that suspension is a possible outcome, it will make the game safer. If the Rome / Horton incident is not setting precedent but rather conforming to established protecal, I have issue.
"As previously stated in another post, I do not believe the playoffs are the place to set precedent though. It may have been a mistake to not punish severely during the season, but you have to continue being a pansy about it during the playoffs. It's not fair to change the game (even off the ice) when you've been playing under one set of rules and punishments since September. Suck it up, created a video montage to release in the offseason, and use that to explain how late hits resulting in injury will no longer be tolerated in 2011-2012."
Damn, I'm good!
Because it does appear that Rome was setting the new standard.
There was a video released in the offseason about the new standards on hits. (I said late hits resulting in injury, but I was extrodinarily close.)
Shanahan has shown he will be tough and not shy away from suspending players.
Murphy was a scape goat (it appears) to take any heat away from Shanahan regarding the suspension to Rome that seemed questionable at the time while also setting a precident to how the new NHL Player Safety and Hockey Operations Office will operate giving Shanahan a clean slate to start the 2011-2012 season.
That's all I have to say right now on this. Oh, except that Horton told NHL.com late this week that he is ready to get back into games. So good news there. Obviously, the Bruins are going to take it slow, but he is participating in some practices.
Jets Fall to Preds
I don't have time to analyze, but here's what the AP said.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Sergei Kostitsyn, Martin Erat and Patric Hornqvist scored consecutive power-play goals as the Nashville Predators beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-3 in a preseason game on Saturday night.
The Predators, playing their first game at home, have won three in a row. Winnipeg has dropped two straight.
Spencer Machacek, Paul Postma and Derek Meech had goals for Winnipeg.
Jordin Tootoo also scored for Nashville.
The Jets jumped ahead 2-0 in the first period against Chet Pickard, who made seven saves.
Machacek scored on a wrist shot from close range at 5:48. Postma added a power-play goal at 10:27.
Nashville scored four goals in the second period, three on the power play, against goalie Chris Mason.
Tootoo scored Nashville's first goal at 4:50 of the second, and Kostitsyn, Erat and Hornqvist followed with man-advantage goals in a span of 4:36.
Pekka Rinne started the second in goal for Nashville and stopped seven of eight shots. Pickard returned with 5:36 left to play in the period.
Meech scored Winnipeg's only second-period goal, a power-play tally at 6:54.
Shea Weber and Ryan Suter both had a pair of assists for the Predators.
-----
I know I said I didn't have time to really comment on this, but I will point out the incorrect stat that Winnipeg has dropped two straight. They are 1-2 on the preseason, winning the second game of a split squad and dropping the first one. That would mean they lost-won-lost.
Not that it changes much else. The Jets need some defense. 3 consecutive powerplay goals? That is not good.
More to come later when I can check out some post game wrap up and really dive into the box score.
TTFN
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Sergei Kostitsyn, Martin Erat and Patric Hornqvist scored consecutive power-play goals as the Nashville Predators beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-3 in a preseason game on Saturday night.
The Predators, playing their first game at home, have won three in a row. Winnipeg has dropped two straight.
Spencer Machacek, Paul Postma and Derek Meech had goals for Winnipeg.
Jordin Tootoo also scored for Nashville.
The Jets jumped ahead 2-0 in the first period against Chet Pickard, who made seven saves.
Machacek scored on a wrist shot from close range at 5:48. Postma added a power-play goal at 10:27.
Nashville scored four goals in the second period, three on the power play, against goalie Chris Mason.
Tootoo scored Nashville's first goal at 4:50 of the second, and Kostitsyn, Erat and Hornqvist followed with man-advantage goals in a span of 4:36.
Pekka Rinne started the second in goal for Nashville and stopped seven of eight shots. Pickard returned with 5:36 left to play in the period.
Meech scored Winnipeg's only second-period goal, a power-play tally at 6:54.
Shea Weber and Ryan Suter both had a pair of assists for the Predators.
-----
I know I said I didn't have time to really comment on this, but I will point out the incorrect stat that Winnipeg has dropped two straight. They are 1-2 on the preseason, winning the second game of a split squad and dropping the first one. That would mean they lost-won-lost.
Not that it changes much else. The Jets need some defense. 3 consecutive powerplay goals? That is not good.
More to come later when I can check out some post game wrap up and really dive into the box score.
TTFN
Saturday, September 24, 2011
NHL Suspends More Players
Brendan Shanahan, the NHL's disciplinarian, has certainly had a busy week.
And last night was no exception.
Minnesota forward Brad Staubitz and Columbus defenseman James Wisniewski were suspended indefinitely today pending a hearing and the completion of a review by the NHL's department of player safety.
The suspensions come from the same game, but different incidents.
Staubitz received a major penalty and game misconduct for checking from behind at 4:24 into the third period.
Wisniewski, meanwhile, received a minor penalty for an illegal check to the head of Minnesota forward Cal Clutterbuck at 20:00 of the third period, as in the very end of the game.
These are the third and fourth suspensions doled out this preseason. The other two were for the remainder of the preseason. One also had the first game of the regular season while the other is for five games in the regular season. These latest are the only ones with an indefinate sentence so far.
Thank you Shanahan. You are setting the standard. If my theory on behavior modification is correct, we will see many more suspensions early on (possibly till December if not the entire season). That is assuming Shanahan remains fair in suspending for similar offenses.
He should err on the side of suspending someone who didn't deserve it than not suspending someone who didn't. And that's for gray area offenses, not obvious stuff. This isn't the court of law. In the United States at least, it is better to let a guilty person go free than convict an innocent man. The whole innocent till proven guilty. The double-jeopardy. The appeals. The precidents. All of it is to protect the innocent even at the expense of letting guilty parties go. Yes, I'm aware of recent cases and stand by my statement. The system is not perfect and yes, there will be mistakes made, but it is designed to err in favor of the accussed.
But this isn't legal court, so forget all that. This is NHL discipline which has been lackluster for years under Campbell. There is nothing to say that questionable actions can't be disciplined. Even accidental incidents can be subject to more severve discipline. Case in point: high-sticking. If it's just a high stick and the referee catches it, that's a two minute minor. Then, the ref checks to see if there is blood. Any blood, and it's a double minor. Nothing has changed as far as the intend of the guilty party, but the results are what matters.
It is high time for a change. The hits will still happen, but the injuries will be curtailed. And it looks like Shanahan is the man for the job. His recent track record (this preseason) supports that.
I won't go over my thoughts in more detail on this again. They haven't changed.
Keep it up Brendan!
TTFN
And last night was no exception.
Minnesota forward Brad Staubitz and Columbus defenseman James Wisniewski were suspended indefinitely today pending a hearing and the completion of a review by the NHL's department of player safety.
The suspensions come from the same game, but different incidents.
Staubitz received a major penalty and game misconduct for checking from behind at 4:24 into the third period.
Wisniewski, meanwhile, received a minor penalty for an illegal check to the head of Minnesota forward Cal Clutterbuck at 20:00 of the third period, as in the very end of the game.
These are the third and fourth suspensions doled out this preseason. The other two were for the remainder of the preseason. One also had the first game of the regular season while the other is for five games in the regular season. These latest are the only ones with an indefinate sentence so far.
Thank you Shanahan. You are setting the standard. If my theory on behavior modification is correct, we will see many more suspensions early on (possibly till December if not the entire season). That is assuming Shanahan remains fair in suspending for similar offenses.
He should err on the side of suspending someone who didn't deserve it than not suspending someone who didn't. And that's for gray area offenses, not obvious stuff. This isn't the court of law. In the United States at least, it is better to let a guilty person go free than convict an innocent man. The whole innocent till proven guilty. The double-jeopardy. The appeals. The precidents. All of it is to protect the innocent even at the expense of letting guilty parties go. Yes, I'm aware of recent cases and stand by my statement. The system is not perfect and yes, there will be mistakes made, but it is designed to err in favor of the accussed.
But this isn't legal court, so forget all that. This is NHL discipline which has been lackluster for years under Campbell. There is nothing to say that questionable actions can't be disciplined. Even accidental incidents can be subject to more severve discipline. Case in point: high-sticking. If it's just a high stick and the referee catches it, that's a two minute minor. Then, the ref checks to see if there is blood. Any blood, and it's a double minor. Nothing has changed as far as the intend of the guilty party, but the results are what matters.
It is high time for a change. The hits will still happen, but the injuries will be curtailed. And it looks like Shanahan is the man for the job. His recent track record (this preseason) supports that.
I won't go over my thoughts in more detail on this again. They haven't changed.
Keep it up Brendan!
TTFN
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