Is it time for the NHL to start cracking down on some of it's star players?The NHL and every other professional league can deny it, but star players receive special treatment from on-ice officials. It might be a quick arm-in-the-air when someone hooked Wayne Gretzky. Or Michael Jordan getting an extra step on a drive to the rim. Or Greg Maddux being given an extra inch on the outside corner of home plate. Whatever the scenario, it happens. And it happens on a nightly basis. What shouldn’t happen is superstars getting a pass for suspend-able offenses. Conspiracy theorists have two new bits of evidence that the NHL is doing just that.
On December 18th, Sidney Crosby jumped into a scrap in front of the Pittsburgh net. Eventually, he threw a punch to the back of the head of Atlanta defenseman Boris Valabik, who was down on all fours engaged with another Penguin. Crosby let-loose twice more, possibly connecting with Valabik’s nether regions.
Did the “attack” warrant more than the 2-minute roughing minor Crosby received? Definitely. Did it deserve a multi-game suspension? Probably not, but we can’t help wonder how Colin Campbell would have reacted had someone lacking Crosby’s “stature” done the same thing.
Last Thursday night, Alex Ovechkin pasted Tampa Bay blueliner Jamie Heward from behind into the boards, resulting in Heward crumpling to the ice and then needing to be placed on a stretcher.
We’ve watched the hit more than a dozen times now, and there is no disputing Ovechkin stepped over the line. He saw only Heward’s numbers as he followed him from the slot into the corner – he should have known he couldn’t run through Heward. Ovechkin deserved to sit out a game or two. His hit was not as vicious as Corey Perry’s elbow on Friday (which garnered a 4-game ban), but just as dangerous. Interestingly enough, Ovechkin’s star power seemed to keep him out of trouble on the ice, too, as the Lightning barely challenged him in the aftermath of the hit.
This lack of consistency was part of our problem with Gary Bettman’s Sean Avery punishment. The Commissioner wasted little time lambasting Avery, but offered little criticism of himself or anyone else after the Predators were allowed to be sold to a group including William “Boots” del Biaggio, who was subsequently charged with fraud.
Of all the things the NHL needs to do to re-establish itself in the mainstream sports world, more transparency and accountability from headquarters wouldn’t hurt.
The Shootout...The Winter Classic at Wrigley Field was an absolute success, unless you are a Blackhawk fan. Mother Nature cooperated unlike last year. The first period was phenomenal. And probably most importantly, the ratings rose 12 percent from last year and were the best overnight ratings for a regular season game in 13 years. We were thinking for a while that a biannual game would be best to avoid any overkill, but the Winter Classic needs to happen every New Year’s Day...
NHL players lost the holiday spirit in a hurry Saturday night with a flurry of fights, some of which featured some unfamiliar combatants: Crosby, Marc Staal, Wade Redden, and Doug Weight. There was the wacky (Alexander Semin using Staal’s back as a pair of bongos) and the unnecessary (Crosby jumping Brett MacLean in the faceoff circle with the Penguins headed for another loss). There’s nothing wrong with the captain of a slumping team trying to rile up his teammates, but Crosby could go about things a bit better. At least give MacLean the opportunity to straighten up after the faceoff and get his gloves off...
Congrats to Canada for winning another World Junior title. Of the players eligible for this summer’s draft, no one was better than John Tavares. Whomever ends up with the first pick better not outthink themselves and take someone else…
I can’t bring myself to rail on the All-Star Game selection process right now, so let’s all agree that fan voting just stinks…
Finally, we’ve lost one significant name from the rumor mill. Wild winger Marian Gaborik is out for 10 weeks following hip surgery. We wrote last week that Minnesota GM Doug Risebrough needed to move Gaborik as soon as possible, but a trade is very unlikely now. And even if a team gambles on Gaborik at the deadline while he is still on IR, Risebrough will miss out on the compensation he was hoping for...
As always, all questions, comments, criticisms go to boguschhockey@gmail.com
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