Why the NHL Sucks...
During the Bruins/Canadiens series, as he was about to be hit by a Canadien, Milan Lucic raised both hands and his stick, hitting the Canadien in the head. For this he was given a two minute penalty for a cross check. After the Canadiens filed a protest (surprise surprise), Colin Campbell who is in charge of discipline for the league, gave Lucic a 1 game suspension (surprise surprise) because the action resulted in "a blow to the head" (remember that phrase) and that is something the league is trying to crack down on.
Last night in the closing minutes of the Bruins/Hurricanes game, Scott Walker of the Canes dropped his glove and hit Aaron Ward in the face, possible breaking his orbital bone. Ward did not drop his gloves or stick as he did not want to get into a fight and penalize his team. For the punch, Walker received a two minute penalty for instigating a fight, a five minute fighting major, a ten minute misconduct penalty and a game misconduct. According to NHL rules, any instigating penalty in the last 5 minutes of a game calls for an AUTOMATIC game suspension for the next game. The NHL has this rule to stop the chippiness and cheap shots that can occur at the end of a game, especially a game that is well in hand as last night's was.
Today, Colin Campbell overturned his own league's rules and waived Walker's 1 game suspension, saying that he didn't consider it to be a cheap shot. The rule states nothing about it having to be a cheap shot, just that the player was the instigator to the fight. So, Campbell suspends Lucic as he wants to cut down on head shots, but allows Walker to play because HIS head shot wasn't cheap enough, though the Canadien wasn't hurt and Ward has a possible broken bone in his face.
I wonder what would have happened if league darlings Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin had been on the receiving end of the punch?
Last night in the closing minutes of the Bruins/Hurricanes game, Scott Walker of the Canes dropped his glove and hit Aaron Ward in the face, possible breaking his orbital bone. Ward did not drop his gloves or stick as he did not want to get into a fight and penalize his team. For the punch, Walker received a two minute penalty for instigating a fight, a five minute fighting major, a ten minute misconduct penalty and a game misconduct. According to NHL rules, any instigating penalty in the last 5 minutes of a game calls for an AUTOMATIC game suspension for the next game. The NHL has this rule to stop the chippiness and cheap shots that can occur at the end of a game, especially a game that is well in hand as last night's was.
Today, Colin Campbell overturned his own league's rules and waived Walker's 1 game suspension, saying that he didn't consider it to be a cheap shot. The rule states nothing about it having to be a cheap shot, just that the player was the instigator to the fight. So, Campbell suspends Lucic as he wants to cut down on head shots, but allows Walker to play because HIS head shot wasn't cheap enough, though the Canadien wasn't hurt and Ward has a possible broken bone in his face.
I wonder what would have happened if league darlings Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin had been on the receiving end of the punch?