As Bad As It Gets

The perfect storm. That's about what this week has been for Gary Bettman.

The NHL's two areas of greatest vulnerability, the two issues that attract the most public scrutiny and open the league to charges of being structurally unsound and run by outlaws, have been played out in some of North America's largest media centres this week.

In one corner, you have the league-owned Phoenix Coyotes, quite possibly headed to Winnipeg because a public watchdog smells lies and deceit and law-breaking with the process being used to transfer the hockey club to a new, Chicago-based owner.

In the other, you have the violence issue, which this week was played out in an entirely different, nearly unprecendented fashion, with Montreal forward Max Pacioretty badly injured when run into a glass partition by giant Boston defenceman Zdeno Chara. Chara was penalized on the play, but not subjected to a suspension or fine. That left hockey fans in Montreal screaming bloody murder, and even had Montreal-based Air Canada complaining to the league and seemingly threatening to pull it's financial support.

While each of these situations - Phoenix and the Chara hit - can be logically argued in different ways, the overall impression for the league is instability and mayhem. The Coyotes mess has been hanging around for months and months, defying resolution, and leaving observers wondering if the league even remembers why it went down this pointless path in the first place. Now, the league looks even worse as it tries to intimidate the pro-taxpayer group called the Goldwater Institute into withdrawing its objections against putting millions more into the money pit that is the Coyotes in a deal that seems bizarre at the very least. By fighting Goldwater the NHL seems to be fighting the sheriff on behalf of the shady characters in the black hats.

With Chara, the decision not to suspend him is clearly defensible, although many disagree. Less defensible is that neither the NHL nor the NHLPA seems inclined to investigate why the dangerous area into which Pacioretty was driven is allowed to exist. But within the larger context of what has gone on this season, from Colin Campbell's email trail to Sidney Crosby's concussion to all the headshots and cheapshots and goon tactics and league-promoted fighting, for many this is a new extreme of a league that seems to want blood and more blood.

The NHL general managers will meet next week in Boca Raton, and it was at this time last year they were forced to deal with a similar storm. Phoenix was still in play, but then the hockey world was reeling over a blind side head shot by Matt Cooke on Marc Savard that may have destroyed Savard's career and forced the league to acknowledge an enormous, yawning crater in its rule book for the first time.

Yet a year later, the GMs will convene at a time when the Coyotes debacle won't go away and the violence in the league seems worse, not better.

There seems to have been a corporate decision made that keeping the Desert Dogs in place somehow is absolutely critical to the future of the league, possibly because with a new TV negotiation ongoing with U.S. networks Bettman and Co. aren't in the mood to be going to meetings armed with a map to show American executives exactly where Manitoba is. If Washington and Pittsburgh are the only franchises the league really seems interested in promoting, it's Phoenix that seems to be the third most-discussed franchise, and that's just strange.

On the violence front, the New York Islanders turned the league into a gong show several weeks ago and seem prepared to do so again if necessary. Boston and Montreal had a fight filled contest several weeks ago that the league seemed to celebrate. The league has taken a turn over the past two years, moving from considering whether fighting is worth keeping in the wake of the Don Sanderson tragedy to embracing fisticuffs and all forms of vigilante justice as part of the entertainment package it wants to sell. The players seem to be dedicated to raising the bar on violence every night, with their union still in disarry and seemingly unable to assert itself effectively on any of these important issues despite the hiring on Don Fehr. It's interesting that Mike Milbury, who once railed against the "pansification" of hockey, seems to have taken a sharp turn and now recognizes the utter nonsense that is at the heart of the NHL's goon mentality, nonsense propagated every Saturday night on Canada's national broadcaster.

If this is a perfect storm, it's important to note that Bettman has weathered such events time and time again. This won't bring him down. But it is remarkable that at a time when the other North American leagues should be attracting gobs of negative publicity over their impending labour troubles and potential stoppages in competition, it's the NHL that's getting all the bad ink and being widely described as a league in turmoil.

 

 

Comments

[Ron]

I didn't think I'd ever say this before, because I'm the first to enjoy a hard hitting hockey game. But, I've come to the point where I think it's time to take hitting out of the game. Working the corners or in front of the net for position is fine, but take out hitting and all the injuries and concussions we've seen this year will be history. Although I don't think Cara intentionally meant to hurt Pacioretty, Cara's hit was one of the worst I've seen. The players are bigger and faster and which has resulted in more serious injuries in recent years. Without hitting, the game is likely to be more exciting with more scoring chances, which is the essence of what hockey is all about. Those that want big hits and fights can go watch MMA; and while you're at it, take Don Cherry and Mike Milbury with you.

Ron / Carlisle

[hoofheartz]

Vsem, I have a question for you. If, as you say, the hit was clean, then why was Chara given a 5 minute major for interference? The mere fact that a penalty was called whether it was a major or minor indicates that it wasn't clean as you allude to.

[Ron]

Bottom line is the NHL is looking for that big TV contract in the US that will cure all the ills this league has. The NHL is pandering to the people who think that roller derby on ice is the way to promote the league. As I see it they figure what is a few smashed heads if we can get that big contract and save the pathetic franchises that are bleeding red ink on a daily basis. I love good hard hockey but what is happening now is over the top.

[Mike Diver]

Damien, how can u berate the NHL for not taking the players safety seriously yet work for a network that actively promotes UFC, where headshots are encouraged?

[Stanislav the Sad Bureaucrat]

Do you know if Andrew Ference has weighed in on the Chara hit? After drawing fire for calling out teammate Daniel Paille for a "bad hit" on Dallas Stars' forward Raymond Sawada, I wonder what his take is on this one?

[Will Dickinson]

First of all most fans are not screaming bloody murder. According to the polls I have seen slighty over half would have liked a suspesion of some sort, but almost half say the league got the call right. So clearly it is defensible.

I'll say it again slowing a play down to frame by frame doesn't always give you a true picture of what happened. At full speed we have a forward chipping a puck past a defenseman, who is now beat on the play. As far a that defenseman knows he is now giving up a breakaway or 2 on 1. So he does what every defenseman in the league does, he interferes with that guy. This is a two minute interference play, but since there was an injury it becomes a major, since it was a head injury it becomes a game misconduct.

The real problem here is the design of the rink. This is the problem that should debated. I hope Pacioretty recovers fully and can resume his career but the right call was made in this incident both on and off the ice.

[pzed]

Grew up playing hockey, loved the game, but I've pretty much stopped watching NHL games. There's a difference between force and violence, and the NHL has opted for violence at the expense of those parts of the game that are beautiful. What other sports league on earth would allow a deliberate attack that could destroy the career of its best player, calling it part of the game? And if even Crosby is expendable, what does that say of the level of contempt that the owners and league execs have for the players?

[Vsem Yenovkian]

When I say "clean" I mean it in reference to clean vs. dirty, not legal (by NHL rulebook) vs. not legal. Flipping the puck over the glass is considered illegal but I doubt anyone would say that it was dirty. So I still maintain that the Chara hit was clean. You can't judge a play simply by the result of it.

[Vsem Yenovkian]

To expand on what I mean about not judging a play by the result. Let me put out two scenarios: 1) A guy goes to a bar, gets drunk and drives his car and hits a pedestrian. By some unbelievable luck the pedestrian gets up and there isn't a scratch on him. 2) Another guy decides to go for a jog on the sidewalk, as he's running an elderly lady suddenly steps in front of him. The jogger can't avoid the lady and he bumps into her, she falls, hits her head on the ground and dies.

Which scenario is worse? Who should be punished harsher?

[Tabber]

So directing a player's head into the stanchion isn't dirty, Vsem? Look at the replay, see the arm doing just that. In that case, I should be able to walk up to someone on the street and get away with pushing him/her into a street sign. That would actually be assault, just as Chara's directing Pacioretty's head into the stanchion was assault. Pretty simple, really, once you watch the replay, and not even in slow motion.

[Vsem Yenovkian]

I guess that's the key to this whole thing. Some people think Chara purposely directed Pacioretty's head into the stanchion, but others (including myself) don't.

Look at it this way, in a court setting you need to be able to prove guilt "beyond a reasonable doubt." Now if Chara was on trial and a guilty verdict would send him to the gas chamber and you were on the jury, can you honestly say "beyond a reasonable doubt" that Chara really drove his head purposely into the stanchion? Based on the evidence I don't think so. Bertuzzi on Moore was obvious, Cooke on Savard was obvious, this one isn't as clear. And that's why he was left off the hook.

[Ron]

Gary Bettman only has himself to blame. He has stuck his head in the sand regarding the dying franchises for years waiting for the big U.S. TV contract to solve his problems. He has also not taken the head shot issue seriously highlighted by his arrogant comments yesterday at a meeting to get kids interested in hockey in the U.S. Personally I believe it is time for a change not only in the New York office but in Toronto where Colin Cambell and his merry band of men have been around much too long. The NHL needs some new blood with new ideas.

[Sensi-Bill]

For those claiming it was a dirty hit BECAUSE Chara drew an interference penalty on the play, would the exact same play suddenly become a clean hit if Pacioretty had the puck, thus ruling out interference on the play?
As always, it's easy to judge a play from the relaxed position of the passive viewer. Especially with slo-motion and single-frame shots distorting the speed at which things happen.
This extremely brief incident happened in a flash. At high speed and high intensity.
I don't believe Chara had a chance to form a plan, or intent. The shove had to be, at best, pure instinct. With no time to focus on the layout of the arena --- yes, he's played in this arena before but in how many others as well --- I think Chara could just as easily have made an instinctive move to shove his opponent into the player's bench.
I doubt even Chara is sure how much he intended to injure Pacioretty.
Without being able to determine, let alone prove, intent, I think the league, under current rules, had no choice but to NOT impose any further punishment.
In future, however, I believe two things must be done.
Remove this dangerous area --- I don't believe there is any glass or stanchions in the spot when a TV hockey analyst reports from between the benches.
Also, change the rules to more accurately deal with this kind of careless and dangerous play. If a player must be in control of, and responsible for, his stick, he should be held even more so in terms of his body.
Oh, one third thing. Get rid of this hitting after the player has gotten rid of the puck. Yes the time of lost possession was long enough in the Chara case to warrant a penalty for interference. But how many times do we have to watch a player against the boards, often a defenseman, clear the puck and then spend a few seconds bracing for the too-late hit of someone merely "finishing his check"?
It's not a slam-bang play. Player and viewer alike have time to see it coming. But the longer the time officials allow between puck clear and hit, the more it tempts players to push the limit.
If a linebacker hit a quarterback that long after the play, there wouldn't just be a penalty, the linebacker would be ejected from the game right then and there.

[Sensi-Bill]

"Nothing made me laugh worse than the Air Canada sponsership threat. Hey idiots, a lot more people die on planes that at hockey games."
.

I was tempted to reply to point out the ridiculousness and irrelevance of comparing airline safety and hockey safety, but it dawned on me that given the source of this comment, reasonable people would have no problem spotting the true idiot here.
But I am left wondering what it means to "laugh worse." I understand laughing longer and harder and more. But worse? The words are in English but as presented, don't make much sense to me.