A Spiral into Utter Silliness

The tweet came in just before midnight from an intriguing source, future Hall of Famer Mike Modano.

"Really selling the game," tweeted Modano under the Twitter handle @9modano. "No wonder our TV deals suck ass."

Joining a growing list of players and former players - Jonathan Toews, David Perron, Henrik Zetterberg - disgusted or frustrated with what has transpired over the first week of NHL playoff competition, Modano's tweet appeared to be in reaction to yet another ugly incident, this time Raffi Torres - oh yes, Torres again - and his vicious hit on Chicago star winger Marian Hossa that sent Hossa to hospital.

On a night when we should have been discussing Nashville's second straight win in Detroit, Florida's comeback against the Devils or 39-year-old Ray Whitney's brillance in a 3-2 overtime win for Phoenix over the Blackhawks, once again a controversial hit and injury took centre stage.

Modano's point, of course, and he should know, is that the NHL has constantly found itself with tiny TV ratings and revenue in the U.S. below sports like bowling because it has consistently failed to produce a package in which skill is featured ahead of goons and blood. (Of course, you can now expect the CBC's first intermission clown to take umbrage and first insult Modano's nationality, then call him a turncoat and a "puke," blame him for the bloodshed at Vimy Ridge then throw out a series of inaccurate and misleading "stats" that he will claim proves the 1999-00 Mississauga Ice Dogs were the greatest junior team ever to play.)

UPDATE: Torres suspended indefinitely

These days, meanwhile, it would certainly appear the best players in the game are being hunted and targetted, with little meaningful response from the NHL. Embattled Department of Player Safety boss Brendan Shanahan, who increasingly seems completely overmatched by the task he's been given, will face a challenge with the Torres-Hossa hit as Torres didn't even receive a minor penalty on the play.

That underlined another problem for Shanahan and the NHL. The officiating hasn't just been bad in recent days. Its been negligent and sometimes weirdly absent.

There was Ryan Clowe playing the puck from the bench in the final days of the season without any official knowing. There was an obvious offside goal for Philly to start a comeback in Game 1 against Pittsburgh. Last night, Nashville's David Legwand closed his hand on the puck in the crease and no official saw it, and then came the hit on Hossa, a blatantly illegal play that went uncalled as NHL commissioner Gary Bettman sat in the stands at the United Centre.

"I can't believe four guys missed it," said Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville.

Torres, of course, is a serial offender and well-established backstabber, frequently punished but sometimes allowed to get away with dangerous and reckless play. In this instance, his hit on Hossa in front of the benches was late - the puck was long gone - and saw the Phoenix forward launch himself into Hossa's head, making it both a charge and a classic Rule 48 head shot.

"Just trying to finish my hit out there," said Torres, quoting from Page 1 of the NHL Players Excuse Guide.

Still, don't underestimate the NHL's ability to let Torres escape justice. He did so last spring when he delivered a brutal head shot to Brent Seabrook and was exonerated because the hit occurred in a "hitting zone" that no one had previously heard of.

In this case, a reasonable person might sugges Torres' suspension should begin with the remainder of the post-season and grow from there. Time and time again, this is a player who has demonstrated no regard for the health and well-being of his fellow NHLers, not to mention the rules of the game.

He is the new Matt Cooke, now that Matt Cooke is the new Matt Cooke, if you get my drift.

But who really has any idea whether Shanahan will take any action at all? Moreover, since the NHL owns the Coyotes and would love a springtime playoff run to improve the franchise's saleability, the league is, you could argue, in a rather massive conflict of interest here.

"I don't know what to expect anymore," said Toews afterwards. "I don't think anyone does."

That's because we appear to have moved into Phase 3 of the Shanahan Darts-At-A-Board Justice program.

Phase 1 was to flex his muscles and hand down suspensions of 10 or more games before being shut down by outraged general managers.

Phase 2 was to let players get away with murder - including two head shots from Torres for which he received a $2,500 fine for one and a two-game suspension for the other - while claiming education and discussion was a better strategy than suspensions.

Phase 3, meanwhile, appears to be to issue a blizzard of meaningless and illogical mini-suspensions, giving slightly larger ones to grunts and grinders while giving one game or less to star players. On Tuesday alone, Shanahan suspended four players, but none for more than four games, with the reasoning for each detached from a general, understandable guiding philosophy.

At this point, he's just guessing, trying simultaneously to please his boss and avoid getting censured by the GMs again while still trying to affect the manly pose of a former player with insight into the modern game.

So with respect to Torres, here are the possible outcomes:

--Torres could get 25 games, with Shanahan noting he once expressed an interest in playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and all Penguins deserve to be suspended because the Flyers are angels and would never do anything wrong.

--He might get a $2,500 fine, with Shanahan showing footage in his video of Hossa being able to walk out of hospital and a simulated presentation of the Slovak dancing at a late night Chicago blues bar.

--Torres could get a one-game suspension because Halifax came back to beat Quebec in the QMJHL playoffs. In other words, for no logical reason at all.

--The Coyote cranium-crusher might get four games because he reminds Shanahan of a left-handed Arron Asham.

--Or Torres might get no games and no fine because he outscored Sidney Crosby between Jan. 5, 2011 and Nov. 20, 2011, and then again between Dec. 6, 2011 and March 14, 2012, demonstrating emphatically that he is an elite skill player and not a rat, and therefore doesn't deserve any discipline at all.

Look, you've just gotta laugh at what's going on, because otherwise you'd be thoroughly disgusted at a league that is so dazed and confused another lockout might well be the best medicine for what ails it.

RELATED:

Coyotes-Blackhawks series turns ugly in an instant

UPDATE:

Coyotes concede Torres hit on Hossa was a 'scary' sight

Torres suspended indefinitely for hit

 

 

Comments

[Paul Busch]

Damien, I'm a supporter of your column and generally agree with your comments, and this one is no different. But it was obvious from Twitter last night that you were a little hot under the collar - and there are some bits of hyperbole above that show that. Perhaps you should get a good nights rest before posting :-)

I'm not an expert on referring the game but hit looked borderline at the least and I thought it was reckless. I'll go with the opinion of Kerry Fraser from last night's TSN who clearly thought it was an illegal hit. I'm wondering why we are not hearing from the NHL regarding any concern for the violence thus far in the playoffs. And the NHLPA is also responsible and needs to send a message to their members in order to protect the image of the game.

Yes ratings are up, but that's a double edges sword. How many potential fans are seeing highlights and reading articles about fighting and head shots, and deciding this is not a sport about skill and fast paced action. Meanwhile fans who are flocking to the fight sites don't really care about the goaltending or artistry.
http://itsnotpartofthegame.blogspot.ca/

[Yves d'Avignon]

My God. I can't believe how much you are right: sorry for the mauvais anglais: I'm a hockey fan from Montreal...

[Don]

"CBC's second period clown" lol Sounds like someone took Don Cherry's "Tennis" Comment, the other day, personally.

[James Roy]

Damien, I agree with you that this year's playoffs have been brutal (in many senses of the word). But let me take it one step further and hope that you might follow this up, in your blog or on the FAN. What effect might this disgusting display and our media coverage of it have on the children watching, many of whom see NHL hockey players as role-models or heroes (unfortunately)?

It is difficult enough to explain to younger kids why 2 players would be fighting on the ice, and why this isn't appropriate behaviour at their rink or on their playground. Now we have to deal with this anything-goes unsportsmanship attitude, including attempting to injure the other team's players, despite all the discussion and concern for concussions this year. To make matters worse, this past week I heard 2 commentators on HNC and 1 "guest" on the Fan, essentially CONDONE hits that were blatant attempts to injure (head shots and hitting from behind). I was shocked and disgusted, and in one case I did something I have never done before - turned off a hockey game out of disgust. My kids weren't watching at the time, but how would I explain away those comments? Do hockey people forget this is supposed to be a family sport; or should we start putting a PG rating on hockey?

[StephenB]

Cox has written ill-judged intemperate stuff on occasion, but I think this post is fully justified. In particular I think this paragraph hits the bullseye:

"In this case, a reasonable person might sugges Torres' suspension should begin with the remainder of the post-season and grow from there. Time and time again, this is a player who has demonstrated no regard for the health and well-being of his fellow NHLers, not to mention the rules of the game."

The headhunting this year is incredible.

[Randal]

Second period clown? Uh, so are you going to be on the CBC tonight to pass along your makeup, Damien? Your cheap shots that appear in your articles from time to time, make you no different than the NHL player's you're writing about in this article who go out of their way to injure other players.

[sportenth]

These are marginal hits that unfortunately are catching some players in vulnerable postitons. Momentum is carrying this guy and he is just finishing his hit. Let them play the game, it has been played like this for years. Get with it, lace them up and try it yourself, see how fast you can avoid a collision like that without someone else taking you out.

[Sanj]

Duncan Keith should have gotten 20 games for that hit on Sedin.

Weber should have gotten 1 game at least for that head shoving incident on Zetterberg.

Obviously Torres is not getting the message. Rest of the playoffs and the first 20 games next season.

And it amazes me that no Flyers got any sort of suspension. As u said the Flyers are angels.

Overall you are right. Instead of talking about the skill of the game in these playoffs, we are talking about the goonery and the NHL has only itself to blame.

[MP]

So far as I can tell, the NHL is as close to a real life manifestation of "Rollerball" than any of the professional sports leagues in North America.

Rollerball trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy5X4KI_yJM

[Reb Handle]

less like rollerball and more like dog-fighting.

[Dcollie]

I would love to see you do a better job. In an article where you state the precarious situation Shanahan is in, you then proceed to just make fun of him.

I also notice that you offer no solution to the problem aside from a snide remark about another lockout and the suggestion that the NHL suspend Torres for the rest of the postseason and then extend into next year (Reference "phase 1" of the "Shanahan Darts-At-A-Board" justice program).

Perhaps for your next piece you take a hard right from the same cry baby articles with no insight that you have been doing for 20 odd years and actually offer up something that you had to think about for more than five minutes.

Sincerely,

Your biggest fan (hoping this comment gets approved by the "author")

[Adam]

If we aren't discussing Nashville's second straight win in Detroit, Florida's comeback against the Devils or 39-year-old Ray Whitney's brillance in a 3-2 overtime win for Phoenix over the Blackhawks, it's yours - and the rest of the medias fault. Do the game some good and share some of the focus on the positive aspects of the game. Your negative attitude towards the NHL that is evident in the majority of your columns does as much harm as any of the suspendable offences that have occurred so far.

[Phil]

I gotta tell ya...as someone who isn't a big fan of fighting in hockey, I would almost rather see a fight than what I saw last night. I don't want to see anymore of the stars of the game get knocked silly and sit in the press box. I'm tired of telling my son why his hero is sitting upstair watching the game instead of playing in it. Is it the instigator rule? Is the game too fast now that the red line is gone. Do we need a bigger ice surface? All I know is, we didn't have these issues before the "New" NHL was introduced. In the 70's, 80's and even the 90's to some respect, you may have seen a fight break out on the ice and a circus like atmosphere every now and then but we didn't see our stars layed out unconcious on the ice. As much as I hate to say it, there may be some merit to self policing in the game. Unfortunately I fear someone will die before this problem is seriously addressed.

[Mr. Burns]

I think you meant the league is "dazed and contused."

[Long Branch Mike]

Damien I completely agree. I've stopped watching these playoffs and hope more players & former players will speak out against the intent to injure violence.

[David]

Good morning,

I would suggest that the hyperbole is a deliberate attempt to highlight the absurdity of the situation Mr. Cox is remarking upon. While a little more sensational than I would have imagined, I did like it. The seemingly arbitrary nature of the decisions leads thoughtful process-oriented people to frustration, after all. I wonder if anyone has floated this as an alternate idea for suspensions: the player is to dress in full uniform and sit on the bench for the duration of his suspension. My rationale is that a suspension doesn't compromise the team with the offending player, they still dress a full playing roster. Forcing the suspended player to take up a roster spot and sit in the best seat in the house unable to play in full view of both teams and the braodcast of the game might garner more negative reinforcement in the player himself, and the team shares the onus for the recklessness.

[Ron]

What a surprise, another head shot. Imagine that. In front of the commish. Missed by two linesmen and two referees in the middle of the ice. Committed by a player who is average at best and was the same in junior. Another in a long line of stars injured. Does everybody see a pattern here. The NHL unlike the NFL has no guts to take a stance and protect it's stars. I think they believe that the fans want to really see third and fourth line players as opposed to the skilled athletes on the teams.They hire a VP of player safety or whatever his title is and he is protecting no one. Another one of Gary Bettman's regular smoke and mirror acts that has gone on since he arrived on the scene but the owners love him because revenue has increased and Bob Goodenow is long gone. What a bunch of short sighted uninformed fools.

[Aubrey]

Torres' hit on Hossa was clearly late and had nothing to do with Torres 'finishing his check'.He launched himself into Hossa, knowing that Hossa would be seriously injured. The NHL's Department of Player Safety is simply window dressing and the General Managers have hogtied Shannahan, who's obviously been ordered to back off. The fact that referees are' missing' so many infractions in this series makes one wonder whether they've also received their orders.

[Dr. J]

While I support your right to have the opinion that hockey would be better and more popular without the violence. That opinion does not make it the truth or factual.
There has always been this type of violence in the game. That much hasn't changed. It has never been popular in the U.S, and probably never will be. Get over it. Just because we love hockey doesn't mean that everyone else has to, or is missing out because they would rather watch tennis and bowling.
I read this week that ratings for the playoffs were up on NBC, TSN and CBC. It would seem that in this case, your opinion is very different from the facts.

[Braco]

NHL refs should be all jailed.Not ssuspended, jailed. For Sutherland to miss clear peanlty for Detroit, he was 2 meters from the play, and 2 refs not to make a call on Torres hit is criminal behaviour.It is time to stop this and put the curtain down.As I wrote before NHL is run by bunch of IDIOTS who destroyed the game for sake of few extra dollars!!

[80s Leafs]

Anyone remember Domi's suspension for that momentum-killing, stupid elbow on Niedermeyer in 2001? He was suspended for the rest of the playoffs and (I believe) the first 10 games of the following season. I think what Asham did deserved a suspension more in that neighbourhood.

[Michael C.]

My question for Mr. Cox is simple. "Why bring Don Cherry into the fray?" Are you looking for ratings? Do require him to be on the other side of you to say that I am the protector of my side?

Here is what I see, a game out of control. The officials have parked their whistles in their pants, the enforcers are almost all gone from the game, and the Department of Player Safety is not actually worried about player safety.

Yesterday as I was leaving to the airport, I was listening to the ex-NHLers on the radio saying that they are okay with this. Well I can tell you that this is not okay. Games get out of hand, and the real reason is that the officials on the ice let it happen.

Case in point. I coach Atom hockey players. My team was the hated skilled number one team. What happened, was that the other kids on the other team started running my players with the intent of hurting them. Why, because they pushed the envelope each game to see what they could get away with. It did not stop until the third injury when the main perpetrator got kicked out of the game and the other team realized that they could not get away with it.

Want to make these great games. Quit the chirpping/physical stuff after whistle and call the penalties which put the game itself at risk. Calling penalties curbs the behaviour.

[Rob McMenemy]

Nice piece. As a life long fan of the game I have never seen such open disregard of players for one another, and the league is flummoxed as to what to do. As the CBC sour Grape pointed out there has always been ugly hockey, even back in the day, but what he intentionally fails to point out, is that back then the league, the fans, and the players, were upset by the poor quality of hockey, when those incidents happened. Also pretty much to a person the League and the players would apologize and avow no furtherance. But not now. The players take a cowardly -defense of the indefensible - line and the league does not even criticize the play or the players, because they have Shanahan, so there is a process in place they need not interfere, which is just as cowardly as the players excuses. Back in the day when hockey was hockey everybody stood up for their part, right or wrong, and were encouraged and supported for doing so. We called it the right thing and the game was better for it.

[Don Luoma]

Brilliant! What responsible parent could put his child into a hockey program knowing what group of "heroes" would be introduced into his/her life?

[A Facebook User]

All I can say is........ Players seem to forget that their head could be the next one knocked off. Not a game of skill anymore, but a game of survival!