NHL Once Again Rewards The Offender
Entry posted by BrowntoBure
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Yesterday the majority of Vancouver fans were bracing themselves for Duncan Keith’s hearing Friday afternoon with league disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan and the inevitability of nothing more than 5 games, as is the rule for hearings which take place via phone call.
Late last night there was a glimmer of hope on the horizon though as news broke that the NHL had asked Keith for a face to face meeting which he subsequently waived. Allowing him to be suspended for any amount of games the league saw fit.
What had happened for the league to want to request an in person meeting with Keith?
Was there evidence of the accusation made by Henrik Sedin that Duncan Keith had threatened to “get” his brother Daniel after the hit he threw on Keith earlier in the game?
Or was the league going to nail Keith for the clear video evidence of the intent to injure he so ruthlessly displayed as he lodged his elbow into Daniel’s face, in an attempt to injure the Canucks star?
Grab yourself some water folks because your going to need something to wash down the vomit as you throw up in your mouth watching and listening to the crap coming out of Shanahan’s mouth as he completely tip toes around both of these very important facts.
Shanahan's explanation:
http://video.nhl.com...nsole?id=167025
Why is there no mention of it being the clear retaliatory hit that it was? Which in everyone’s opinion made the hit that much worse.
Remember rule 48?
What the hell happened to that, and why is there no mention of it?
48.1 Illegal Check to the Head – A hit resulting in contact with an opponent's head where the head is targeted and the principal point of contact is not permitted. However, in determining whether such a hit should have been permitted, the circumstances of the hit, including whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position immediately prior to or simultaneously with the hit or the head contact on an otherwise legal body check was avoidable, can be considered.
Let’s not forget that this hit was only given a 2 minute minor as well, also a complete crock.
48.5 Match Penalty - The Referee, at his discretion, may assess a match penalty if, in his judgment, the player attempted to or deliberately injured his opponent with an illegal check to the head.
If deemed appropriate, supplementary discipline can be applied by the Commissioner at his discretion.
Are you following the string of contradictions yet? Good.
In last season’s Stanley Cup Finals Aaron Rome was suspended 4 games for his hit on Nathan Horton of the Boston Bruins. While this was a late hit and contact to the head was made, Horton did at one point have the puck and it could easily be construed as a reckless hockey play. When looked at in comparison to what Keith did Wednesday night, there is no argument. Keith’s was far worse.
Following the suspension the NHL explained to the fans that playoff games were looked at as being worth double that of a regular season game, so Rome’s 4 games suspension was basically an 8 game suspension.
I’m no mathematician, but unless Gary Bettman and his band of idiots somehow managed to rewrite generations of the worlds mathematical equations, as they have done with the NHL rulebook countless times, 8 is still greater than 4.
Making matters worse, Brendan Shanahan met with the GM’s of all 30 teams last summer and stated that in his opinion “Every playoff series should be looked at as a 7 game season and being suspended for 1 playoff game is worth considerably more.” And "1 playoff game is the equivalent of 12 regular season games."
So if we go by the precedent that Shanahan seemed to be setting,
Aaron Rome’s 4 game suspension was the equivalent to 48 regular season games?
Meaning Duncan Keith’s 5 game suspension is worth… 5 games.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Duncan Keith deserved 28 games for his blatant cheap shot. He does however deserve to be given some sort of punishment for his actions though and met at the very least, the same criteria that Aaron Rome and the Canucks had to deal with last year. As it sits right now the Vancouver Canucks Stanley Cup hopes are hanging in the balance as their star player is sidelined with a concussion. Daniel may be able to return in a few weeks time, or he may be out for the duration of the playoffs, that is yet to be determined. But one things rings disgustingly true, Duncan Keith gets off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist, and I’d argue is actually being rewarded with a nice little rest leading up to the Blackhawks playoff run.
Way to go NHL,
You have missed yet another opportunity to make a statement that you care about the safety and well being of your players and that your game is one that needs to be taken seriously. This was your chance to set a precedent, everything was set up on a tee for you and you blew it.
Shame on us for expecting anything else.
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