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February 15, 2011 :: 11:46am ET
Same Merde, Different Day
LOS ANGELES, CA -- The aftermath of the
Penguins-Islanders battle has defenders of the NHL circling the
wagons. Again.
There are 1,230 games in the NHL regular season and all it takes is
one to have its critics come to fore with the age old claim that the
game is barbaric to its core. While as regrettable as the antics were
at the end of last week's Penguins-Islanders game, it's certainly not
a sign that the game is going to regress to the days which The Broad
Street Bullies brawled their way to back to back championships in the
1970's.
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Was it a black eye for the sport?
While the actions of both teams, especially the Islanders, were
indefensible, it's a rare and isolated incident carried over from the
hostility of a contest from a week prior in Pittsburgh.
Could it have been prevented? Of course, and we'll delve into the
prevention part later in this passage.
The sports media that don't regularly cover the sport were rubbing
their collective hands together when the images of Trevor Gillies
taunting a concussed Eric Tangardi and Eric Godard sprinting from the
bench to defend Brent Johnson (a goalie now cruising for a fight once
he got the taste) got repeated ad nauseum on the nightly sports
highlight package. Hopefully, the haters attacked the NBA with the
same vigor when Ron Artest caused a riot in the stands in Detroit and
called for reparations from the New York Mets, who included profits
from the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme in their cash flow projections
over the past few years.
A few misguided kids chasing each other around the ice looking for
fight doesn't come close to people losing their life investments with
one of the benefactors being a major league baseball franchise, so
perspective please.
There's a fringe element in every professional sport, the NFL hands
out fines every Monday for hits that go unpenalized during a game.
There are habitual offenders, like Pittsburgh's James Harrison
(interesting that he plays in that city, something in the air,
perhaps?) who threatened to quit the game claiming his been targeted
by the league for repeat offenses. The rules had to be changed to
protect the likes of Tom Brady from players getting taken out at the
knees and the effects of steroids on players from the 1970's show that
America's Game is more dangerous than the game we enjoy and cover. MLB
rocketed back to popularity through use of the syringe, while the NHL
is the only major sport where drug use has never been an issue.
So while the collateral damage from this incident was greater than
usual, the NHL needs to do a better job both before and after they
occur to insure they're limited (note we didn't say eliminated). A
cursory review of the NHL schedule should have had the league office
antennae up with the prospect of a rematch nine days from the night
they drove old Rick DiPietro down. Added to the fact that the
Islanders recalls from Bridgeport prior to the game didn't conjure up
thoughts of Trottier, Bossy and Potvin (well, Billy Smith, yeah). The
storm clouds were forming even without the loading up of the New York
roster, so a meeting prior to the game the league headquarters was
mandatory.
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To add further drama, or perhaps comic
relief, right in the middle of the discussion parachutes in Mario
Lemieux. You remember him, don't you?
Arguably the most talented player to strap on the skates, now owner of
the Penguins, and has adeptly avoided any Jerry Jones-like outbursts
since assuming control of the Penguins. He's been as successful off
the ice as he's been on it, rescuing the Penguins from the brink to
build a model franchise with the current day best player. Mario took
an unusual time to emerge from the shadows to air his beef with the
league. It seems as if 2011 has made everyone in Pittsburgh a tad bit
sour, they lost the Winter Classic, Sidney Crosby to a concussion and
Evgeni Malkin to a season ending injury and now the skirmish with the
far out of contention Islanders.
Mario made an appearance at the Legends Game, but has done little to
lend his huge celebrity to promote the game, not even holding a press
conference during the Penguins win in the Finals two seasons ago.
Shame on him. Further more, he wasn't the one that wrote the $100,000
check to the NHL at the end of the day; it was Charles Wang, the man
who is arguably the best owner the league has due to his willingness
to endure tens of millions in losses every year, be stuck in the worst
building and lease in professional sports, yet continue to write
checks. The league's No.1 mission should always be to seek out those
owners; i.e. small mouths and big pockets. We'll skip the part about
Mario employing Matt Cooke, because as unlikely as it appears, he's
not a direct party to this chapter of the story.
It's not that Lemieux has a point, but to think the league will revert
to caveman status is nonsense. If anyone watched the Skills
Competition during All Star Weekend, they can't deny the fact that the
league is as skilled as it's ever been and a number of its brightest
stars aren't legal drinking age. Even rugged third and fourth liners
need a have a smidgen of touch around the net. George Parros protects
the likes of Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu for the Anaheim Ducks but
only because he chips in a goal every so often.
The scribes that bang on the sport haven't ventured into a hockey
locker room and spoken to this great group of athletes, without
entitlement and with a true love of the sport. The reality is the
Islanders-Penguins fracas was viewed by a select few, it was at the
tail end of the game that was a blowout and aired on MSG+ in New York
(can't think more than a few 100 looking in there) and FSN Pittsburgh.
If you wanted real violence over the weekend, you should have tuned to
Showtime and saw Fedor Emelianenko's face get re-arranged during the
Strikeforce MMA telecast. For those sports fans under a rock for the
past five years, it's the fastest growing sport because, after all, we
DO want a level of violence in our sports, or at least the cats who
are 25 to 34 years old do.
Since there are consequences for bad behavior, we'll drop the blame on
this one on the operations side of the business. It's failed here, not
the players, coaches or even whining, former superstar owners.
Qualifications to work in operations and executive suite of the NHL
appear to be from three backgrounds:
1) be successful in the front office of a more successful sport (Gary
Bettman, NBA and COO John Collins, NFL)
2) be an attorney (Bill Daly)
3) be a former hockey player (Colin Campbell, Mike Murphy, Brendan
Shanahan, Rob Blake).
Nowhere in the recruitment process is an accomplished business person,
and it's hurting the league. There are too many poor decisions in the
front office, like an outdated video review process or the inability
to exact proper, consistent and more punitive punishment for dangerous
plays. The NHL claims to be the most technology-savvy league, but it's
the only one with a 'war room'. The NBA, NFL and MLB have figured out
a way to have instant replay review onsite. It defies logic that the
NHL can't provide monitors to give officials the ability to confirm
calls.
A league that severs a $50,000 fine to a GM when he questions more
than one call going against his team but does nothing to another that
loads of a roster of dubious talent with the sole purpose of exacting
revenge on an opponent doesn't project a major league image. No wonder
detractors never seem to go away and one long-term suspension for a
future offender will show that the league is serious about curbing
unnecessary violence.
It's time to the league to be run like a business, not like a sport.
It has to figure a way to limit concussions and keep its players
healthy.
Love him or hate him, you can't have Sidney Crosby missing weeks when
you can't figure out how to limit this type of injury. The
Penguins-Islanders tête-à-tête is just a sidebar to a global issue
that impedes the game from getting momentum in the sports landscape in
the US, it takes a step forward with the Winter Classic and revamped
All Star Game and one back with needless negative exposure just a few
weeks later.
The NFL may be a few weeks away from making a decision far more stupid
than anything the NHL has ever done if the owners press the players
for huge givebacks on their CBA and a lockout results. Imagine a Fall
2011 with no football; a huge opportunity is at hand, if and only if
the NHL gets itself in order.
It's time to make the Great Leap Forward. If not now, then when?
Dennis Bernstein, the man behind SCORE! Media and an NHL Analyst with ESPN Radio, is the Senior Writer for The Fourth Period Magazine and a Columnist for TheFourthPeriod.com. You can also visit
Dennis on Twitter.
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