The NHL has never protected its 'investments'
Discussing that, as well as the Brad Marchand-Sam Bennett incident.
Vancouver Canucks defenseman Carson Soucy was not available for the team’s Game 4 loss to the Edmonton Oilers earlier this week because he was serving a one-game suspension for cross-checking Connor McDavid in the face following the Canucks’ Game 3 win.
It was the type of petty game-ending altercation you tend to see at the end of a playoff game where sticks were flying and messages were getting send. McDavid got in a slash, and the Canucks responded by cross-checking him a couple of times including once in the face.
Here is the sequence.
Vancouver, understandably, was livid with any sort of punishment here, with veteran Canucks defenseman Nikita Zadorov going as far as to suggest that the NHL had to “protect its investment.”
Zadorov was also fined $5,000 for his role, while he was also cross-checked by Edmonton’s Zach Hyman resulting in a cut of his own.
No Oilers were disciplined by the league.
Zadorov was asked why he wasn’t protected the same way McDavid was, resulting in him saying he jokingly saying he doesn’t make as much money for the league.
While I can understand Zadorov’s frustration, as well as the Canucks’ frustration as a whole, the idea that the league goes out of its way to protect its star players (its “investments”) makes my eyes roll so far back into my head that I can easily stare at my own ass.
It’s the type of thing you expect to hear from fans and talk radio hosts.
It’s the whole, “can you imagine what would happen if somebody did THAT to Crosby or McDavid?! They’d throw them out of the league!” argument that comes up every time a non-star player gets hit with a cheap shot.
The harsh reality is the NHL will probably protect the run-of-the-mill player more. And it has a very extensive track record of doing so.
Back in 2011-12 the league introduced the Department of Player Safety that was supposed to help crack down on deliberate checks to the head and help cut down on injuries. It was initially run by Brendan Shanahan who, in his first year, swung a huge hammer and was tossing out four and five game suspensions like it was his job (and it kinda was). Part of it was the result of players having to adjust to the new rules, and another part of it was the league, for once, trying to make a difference in protecting its players.
But after a while the leagues general managers, coaches and board of governors decided that too many players were missing too many games to suspensions, the suspensions started to decrease in frequency and severity, and Shanahan eventually left the league office to run the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the DoPS started to become an increasingly bigger joke.
It is now run by George Parros, a former face-puncher whose only role in the league was to get into fights and sold a line of hockey merchandise under the tagline, “Make hockey violent again.”
Amazing stuff, when you think about it.
I will concede that part of the drop in suspensions from year one — and maybe a big part of the drop — is the fact that players did adjust and start to eliminate a lot of the hits that were ruining lives and careers. But they did not entirely disappear. And the league does not grant its star players any sort of extra protection.
I want you to consider this number — Two.
Do you know what that number represents?
Let’s talk about it.
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