Paging Sheriff Campbell!
The Philadelphia Flyers once again find themselves in the hot seat, after yet another ugly on ice incident.
Saturday night in Boston, the Flyers Randy Jones crushed Boston’s Patrice Bergeron from behind into the boards in the Flyers end of the rink. Bergeron lay prone on the ice for several minutes following the hit, while yet another series of scuffles broke out in a game that had already become a chippy affair.
The careless and dangerous hit on Bergeron marks the third time that a Flyer player has sent someone to the hospital in less than two months. It marks a trend that has many beginning to wonder if the Flyers are out of control and whether the discipline phase needs to go beyond the players on the ice.
Clearly the message about respect for players is not being received in Philadelphia, where the line between physical hockey and physical assault seems to get blurred from time to time.
Last nights hit by Jones isn’t as spectacular at the previous two examples of violent hockey, but it could have been just as, if not more dangerous as Bergeron was completely unprotected from the jarring smash into the boards.
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At full speed it isn’t as obvious as the Steve Downie hit on Ottawa's Dean McCammond , or as violent looking as the cross check by Jesse Boulerice on Vancouver’s Ryan Kessler. But watch it a few times and you realize that the vulnerability of Bergeron on the boards at that time could have resulted in much more than just the overnight stay for observation that he endured.
While the game has always been on of physical contact, the Flyers seem to be on a march to recreate the boundaries for contact in the game not seen since the infamous seventies.
The NHL has so far this season twice sent Philadelphia a message that the kind of play they are engaging in is not acceptable, suspensions to the responsible players were supposed to set the tone for the rest of the year that violent and stupid incidents would not be tolerated.
Now once again, the NHL must sit down and examine yet another violent Flyer miscue, the time may be at hand to make the organization as accountable as its players, for what seems to be a mindset that has developed this season.
For their part the Flyers issued the obligatory comments that they are glad that Bergeron is ok and that Jones is anything but the prototype of the dirty player. They provided their interpretation of the nights events that the hit was not dirty, that Bergeron had come up short on the boards and left himself vulnerable. While the evidence does seem to support their claim that he's not a dirty player, he was regardless careless in this instance and made the wrong decision in the heat of the moment, a common trait of late it seems.
It must be maddening to watch a Flyers game from the NHL war room, never sure when a stupid play is going to be the next day’s talking point for hockey fans. Maybe Colin Campbell needs to talk slower, show more pictures and bring in a huge chalkboard for the Flyers to write “we will not (insert latest violent act) anymore.”
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Maybe the time has come to suspend the coach as well as the player, fine the organization or make the Flyers top scorer sit out as well, for as long as the offender is suspended and the victim recovers. Maybe they should just send the entire organization to a taping of Dr. Phil, so as to address their anti social behavior!
Clearly the solutions thus far haven't had the desired impact in Philadelphia, the league needs to do whatever it takes to get the message across to the Flyers that their style of play is starting to cause the game embarrassment.
There may be a love of physical hockey by the fans, but the prospect of player after player lying in a hospital room waiting to recover from the latest on ice assault is something that will eventually attract the attention of the courts.
If hockey can’t control the sudden surge in violence that seems to flow out of a visit from the Flyers, somebody else will, and that will be far more detrimental to the game than the prospect of alienating those that aren’t happy until the stretcher comes out on the ice.
Showing posts with label On ice violeince. Show all posts
Showing posts with label On ice violeince. Show all posts
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Saturday, October 13, 2007
25 games! Sheriff Campbell passes judgement
Grand pappy told my pappy, back in my day, son
A man had to answer for the wicked that he done
Take all the rope in Texas Find a tall oak tree,
Round up all of them bad boys
Hang them high in the street for all the people to see
--Toby Keith's Beer for my horses
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Justice has once again been served in the NHL, as the league’s chief agent of discipline cracked down hard on the Philadelphia Flyer’s Jesse Boulerice. His dangerous cross check to the face of Ryan Kesley Wednesday night brought him a twenty five game suspension, the strongest discipline meted out since last season’s Chris Simon attack on the Rangers' Ryan Hollweg, that attack seems to have become the benchmark for on ice violence this year in the NHL.
"This was more than a careless and reckless play — it was senseless," said Campbell.
Campbell pointed out that Boulerice and the league for that matter were quite fortunate that Kesler was not injured by the ugly bit of work by the Flyer. In two previous incidents similar in nature, the British Columbia legal process came into play, when Donald Brashear was clubbed on the head by Marty McSorley back in 2000 and more recently a few years ago in 2004, when Todd Bertuzzi attacked Steve Moore at GM Place.
In fact facing the legal system would not be an unusual process for Boulerice who faced charges over an ugly OHL playoff incident during his junior years, which almost cost Andrew Long his life.
Campbell clearly concerned for the safety of the league’s player if not for the image of the league was quick with his decision, announcing the punishment a few short hours after meeting with the Flyers GM Paul Holmgren.
Justice has once again been served in the NHL, as the league’s chief agent of discipline cracked down hard on the Philadelphia Flyer’s Jesse Boulerice. His dangerous cross check to the face of Ryan Kesley Wednesday night brought him a twenty five game suspension, the strongest discipline meted out since last season’s Chris Simon attack on the Rangers' Ryan Hollweg, that attack seems to have become the benchmark for on ice violence this year in the NHL.
"This was more than a careless and reckless play — it was senseless," said Campbell.
Campbell pointed out that Boulerice and the league for that matter were quite fortunate that Kesler was not injured by the ugly bit of work by the Flyer. In two previous incidents similar in nature, the British Columbia legal process came into play, when Donald Brashear was clubbed on the head by Marty McSorley back in 2000 and more recently a few years ago in 2004, when Todd Bertuzzi attacked Steve Moore at GM Place.
In fact facing the legal system would not be an unusual process for Boulerice who faced charges over an ugly OHL playoff incident during his junior years, which almost cost Andrew Long his life.
Campbell clearly concerned for the safety of the league’s player if not for the image of the league was quick with his decision, announcing the punishment a few short hours after meeting with the Flyers GM Paul Holmgren.
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However, hockey fans must be wondering if Gary Bettman might find some time to address the ugliness coming out of his domain. The commissioner has been strangely quiet on the issue, leaving it to Campbell to put the corporate face on a very ugly period for the NHL.
The Flyers for their part stated that Boulerice was going to have to “stand up and pay the price”, his suspension marks the second time in a month that a Flyer has been taken out of active duty because of misbehaviour.
Boulerice joins fellow Flyer Steve Downie in being assigned to the Colin Campbell Wing of the NHL detention system, which means that if you can skate, the Flyers might need you.
With forty five games combined, there are a few openings on the Flyers roster at the moment, video tapes and resumes should be addressed to Paul Holmgren, General Manager, Philadelphia Flyers.
We suggest leaving out any testosterone fuelled segments; the Flyers are probably looking to keep a low profile for a little while now...
The Flyers for their part stated that Boulerice was going to have to “stand up and pay the price”, his suspension marks the second time in a month that a Flyer has been taken out of active duty because of misbehaviour.
Boulerice joins fellow Flyer Steve Downie in being assigned to the Colin Campbell Wing of the NHL detention system, which means that if you can skate, the Flyers might need you.
With forty five games combined, there are a few openings on the Flyers roster at the moment, video tapes and resumes should be addressed to Paul Holmgren, General Manager, Philadelphia Flyers.
We suggest leaving out any testosterone fuelled segments; the Flyers are probably looking to keep a low profile for a little while now...
Especially considering the rising tide of support for the idea to punish the Flyers organization as well, should any further crimes and misdemeanors continue while on the ice.
Globe and Mail--NHL hits Boulerice with 25-game suspension
Globe and Mail--What to do next time
CanWest News-- Boulerice got off lightly for Kesler attack
Canada.com- Kesler okay with length of Boulerice suspension
Philadelphia Inquirer- Boulerice banned 25 games by NHL
Philadelphia News- Boulerice joins Downie in sin bin
Vancouver Province- Kesler not the first to suffer
Vancouver Province- What penalty will NHL ponder for fatality?
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Reviving the days of the Bullies?
Two ugly incidents in less than a month involving the Philadelphia Flyers have many hockey fans wondering if the era of the Broad Street Bullies has returned to the NHL.
Not since Schultz, Kelly, Dupont et al brought terror to NHL rinks on a nightly basis, have the Philadelphia Flyers found themselves the focus of so much attention.
Over the off season the Flyers proclaimed that they were returning to the values that made Flyer hockey famous; tough, physical play and a pre season of fight filled games seemed to testify to the change of direction in Flyer hockey from recent years.
Gone it seems will be the free wheeling, skating game that the NHL promised after the lock out year came to an end. Anaheim marched, hit and fought their way to a Stanley Cup last year and this year’s version of the Philadelphia Legions seems determined to return to the era of intimidation and cheap shots.
Colin Campbell, Chief Justice of the NHL Supreme Court may want to keep Friday’s open for Flyers, (Flyer Friday's has a nice ring to it doesn't it?) as he once again finds the e mail clogged with missives about seemingly out of control hockey players decorated in orange and black
On September 20th Campbell had to deal with the horrifying to watch hit of Steve Downie on Ottawa’s Dean McCammond, as Downie became a human missile and literally launched himself into the air and took out McCammond in an explosion of violence.
McCammond lay on the ice without movement for far too many minutes and to this day has not returned to the line up for the Senators and is not expected back for the next two to three weeks at the earliest.
For his transgression of not only civil behavior but common sense, Downie has found himself suspended for twenty games, a punishment that many have deemed as too short considering the nature of his brutal hit on McCammond.
So, if twenty games is not considered a strong enough deterrent for this kind of unwanted behavior in the game, whatever is Campbell to do with Jesse Boulerice, who on Wednesday night provided a sickening cross check to Ryan Kessler's face, dropping the Canuck forward to the ice in a heap.
It was a particularly ugly aspect to what had become a very ugly game, the Flyers running ahead on the scoreboard and both teams running around the ice, taking shots at forwards, defencemen and a goaltender before the cage match came to an end.
Boulerice has the unique entry on his resume of being banned by the OHL for an entire season, after a nasty episode in his junior days, which found him in trouble with the law when he was charged with assault to do great bodily harm less than murder after hitting Andrew Long of the Guelph Storm during the OHL final in 1998.
So far this season he has been busying himself by racking up the majors at a pretty good clip and portraying the role of Vlad the Impaler for the Flyers, just look up his name in a YouTube search engine and you'll quickly learn that Jesse ain't in the line up for his scoring touch .
The calls for swift and definitive justice have come from across the NHL. A 20 games suspension is the apparent benchmark, but no one it seems would have a problem if Justice Campbell were to double that punishment, in order to set an example and highlight the fact that the senseless violence of the last few weeks has to end now.
Hockey has always been a tough and at times violent game. The bone crushing checks, nasty stick work and even full scale brawls have long been documented in past eras, as an aspect of the game that while unseemly were accepted as part of the sport.
As the NHL entered the new era of enlightenment of the last four or five years the attempt was made to try to reign in the wild marauders, in order to allow the artistic play makers some room to operate. The last couple of seasons however have seen the more physical part of the game begin to regain more and more of a foothold in the sport, now the physical nature has given way to the blatantly violent.
While the body checks are welcome, the stick work and disrespect of fellow players must be exorcised from the play. The NHL has been lucky so far, no one has been seriously injured or God forbid killed by one of these senseless acts of stupidity, but you have to think that the odds against that get slimmer with each violent act on the ice.
The Flyers may like to reminisce about the Good old days when the toughest of the tough could lay waste to team after team in quest of the Stanley Cup. But for the future of the sport, the time is now to get some control over the madder dogs from all teams that are patrolling the ice. It's hard to believe that the Flyers and the other teams, didn't get the message that the goonery was no longer acceptable back in September, the Boulerice incident should be the last time a message needs to be sent.
The league office needs to reclaim the ice, making it clear to all teams that the lack of respect being shown by players to their competitors must end. The ugly head shots of the last month have no place in hockey, Colin Campbell and Gary Bettman must make that stand and do it now, if for no other reason than the fact that if they don’t, there are surely any number of politicians or law enforcement agencies that will be more than ready to step in and take charge.
Hockey is getting back into the mainstream spotlight, but once again it’s not for amazing goals or talented personalities. Instead, the media glare is focusing on brutal assaults that on any Canadian or American city street would probably have the offender spending time in a prison.
The time is now to send a strong message that the sudden violent turn that the game has taken has no place in the NHL of today, if they miss this opportunity then once again the NHL will have only itself to blame for the troubles that will surely follow.
Not since Schultz, Kelly, Dupont et al brought terror to NHL rinks on a nightly basis, have the Philadelphia Flyers found themselves the focus of so much attention.
Over the off season the Flyers proclaimed that they were returning to the values that made Flyer hockey famous; tough, physical play and a pre season of fight filled games seemed to testify to the change of direction in Flyer hockey from recent years.
Gone it seems will be the free wheeling, skating game that the NHL promised after the lock out year came to an end. Anaheim marched, hit and fought their way to a Stanley Cup last year and this year’s version of the Philadelphia Legions seems determined to return to the era of intimidation and cheap shots.
Colin Campbell, Chief Justice of the NHL Supreme Court may want to keep Friday’s open for Flyers, (Flyer Friday's has a nice ring to it doesn't it?) as he once again finds the e mail clogged with missives about seemingly out of control hockey players decorated in orange and black
On September 20th Campbell had to deal with the horrifying to watch hit of Steve Downie on Ottawa’s Dean McCammond, as Downie became a human missile and literally launched himself into the air and took out McCammond in an explosion of violence.
McCammond lay on the ice without movement for far too many minutes and to this day has not returned to the line up for the Senators and is not expected back for the next two to three weeks at the earliest.
For his transgression of not only civil behavior but common sense, Downie has found himself suspended for twenty games, a punishment that many have deemed as too short considering the nature of his brutal hit on McCammond.
So, if twenty games is not considered a strong enough deterrent for this kind of unwanted behavior in the game, whatever is Campbell to do with Jesse Boulerice, who on Wednesday night provided a sickening cross check to Ryan Kessler's face, dropping the Canuck forward to the ice in a heap.
It was a particularly ugly aspect to what had become a very ugly game, the Flyers running ahead on the scoreboard and both teams running around the ice, taking shots at forwards, defencemen and a goaltender before the cage match came to an end.
Boulerice has the unique entry on his resume of being banned by the OHL for an entire season, after a nasty episode in his junior days, which found him in trouble with the law when he was charged with assault to do great bodily harm less than murder after hitting Andrew Long of the Guelph Storm during the OHL final in 1998.
So far this season he has been busying himself by racking up the majors at a pretty good clip and portraying the role of Vlad the Impaler for the Flyers, just look up his name in a YouTube search engine and you'll quickly learn that Jesse ain't in the line up for his scoring touch .
The calls for swift and definitive justice have come from across the NHL. A 20 games suspension is the apparent benchmark, but no one it seems would have a problem if Justice Campbell were to double that punishment, in order to set an example and highlight the fact that the senseless violence of the last few weeks has to end now.
Hockey has always been a tough and at times violent game. The bone crushing checks, nasty stick work and even full scale brawls have long been documented in past eras, as an aspect of the game that while unseemly were accepted as part of the sport.
As the NHL entered the new era of enlightenment of the last four or five years the attempt was made to try to reign in the wild marauders, in order to allow the artistic play makers some room to operate. The last couple of seasons however have seen the more physical part of the game begin to regain more and more of a foothold in the sport, now the physical nature has given way to the blatantly violent.
While the body checks are welcome, the stick work and disrespect of fellow players must be exorcised from the play. The NHL has been lucky so far, no one has been seriously injured or God forbid killed by one of these senseless acts of stupidity, but you have to think that the odds against that get slimmer with each violent act on the ice.
The Flyers may like to reminisce about the Good old days when the toughest of the tough could lay waste to team after team in quest of the Stanley Cup. But for the future of the sport, the time is now to get some control over the madder dogs from all teams that are patrolling the ice. It's hard to believe that the Flyers and the other teams, didn't get the message that the goonery was no longer acceptable back in September, the Boulerice incident should be the last time a message needs to be sent.
The league office needs to reclaim the ice, making it clear to all teams that the lack of respect being shown by players to their competitors must end. The ugly head shots of the last month have no place in hockey, Colin Campbell and Gary Bettman must make that stand and do it now, if for no other reason than the fact that if they don’t, there are surely any number of politicians or law enforcement agencies that will be more than ready to step in and take charge.
Hockey is getting back into the mainstream spotlight, but once again it’s not for amazing goals or talented personalities. Instead, the media glare is focusing on brutal assaults that on any Canadian or American city street would probably have the offender spending time in a prison.
The time is now to send a strong message that the sudden violent turn that the game has taken has no place in the NHL of today, if they miss this opportunity then once again the NHL will have only itself to blame for the troubles that will surely follow.
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