If you're a hockey fan, I'm sure you've seen the video.
In a preseason game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Buffalo
Sabres, Maple Leafs forward Phil Kessel raises his stick above his head and
chops down forcefully onto the leg of Sabres enforcer John Scott. This comes in response to Scott lining up
opposite Kessel for the face-off and making an obvious threat, then dropping
his gloves with the puck and attempting to jump Kessel. Now, as we all know, it is a breach of hockey
etiquette for an enforcer (which Scott obviously is) to fight a skill player
(which you would have to consider Kessel).
All of this came in response to a previous fight between Cory Tropp and
Jamie DeVane, in which Tropp ended up banging his head on the ice (after his
helmet fell off). Tropp, a much smaller
player than DeVane, ended up with a concussion and a broken jaw. Apparently, the Sabres took exception to the
big guy fighting a little guy (another no-no in hockey’s unwritten rule
book). I wouldn’t blame them for seeking
retribution in that situation if it wasn’t for one simple fact; Tropp initiated
the fight with DeVane. All DeVane did
was accept the challenge. If anybody’s
to blame for what happened to Tropp, it’s Tropp himself. Quite simply, he bit off more than he could
chew and he paid the price for it.
In any
case, the Sabres obviously felt the need for payback, so Head Coach Ron Rolston
sent out his biggest tough guy to “send a message”. Well, we all know what that means. Scott was sent out there to beat the snot out
of somebody. Leafs Head Coach Randy
Carlyle, apparently trying to defuse the situation, responded by sending out
Kessel’s line. He figured that Scott
would respect the code and not attack a skill player. As it turns out, he was wrong. Still, I can’t fault him for what happened
next. Scott went ahead and dropped his
gloves and went after Kessel, who clearly didn’t want any part of any
fight. He backed away, and chopped at
Scott’s legs (shinpads, pants, whatever…essentially noplace that would do any
damage) to try and keep him at bay. At
this point, one of Kessel’s teammates, Carter Ashton, jumped in and tangled
with Scott, which touched off a line brawl that even saw the goalies going at
it. Kessel followed through with another
whack (which may or may not have landed) at Scott’s legs before dropping his
gloves to fight Travis Turnbull, a Sabres rookie who is much closer to Kessel’s
size. Later in the melee, Kessel has
gathered up his gloves and stick and goes back at Scott, who is still tied up
with David Clarkson, and pushes at him with the heel of his stick. A lot of people mistakenly claim that he
speared him, but upon reviewing the video you can clearly see that he doesn’t
spear him with the toe of the blade, he pushes him with the heel of the
blade. It may seem like a minor
distinction, but as somebody who has been hit by a stick in both of these
fashions I can tell you unequivocally that being speared hurts much worse than
the heel push, which is fairly inconsequential.
Upon
reviewing the referees’ report and video of the incident it was up to the NHL’s
enforcement czar, Brendan Shanahan, to make some sort of sense of this mess and
administer the proper punishment to all involved. What he ended up doing was fining Ron Rolston
for his choice of players in sending Scott out (which seems odd because Carlyle
had the last change). I don’t really
have a problem with that. It was clear
by what happened next that he had sent Scott out to seek revenge, or at the
very least that he was responsible for Scott’s actions after sending him out
under those circumstances. Scott got no
suspension for what amounted to jumping an unwilling player, which should have
carried an instigator or aggressor penalty and a game misconduct, but really
nothing else. I’m okay with that. While his violation of “The Code” was
egregious, the league can’t discipline players for violating unwritten
rules. There may be some further payback
coming at a later date (assuming the Leafs can find a bigger Neanderthal to
administer said payback), but nothing in the NHL rulebook warranted any type of
suspension for his actions.
Phil
Kessel got a 3-game suspension (the balance of the preseason schedule) for his
role in the affair. This basically
amounts to nothing. Since players aren’t
paid during the preseason, he’s not losing any salary. Basically, he’s getting 3 games off that he
wasn’t being paid for anyway. Some
people think that this is a travesty because of the way he swung his
stick. Let’s be realistic here. He didn’t swing at the guy’s head. He swung at his legs, probably hitting him in
the shinpads or on the heavily padded pants.
He did no damage. He didn’t hurt
Scott. Hell, Scott hardly even
flinched. In reality, what he did
amounted to a couple of whacks (2-minute minor for slashing each) and one
little shove with the heel of his stick, which may have warranted another
minor. This wasn’t a “stick-swinging
incident” as the news outlets trumpeted.
This was a stick-swinging incident:
Here’s
where it gets tricky, however. David
Clarkson can be seen leaving the bench to come to Kessel’s defense, which is a
clear violation of NHL rules and carries an automatic 10-game suspension (to be
served during the regular season, not preseason). While I understand the reasoning behind that
rule (to keep a line brawl from turning into a full bench-clearing brawl), I
think it’s a little harsh given what happened in this case. The Sabres got zero games for their role in a
brawl that they instigated, while the Leafs got a total of 13 games (including
the 3 preseason games that Kessel got for defending himself). It seems totally out of line that the Sabres
got off with less punishment when they were the clear aggressors.
The only
issue I have with all of this is the fact that Kessel’s suspension only
includes preseason games. If what he did
warranted a suspension (which it didn’t), that suspension should be served in
the regular season like all the other suspensions that we’ve seen this
preseason. Why does he get to serve 3
meaningless games while everybody else has to miss time in the regular
season? It doesn’t make sense. But then…that’s the NHL.
