Charlie Klein
Hits like the one laid on Bruins centre Marc Savard should be made illegal. In a perfect NHL, I ought to be writing an article about Penguins winger Matt Cooke being suspended for an illegal hit on an unsuspecting player.
Instead, I find myself writing in anger at Colin Campbell, the Senior Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations for the NHL, for not penalizing Cooke for what clearly was a cowardly and despicable hit on Savard which has resulted in Savard being out for the rest of the season. Savard had to be stretchered off the ice as the Melon Arena crowd in Pittsburgh stood in awed silence at what had just happened before their very eyes.
The NHL has done a better job than most leagues when it comes to amending rules in season. Gary Bettman introduced a new rule concerning goalie screening during the playoffs two years ago when Sean Avery used the blade of his stick to blind Marty Brodeur by waving it in front of the Devils goalie's eyes. I personally think of Avery as innovator, but that situation provides a specific example of the league acting quickly to fix a problem in the game. And yet after Cooke maliciously elbowed Savard in the face, making absolutely no attempt to play the puck, or when Mike Richards hit David Boothe (shown below in case you haven't seen it) and ended Boothe's season, the league decides not to discipline the guilty parties and to wait until next season to change the rules.
Allowing this thuggish behavior within the game is unacceptable. This is especially true for a league that already has an image problem due to its overly-brutish nature (not that it is much more physical than football). It's just another reason why the league needs a new commissioner to change the league so that thugs like Matt Cooke and Mike Richards won't be allowed to end players seasons without sanction. And I used to like Cooke when he was a Canuck. My how times have changed.
And here is the ESPN report on the new rule:
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