“Dear Mr. Shanahan,
Let me open my letter to you by presenting you with two important dates in the history of punishment in the NHL.
February 21, 2000. A day that will live in infamy for both Boston Bruins as well as Vancouver Canucks fans. That was the day that Marty McSorley laid possibly the dirtiest hit in the history of the NHL, by using a hockey stick as a weapon instead of a tool. In case you don’t remember, you were in New York playing the Islanders that day, you can watch a clip of the devastating hit as well as the ensuing aftermath and chaos here. McSorley never played in another NHL game.
February 16, 2004…almost four years to the day later. A close second place to the McSorley hit would also involve the Canucks. You were in Edmonton that day playing the Oilers, but surely you remember hearing about the cheap shot that Todd Bertuzzi handed out to Steve Moore, punching him in the face from behind and grinding his face into the ice. Refresh your memory here. Bertuzzi ended up with a suspension of approximately 17 months (taking into account the 2004-2005 season). Steve Moore, by the way, never played in another NHL game.
Some people will argue that Moore may have got what he deserved after he delivered a shoulder-to-head hit on Markus Näslund; one that did not result in a penalty. I disagree. The degree of physical pain and injury is not an effective punishment for what transpired.
It has been shown that both franchises have a history of cheap shots in their past, and that swift punishment had been carried out by the league, as incidents like the two above haven’t occurred again.
Fast forward to June 6, 2011. Stanley Cup Finals Game 3 between the Boston Bruins and the Vancouver Canucks. At 5:04 of the 1st period, Nathan Horton made a pass (at the Red Line) to winger Milan Lucic. Horton was then leveled by a cheap shot, at the Blue Line, by Aaron Rome. Horton, who did not have the puck and was still looking toward Lucic was struck in the head by Rome as he led with his elbow, as well as leaving his feet in the process. Horton instantly crumpled to the ice and showed signs of decerebrate posturing; an indication of a serious head injury. “Excellent” replays can be viewed here. Rome was rightly assessed a five minute major for interference and a game misconduct penalty, both of which are fitting penalties.
To refresh your memory, there is now a rule that is in place governing illegal checks to the head. Rule 48 states:
www.hockeyjournal.com48.1 Illegal Check to the Head – A lateral or blind side hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principal point of contact is not permitted.
48.2 Minor Penalty – There is no provision for a minor penalty for this rule.
48.3 Major Penalty – For a violation of this rule, a major penalty shall be assessed (see 48.4).
48.4 Game Misconduct – An automatic game misconduct penalty shall be assessed whenever a major penalty is assessed under this rule.
48.5 Match Penalty – The Referee, at his discretion, may assess a match penalty if, in his judgment, the player attempted to or deliberately injured his opponent with an illegal check to the head.
48.6 Fines and Suspensions – Any player who incurs a total of two (2) game misconducts under this rule, in either regular League or playoff games, shall be suspended automatically for the next game his team plays. For each subsequent game misconduct penalty the automatic suspension shall be increased by one game.
If deemed appropriate, supplementary discipline can be applied by the Commissioner at his discretion (refer to Rule 28). (http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=64063)
This rule was followed to the letter by the referee that administered the penalty. It is now up to you, Mr. Shanahan, to hold up your end of the enforcing under your new position. You need to enforce Rule 28.1 which states:
28.1 Supplementary Discipline – In addition to the automatic fines and suspensions imposed under these rules, the Commissioner may, at his discretion, investigate any incident that occurs in connection with any Pre-season, Exhibition, League or Playoff game and may assess additional fines and/or suspensions for any offense committed during the course of a game or any aftermath thereof by a player, goalkeeper, Trainer, Manager, Coach or non-playing Club personnel or Club executive, whether or not such offense has been penalized by the Referee.
If an investigation is requested by a Club or by the League on its own initiative, it must be initiated within twenty-four (24) hours following the completion of the game in which the incident occurred.( http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=26315)
You need to leave your mark on the NHL. You need to let the players know that this type of action will no longer be tolerated. It’s like the anecdote about the first day in prison. Find the biggest, baddest person you can and kick the ever-loving shit out of him and no one will want to end up facing you for punishment.
You need to come up with an inventive rule that effectively punishes the offender, as well as protects the career of the injured player. Feel free to steal my idea. If a player is injured due to a violation of Rule 48, then the injuring party shall serve a suspension of the number of games that it takes for the injured party takes to recover, not to exceed that number. I feel that this is the only fair way to deter injuries such as this from occurring in the future.
In order to better understand my reasoning let me play this scenario out for you. Nathan Horton is most likely lost for the remainder of the playoffs. Rome, on the other hand, has the potential to play in Game 5. This is an outrage. Even if he is merely suspended for the remainder of the playoffs, that punishment might be unfitting as Horton might have a Marc Savard-esque recovery time, and be lost for a part of next season as well (your predecessor blew that judgment, please don’t make the same mistake).
Some might argue that if this were to happen to a player with a history of concussions, they might have a career-ending injury, and it would be a career-ending suspension. Well, the player should have thought about that before he made an illegal hit to the head. Much like the Bertuzzi incident, a player could apply for re-instatement if the injury happened to be career ending, and that would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
McSorley received what equated to a lifetime ban for his aggregious action, Bertuzzi was gone for 17 months for his. Neither of those types of hits have happened again. Maybe there’s something to setting an example of someone to deter the rest and let the rest of the inmates know who’s top dog.
If you don’t agree with me, just go explain yourself to Steve Moore…maybe he’ll understand.
Sincerely,
Mathew J. Orzechowski”