Justin in Toronto, Ontario asks…
You previously mentioned that you agree with the Alexander Ovechkin suspension for the hit on Brian Campbell. Should the Marian Hossa hit have drawn a suspension? Why or why not?
Answer: Absolutely
The National Hockey League chose not to suspend Marian Hossa for his moronic push of Predators’ defenseman Dan Hamhuis.
The hit was almost identical to Ovechkin’s shove of Campbell, which garnered a two game suspension. Both players rammed a vulnerable opponent into the boards from behind. Period. Case closed. Focusing on the intricacies of each play is ridiculous.
“Well, the Ovechkin hit took place at a 90.2 degree angle and when multiplied by pi and divided by x, we find a derivative of 2×72(sin).”
The NHL ought to quit insulting the intelligence of its followers. It must not act like the Bush administration.
Perhaps, Sheriff Colin Campbell and crew chose optics over the right decision. After all, Hossa was penalized for an illegal play, which should have resulted in a game misconduct. Soon after Nashville’s resulting man advantage ended, he scored the winning goal. Suspending the Slovakian forward would bring the legitimacy of the game into question.
Maybe, they changed the punitive measures because postseason games matter most.
No matter what the flawed, “make the rules up as we go along” reason for deciding to forego supplementary discipline was, the ultimate decision was balderdash.
