The Answerman returns to ponder the state of the National Hockey League, a week after the trading deadline and with a month to go in the regular season.
Q: So Ted Saskin's leadership of the NHL players' association is under fire again; Ted Leonsis is projecting that his Washington Capitals' losses will spiral next season as their payroll inches up; and the Penguins are making renewed noises about leaving Pittsburgh, after negotiations for a new arena have stalled again. To paraphrase Yogi Berra, is it déjà vu all over again?
A: Sounds that way sometimes, doesn't it? Certainly, when it comes to professional hockey in the 21st century, off-ice news often trumps what's happening on the ice. And when there is actual hockey news, it tends to revolve around incidents such as the late hit that the New Jersey Devils' Cam Janssen put on the Maple Leafs' Tomas Kaberle, which netted the former a miniscule three-game suspension and put the latter on the sidelines indefinitely. The Devils won't miss Janssen much; by contrast, the Leafs' playoff hopes, tenuous at best, will dwindle even further, with their best all-around defenceman on the sidelines.
Q: So what's the answer?
A: The NHL needs to use the supplementary discipline process to send a strong message that they are genuinely trying to weed out certain types of behaviour — namely, late hits, hits into the boards; or any sort of the blatant head-hunting that's crept into the game. Yes, there is a fine line between a legal hit — the kind they like to play on the Jumbotrons between whistles — and an illegal hit — of the sort that Janssen delivered on Kaberle, which came well after he'd delivered the pass — but the line exists; and it's often crossed; and it's rarely punished in a meaningful, get-your-attention sort of way. If the league upped the ante to eight games, or 10, or 12, that would act as a significant deterrent because the penalty would resonate among players in every corner of the NHL. Now, they'd be looking at a month out of the line-up for such an infraction. Now maybe if Janssen had Kaberle in his sights — but at the precise moment he was about to lower the boom — thought about the possible consequences of his actions, he might just pull up. Eight games would represent a real deterrent. A three-game suspension is a week off, nothing more.
Q: Shouldn't the NHLPA play a role in policing that short of play as well?
A: Absolutely, it should. Injury data is harder than ever to come by these days (for example, nobody gets concussed anymore, they suffer upper body injuries). But the anecdotal evidence suggests that some players — usually the ones desperately trying to hold onto an NHL job and pay check — show a blatant disregard for the health and welfare of their peers. Instead of dwelling on ways of milking every last dollar out of the collective bargaining agreement, maybe the NHLPA could put the issue of head shots and other matters relating to a players' health and well-being on the agenda for next summer's annual meetings.
Q: That assumes the current regime — with Saskin at the helm - survives until then.
