Suspensions have become an open well of criticism and ridicule for the NHL thanks to undeniable double standards and a lack of properly defined rules. It’s just plain sad that the NHL can’t even get it right when it comes to such an inconsequential act as Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Nick Boynton’s throat slash the other night.
Boynton, who got a one-game ban as a result of his actions, made the gesture to the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Blair Jones on Wednesday night during the Bolts’ 4-2 pre-season win in Winnipeg. Boynton initially collided with Jones’s teammate, Chris Durno. It could have been construed as a knee-on-knee, prompting the over-the-top reaction by Jones and eventually Boynton’s display of unadulterated idiocy out of the frustration of losing a fight to a guy who’s, incredibly, even more of a plug.
All this being taken into account, it’s clear the NHL needed to do something because:
1) Nick “Bounce Around” Boynton isn’t exactly a star player. He’s certainly no Alex Ovechkin, so there’s no need for the league to look the other way as it did when Ovechkin slew-footed Atlanta Thrasher Rich Peverley and hit Buffalo Sabre Patrick Kaleta from behind. And, since no one else in the recent past has acted with as much stupidity as Boynton, there’s no risk of the league being made to look bad, just as it was embarrassed when Ovechkin got two games and Montreal Canadien Maxim Lapierre got four games for much the same offense within a span of just 10 days last season.
2) The league, as is clearly defined in section 28.1 of the rulebook, reserves the right to assess a player a suspension for any offense, a category under which Boynton’s “obscene” and “profane” gesture (rule 75.2.i) falls. As such, the league can’t find itself painted into a corner as it did when Pittsburgh Penguin Matt Cooke blindsided Boston Bruin Marc Savard last year, but they “couldn’t” do anything for lack of an existing penalty for hits to the head. Of course, it was awful convenient for the NHL to forget the “Match Penalty” (rule 21.1) that should have initially been given to Cooke when he “deliberately” attempted “to injure an opponent in any manner”.
At the end of the day, though, what is most offensive about this situation is that Boynton is allowed to play in the Hawks’ remaining pre-season games, but has to sit out one at the start of the regular season. If his gesture was so bad that he should be prevented from representing the league in a regular-season game, it should have been bad enough to prevent him from playing until then.
It would not likely make that much of a difference to any of the involved parties. The Blackhawks could use the opportunity to audition the next-most ineffective defenseman on its salary-cap-depleted depth chart instead and Boynton really doesn’t need to risk being shown up by another eventual career minor leaguer like Jones. He’ll have plenty of chances to make a fool out of himself again come the second game of the season anyway, thanks to another ill-advised obscene gesture or not.
As for the NHL, it really needs to get a better understanding of the message it’s trying to send, because all anyone is hearing right now is: “We don’t know what we’re doing.” It may be true, but the league can at least pretend, kind of like what Jones did, pretending to care about Durno, a player he has never played with. Wednesday’s fight was no more legitimate than one staged between two enforcers at the end of a game. Jones only chose to fight Boynton to show off his ability to stick up for a fallen teammate so as not to be cut.
Unfortunately, though, Jones, bless his heart, is destined for the AHL, much like Homer Simpson can’t seem to hold down his job at the nuclear power plant. If your only redeemable quality is your ability to take and throw a punch, chances are whatever you do you’re in the wrong line of work. I mean, at least Derek “The Bogeyman” Boogaard has a cool nickname. What does Jones have? The same name as another fringe player on the Lighting, Randy? And Tampa, being as cheap as the clientele of a $10 hooker, wouldn’t dare pay for the extra first-name initials on two jerseys when no one cares to recognize either one of them.
So, I say take the fighting out of pre-season games, because all it does is give actual NHL players a chance to get injured and get humiliated and second-hand ones a chance to “earn” a roster spot and further water down an already low-on-talent league. Boynton knows firsthand just how true both statements are. And the league should just know better in general... about a lot of things.
agreed. except Jones is only 24. destined for AHL this year, maybe. but he's improved a lot over the past 2 years. he is probably top 3 on the list for call ups, he scored a goal in that game against the blackhawks, and was probably one of the better players that whole game. it's one thing to make a point, its another thing to give a kid a hard time for knocking the stuffings out of a known cheap shot artist for a questionable hit.
ReplyDeleteYour point is duly noted, but I still have to believe that if Jones hasn't gotten a full-time NHL job by now at 24, he won't be getting one at all. He may have improved over the past 2 years, but it wasn't necessarily at the NHL level where, looking at his stats now, he only played a total of 18 games. He played more in the one year prior to those two with 18. And a lot of players improve in the AHL in their early-mid twenties, but that could just be because they get more ice time there. Some similar examples would be Jason Krog and Darren Haydar. They dominate at one level below but can't make a dent in a line-up in the NHL.
ReplyDeleteI still believe Jones only fought Boynton to try and ingratiate himself with Tampa's brass. It's an all-too-common practice during the pre-season, and just because Jones has talent doesn't mean he's any different than all the other minor leaguers hoping not to be cut.
http://www.hockeysfuture.com/prospects/blair_jones