The Goal Savard Scored after Gregory Campbell Got Called for High-Sticking on Feb. 24, 2007

The video of the infraction in question is unfortunately hidden away in the infinite annals of the internet, but here is the goal Boston Bruin Marc Savard scored to apparently add insult to injury to a high-sticking call made against then-Florida Panther Gregory Campbell on February 24, 2007. If you pay attention to the background noise, you can hear the penalty being announced. While it's not much, it does serve as proof (along with actual game reports still easily accessible on the NHL's website) that NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell's son got a high-sticking penalty during the game in question, which has led to quite the internet buzz on Monday calling for his resignation or outright dismissal.

While it's still sinking in that Campbell could be so petty as to hold a grudge against a player he once coached 13 years ago with the New York Rangers (Savard), all the alleged evidence seems to be pointing that way. Add in the fact that Pittsburgh Penguin Matt Cooke got away suspensionless last March for his hit on that same player, and it doesn't look any better, especially seeing as the league could have handed out additional discipline for intent to injure if they deemed it necessary.

Regarding supplementary discipline, according to league rules (rule 28.1), the NHL may "investigate any incident that occurs... and may assess additional fines and/or suspensions for any offense committed during the course of a game... whether or not such offense has been penalized by the Referee."

The Match penalty Cooke should have gotten for "deliberately [attempting] to injure... an opponent in any manner" (rule 21.1) kind of makes the case against Campbell that much worse. At the time of the incident, the lack of a suspension was chalked up to incompetence on the part of the league, but in light of the discovery by blogger Tyler Dellow from mc79hockey (the site may be too overloaded right now) it has to be said that maybe foul play was afoot. Take a look at the video from last season during which Campbell explains his motivation for not handing down a ban of any length to Cooke and his bald-headed, gremlin-like exterior looks that much more villainous.

What's sad about this whole mess is that the league finds itself in a position where it must hope that people look back to the end of last season and pray the general consensus is that Campbell was just inept in failing to hand out a suspension to Savard, because the alternative is soooo much worse for everyone involved.

Campbell should not be fired for this incident, because there really is not enough evidence in the supposed emails he sent Stephen Walkom (who, interestingly enough, was behind the huge Colton Orr non-call last month against the Toronto Maple Leafs) to crucify him. He can successfully deny that his feelings towards his son and towards Savard did not come into play when he was making his decision on the Cooke hit eight months ago, because there are no emails chronicling his thought process then.

However, truth be told, Campbell likely should have been fired countless times beforehand for the clear double standards and inconsistent rulings he has allowed to live on during his tenure as a league executive. As much as I hate to admit it, Campbell may very well be bulletproof, and all the Bruins can do right now is be thankful his son plays on their team.

Cup-Aspiring Bruins Ink Bergeron to Three-Year Extension

 

News of the Boston Bruins signing Patrice Bergeron to a three-year contract extension went somewhat ignored in the early morning, with the NHL season’s first few games coming to an end on the same night. However, there is little else that is as deserving of fans’ attention, considering the significance of the move.

Certainly there is Edmonton Oiler Jordan Eberle’s incredible goal from last night that sticks out like a sore thumb in a sea middle fingers, which, as it happens, is exactly what the Calgary Flames got care of Edmonton fans in the 4-0 home-team win at Rexall Place. There’s also Philadelphia Flyers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who led his team to a 3-2 win over their state rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, proving in the process the Flyers just may not need a big-name netminder to be a legitimate contender after all. Of course, it would help matters if the name of that netminder evoked respect rather than thoughts of a ballet dancer doing pirouettes in the crease.

However, the signing of Bergeron provides the Bruins with the kind of long-term stability those potentially one-night wonders can only hope to replicate over the lengths of their respective careers. Bergeron will never be a legitimate number-one center, making his $5 million price tag a bit of an overpayment, but, with inflation what it is, especially in the NHL, where a certain 42-year-old fourth-liner will be making $4 million per year with the New Jersey Devils in 2025, this deal can certainly be forgiven.

"Do I want to make an average of $5 million in each of the next three years? I don't know..."

The deal is made all the more important considering the uncertainty surrounding Marc Savard, his health, his overbearing long-term contract with seven years remaining, and his ultimate desire to stay with the Bruins after it became a very well-known secret that he was about as wanted in Boston as Yale graduate George W. Bush trying to educate Bostonians on the proper way to enunciate.

Bergeron, who made it into the league as an 18-year-old in 2003, was set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. Now the Bruins are set at center well into the foreseeable future with or without Savard, with the 24-year-old David Krejci set to only become a restricted free agent at the end of the next year, and Tyler Seguin waiting in the wings for greater offensive responsibility. Prospect Joe Colborne is seemingly also destined for greatness at center, making the Bruins very rich indeed at the position in question.

The Bruins also have similar amounts of depth to go around their entire line-up, making them a favourite to at least enter the playoffs as a Stanley Cup favourite. Thanks to this extension, they will likely remain one for years to come.

Easily Discarded Savard Should not Be Taken for Granted by Bruins

There is nothing funny about post-concussion syndrome. That puts me in a bit of a bind, because as unfunny as Boston Bruin Marc Savard’s recent turn for the worse is, the Bruins’ epic collapse against the Philadelphia Flyers last spring? Absolutely hilarious.

The only logical solution is to skip over the seven-game defeat as much as possible in order to stay respectful of the Bruins’ chances this year, which, as it turns out, are pretty good.

Through injuries taking their toll, a general inability to score, and a goaltending situation with as many twists and turns as an ill-advised Tim Thomas excursion out of the crease, last season was a disappointment to put it mildly. And it’s true, revisiting their defeat at the hands of the Flyers would at this point likely only re-open old wounds best left scarred reminders of what not to do when you’re up three games to none in a series – namely, not losing the next four.

As such, the only thing of any relevance that can be said right now is that logic dictates that the Bruins can only go up. However, even though they’re relatively stacked, an unhealthy Savard severely limits their chances at giving the Bruins faithful ample reason to forget the granddaddy of all embarrassments. Think then-Hab Mike Komisarek losing to Milan Lucic in one of the great mismatches in hockey-fights history, multiply that by, oh, I don’t know, getting beaten by your own shoe in the stands of a hockey game by Mike Milbury, and, maybe, just maybe, you would come close.

The team’s salary-cap concerns have been resolved right now with Marco Sturm on long-term injured reserve for the time being and the onus is still on Michael Ryder to prove to team management that he still belongs in this league. If not, added cap relief is most certainly on the way, with one of Maxime Sauve, Joe Colborne, Jordan Caron, and Brad Marchand looking to snatch his spot.

Based on the media speculation, though, the Bruins likely wouldn’t hesitate to trade Savard and lose him as well if the right deal came along. However, if Savard isn’t given ample on-ice opportunity to prove himself as being anything other than one hit away from an ended career, even the Toronto Maple Leafs, desperate for offense in the worst way, wouldn’t even take him off Boston’s hands. Hell, Leafs general manager Brian Burke, probably pissed off (despite what he keeps telling the media) about giving up the rights to Tyler Seguin in the Phil Kessel deal, has probably conveniently lost Peter Chiarelli’s phone number in a self-help bid to prevent himself from trading away Sean Couturier... Oh, wait.

The Bruins should sit back, enjoy their spoils of war, and take this unfortunate tragedy as a blessing, assuming of course Savard returns sooner rather than later.

Taking into account the team’s depth at center, i.e. David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron, etc., it seems illogical for the recently drafted Seguin to not be sent down to the Plymouth Whalers as soon as Savard gets cleared to play. Still, management is determined to keep him with the big club and waste one year of his entry contract for whatever reason, moving him to the wing if need be. 

Seguin is not going to be a star in this league this year, no matter how it plays out. He may end up being better than Bergeron and a presumably healthy Krejci, but he isn’t now. Savard, in contrast, is. Three good lines are most definitely better than two and comprise the difference between a contender and just a playoff team.

"This is actually me celebrating... no post-concussion syndrome here!"

So, as foolish as the Bruins may be for deciding to keep Seguin, the move will pay dividends this year as soon as the team gets fully healthy. Sturm and Savard, along with Seguin, Bergeron, Krejci,  Lucic, Nathan Horton, Blake Wheeler, and Mark Recchi most certainly give the Bruins three great lines. It’s just a matter of when, because Savard, as the team’s best player, is the straw that stirs its drink. In a town where good alcohol is never wasted and Saint Patrick’s Day is treated like a religious experience, that’s saying something... other than Bostonians having an unnatural and unhealthy fixation on drinking, that is.

With Savard, the Bruins have the potential to win it all. Without him, they’ll likely stagger into the playoffs once again, just as they did with him limited to 41 games last year. We all know how that ultimately played out. It was a real tear-jerker.