EHM The Blue Line

So Alexander the Great escaped suspension for his pretty classless hit on Daniel Briere. The NHL said that because of Ovechkin's clean record prior to the incident he would be let off with a minimal fine (a total of 1100 bucks). This appears to be yet another in the long line of suspendable offenses that have gone unnoticed or limp-wristedly punished, including the Liles knee-to-knee hit on Ryan Smyth, Darcy Tucker beating another player with his own helmet and the meagre punishment handed to Todd Bertuzzi for his assault on Steve Moore (although I suspect Bert's current injury is a touch of karmic realignment....).

What are your thoughts on the hit itself and the NHL's reaction specifically and in general?

Had it been Andrew Peters drilling Ovechkin like that, can you imagine the fuss? People would have been calling for his head! And the linesmen protecting Ovechkin with their lives after the hit, that was just ridiculous.

I think it was a fairly tough call. He didn't smoke Briere, but Briere also wasn't able to ready himself for the hit at all. Its a good thing he didn't get injured. I'd say maybe a 1 game suspension at the most.

I haven't seen the hit in question but I have heard about it.

Before I make judgement... video please?

Let's say if Briere did the same thing to Ovechkin? Hmm... it's the Star System and it has always been painfully apparent in the NHL. They wouldn't dare "rob" the fans of Alex the Phenom so he won't get the 5 games he should have.

I'm probably horribly biased, but I don't think the hit was as bad as it looked. It looked like a nudge that caught Briere off guard/balance. Maybe a one or two game suspension, but not the big deal some people are makeing it out to be.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=H2lwYS5vvZQ

Not an INTENTIONAL hit from behind, that is for sure. However, it was a hit from BEHIND. Period. No matter what, this deserves some kind of suspension. However, the NHL is running away from suspensions now. This season, I believe the only suspensions handed out are the AUTOMATIC ones for instigators late in a game, and too many Game misconduct penalties.

1. Ovechkin on Briere
2. Ryan Johnson on Ohlund
3. Tucker on half the NHL (okay exaggerating here)
4. Willie Mitchell on a Red Wing's head..which one again? Fillipula?
5. 3 or 4 others I cannot recall.

The Ovechkin hit in the old NHL, would not have got Ovechkin a suspension either. However, it would have got a lesser player 10-15 games from MR. Campbell. The other 3 listed above would all have resulted in at least a 2-5 game suspension depending on the bad guys history (in other words Tucker would have got more than Mitchell/Johnson)

Right now, and for the forseeable future, the NHL does not want the extra bad attention it gets in the media (USA) from suspensions and violence. So it is basically a free for all until someone gets badly injured, killed. NHL wants it to go away quietly.
NO MATTER THE INTENT, or FORCe behind Ovechkin's hit, or that Briere slowed down. IT WAS A HIT FROM BEHIND...NOT ALLOWED> PERIOD! Sorry for yelling.

Nice for the kids to see Alex get away with this. Should really help in Minor hockey.

I agree that it was a hit from behind, and that it warranted the boarding and game misconduct. However, I do not believe that Ovechkin should be punished for anything more. It appears to me that he was surprised and disgusted with himself for making the hit, more than anything else. I too don't think it was as bad as it looks.

I'd suspend him for a game, possibly two. It was a reckless, totally unnecessary hit and clearly from behind. I'd leave it at that, because he doesn't really have a criminal history I'm aware of. I agree that he at least gave a pretty good impression of being disgusted with what he just did, so maybe that 1-2 games is enough to send the message here.

Hits from behind should be really dangerous for the one who takes the hit, as he soesn't see it coming and can't prepare himself to receive the hit.

So no matter if it was intentional or not, no matter if the hit was hard or not, this is a dangerous and useless hit that MUST be punished!

Kids are taking example on superstars, so if Alex the Gr8 is not punished for such a dangerous hit, kids will make those hits, thinking that they won't be punished too, and we'll have serious injuries then.

And how coaches should be credible when they teach kids that hits from behind are dangerous and illegal if it's not punished in the NHL???

Bertuzzi looked upset after his incident too. He regretted what he did immediately. So did Brooks Orpik last season, and he even tried several times to get ahold of Eric Cole.
Bert is an extreme example yes. But accidental or not...it happened. Should be punished severely. Players have alot more control over their actions on the ice than some people are thinking they do. Yep, Alex looked disgusted with himself. Probably partially because he knew darn well he should be suspended for 5-10 causing Washington to go on a losing streak. He knows. He could have stopped himself. He did not. Suspension warranted.
One kid on my son's team got a game suspension for a tap from behind the other day. After Alex's hit the comment from him was "his was wayyyy worse than mine nad he did not get suspended, maybe I should appeal my suspension." The kid is 10...Do you think maybe 10 year olds and the like should be thinking like this?
My boy is the biggest kid on the ice...he is very physical, and he has been taught over and over how careful he has to be about hitting. He was in shock Ovechkin did not get suspended. Thankfully, he is smart enough to know it was still wrong...but others...not so smart.

batdad hit the nail on the head.

Great post batdad and I agree with you as well on your point from the pervious post that a big part of it is that they don't want to pass down a suspension especially to one of their "Stars of the New NHLâ„¢" so that every news agency and local sports new segment can then show their first hockey "highlight" of the year.

All of which doesn't make it right; no hitting from behind. PERIOD. Goes back to my theory that what truly needs to be changed to "save" the game is that players need to RESPECT each other again as they clearly don't. In ye olde days you wouldn't slash a guy's hands with your stick because you didn't want to put that guy out of his job just like you would want someone injuring you and putting you out of your job, not to mention that you'd be "taken care of" and taught that lesson via a pounding later so you'd think a bout it more next time. No accountability = no respect = a truly dangerous situation on the ice.

Thanks for the compliments guys. I feel very strongly on this issue of checking from behind. Although many people say they are silly, the Hockey Canada Stop Signs on the back of minor hockey jerseys are awesome! Although the kids will not pay attention to them, coaches are being trained to constantly discuss and point them out to kids.

batdad wrote: One kid on my son's team got a game suspension for a tap from behind the other day. After Alex's hit the comment from him was "his was wayyyy worse than mine nad he did not get suspended, maybe I should appeal my suspension." The kid is 10...Do you think maybe 10 year olds and the like should be thinking like this?

No, he shouldn't. You're absolutely correct there. However, I think there are two separate wrongs here, and only one of them has to do with Ovechkin. The one that doesn't, is the fact that refusal to take responsibility for your actions and learn from your mistakes is too common in society in general. Instead of "gosh darn, I better not do that again", too many of us go into an appeal/sue/blame someone else mode. I'm not going to go into this any longer (this would turn into a rant if I did), but regardless of what some big NHL star does or doesn't do, there's something amiss when 10-year-olds start thinking of an appeal in this situation.

As for Ovechkin not getting suspended, that's a travesty. In fact, the more I think of it, the 1-2 game suspension I suggested earlier is a bit light. How about giving him a choice between a 7-game suspension and a 2-game suspension coupled with an NHL equivalent of community service: He'll have to produce a public service message aimed for hockey juniors. Something like this:

"Hi, I'm Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals. We played a game against the Buffalo Sabres the other day, and there I did something really stupid. I hit Buffalo's Daniel Briere from behind. With one careless hit, I could have ended his career. Fortunately, Danny wasn't hurt, but I still wish I could take that hit back. Kids, don't do this. Ever. The next guy might not be so lucky."

Nice idea about the message kekkonen

And i agree too when you say that nowadays there's something missing in our society: respect for the others and recognition of our own mistakes. It's not only a hockey thing, but a society issue.

But what made our societies going so wrong? And what to do to change this?

You might be setting off an avalanche with those two questions, Shadd.

As to why people have gotten this way...People are greedy, stupid and lazy, pretty much. People feel victimized by their own negligence and feel the need to make someone else pay for it. Or, people look for ways to get rich without doing any actual work. The hot coffee thing is the classic example...in my city (Ottawa) there are street signs next to crosswalks describing step-by-step how to cross the street. This is one of thousands of examples of authorities pandering to the stupid in order to push responsibility onto them (warning labels on plastic bags instructing you not to give them to your children to wear as Hallowe'en masks are another example). This is one of the sad ironies of the liberal-democratic society--we have increased freedom but far less repsonsibility than one might imagine. You'd think that the more freedom you have the more you'd be required to be responsible for your own actions, but you'd be wrong. The problem is cyclical--authorities place responsibility on people (often unfairly--if the tires explode on this rental car it's not our fault) because people hold authorities responsible (often unfairly--I overinflated my tires so they exploded and it's your fault). It all ties in to the classic irony of freedom--everybody wants as much of it as they can get until they actually get it, and are forced to make their own decisions about everything.

I think if we hope to change it the best way is to get away from the bureaucratic nature of the justice system and focus more on the SPIRIT of the law. It would be ridiculous to suggest outlining specifically who's responsible for every possible situation that arrives--that would only make the problem worse if bureaucracy is the issue. Also, half the time spent in court in lawsuits is determining whether or not the lawsuit holds merit based on what is specifically outlined in the law. So the key is to compel judges and similar authority figures to maintain a spirit that demands both individual and corporate responsibility. Perhaps a democratic aspect should be included...the people tend to scoff at those who try to sue McDonald's because they're so fat, maybe the people should have a say. Basically the focus should be on JUSTICE as opposed to the LAW, as the two are not synonymous and can even be mutually exclusive. Finally, I'm a firm believer in Gandhi's "be the change" philosophy--if you want to live in a more responsible society the first and most important step is to be more responsible yourself.

Of course, this is a pretty utopian suggestion. The system in place is well entrenched and protected by people who have no interest in actual justice be it in the NHL or on Parliament Hill.

PS - I'm perhaps as guilty of this kind of thing as anyone...I once called enforcer Reed Low, then of the St. Louis Blues both a chicken and a (think of Kekkonen's avatar photo....), right to his face. I was in the lobby at the club seat entrance to the Saddledome where players who have family in the city come to meet them after the game. I saw Low there and in the game he had jumped Bob Boughner from behind and punched him in the back of the head repeatedly. After I said these things to him (I also made fun of his mullet), I walked out the door and blew him a kiss. The idea was that if I got him angry enough he'd slug me and I could sue him, the NHL, the NHLPA and the St. Louis Blues. He was pretty angry, and so were the people with him, but nobody did anything, and I went home, still poor.

Well as a french singer said: "we're all guilty of something"

But i really wonder about what are the possible solutions... If there is one...

What it takes is the general attitude that when someone claims victim status, we actually look whether it's deserved and if it isn't, we call a spade a spade even if it hurts someone's sensibilities.

In other words, it's not in the books.

That's the problem though, it CAN'T be in the books. There's not enough room for the 'justice' system to break new ground and say "you know what buddy, this is your own fault because you're an idiot!" Any time anything gets too mired in bureacracy, it suffers. There's too much fancy jargon and technicality that allows criminals to go free. The more comprehensive the WORD of the law becomes the less chance there is to allow its SPIRIT to take precedence, and that's what should be the dictating factor.

A friend of mine (by which I mean a friend of mine, not me) got charged with drunk driving about a year ago. Since then he's completely reformed his ways: he hasn't had a single drop of alcohol, he's on the Dean's list at university and he's working two jobs plus volunteer time to build his resume and get himself through school. He's active in the student community and campaigns for various worthy causes whenever he can. He's basically become everything that society could want from a young man. Still, he may lose his license for a year, which I think is ridiculously unfair. I'm no advocate of drunk driving, and I think he was pretty stupid to do it in the first place, but that's something that happens to young alcoholics who don't realize they have a problem (university is party time anyways, right?). Still, it seems to me that the biggest reason for a year-long suspension is to keep people off the streets where they may be a danger to others (which is kinda foolish unto itself since it's been about a year...). I understand that there's a good reason the laws are in place, but I also think that when someone has suffered through getting himself sober and has pulled a complete 180, the law needs to have room to respect that and acknowledge it. If the idea of a justice system in a western liberal-democracy is to inspire reform or act as a deterrent, there should be an allowance to recognize those who truly have reformed. I also understand the potential for something like this to go too far, and like I said earlier, there are too many technicalities that allow criminals to go free. But those technicialities are in the rulebook, they're not qualitative judgement factors--I'm not saying that just because someone hasn't murdered somebody in the months before he goes to trial that should be taken into account, but there's a distinct cause-effect relationship between alcohol and drunk driving--if the alcohol is eliminated, the drunk driving is eliminated; the same can't be said for many other crimes. If my friend can prove that he's been sober for almost a year, do you think he should still be punished? (Really, I want to know what you think)