Sadly I am not Miss Cleo like in any way, and not just because I am not currently in prison, but rather that it did not take any precognitive abilities to see that this walking sack of useless would not do the right thing, and admit that the NHL fucked up on this one. Like many other goofs before, and many more to come in the future, his ego would not allow it. And that really is the problem. In every situation when a bad decision is made, the NHL head office would rather see the league crash and burn than have someone under-mind their authority. It reminds me of Hitler choosing to attack Russia in the winter, and when it soon became apparent he sent his men to a sure death, and in turn, sealing Germany's fate, instead of admitting he fucked up, he pressed on, and we all know how that ended for him.
Even though I knew that this was how things were going to play out, It still pisses me off. How this man still has a job, how any of them still have a job for that matter makes my brain hurt trying to figure it out. He must have some incriminating photos of a pile of the team owners and GM's. That has to be it.
The following is some excerpts from an article posted today by ESPN's Pierre LeBrun. Mostly quotes from the people involved in the incident, and their reactions to today's over the phone appeal hearing.
This first quote is from Joe's brother and agent, John, regarding the NHL upholding the suspension.
"The league once again failed to follow any precedent they have set when making disciplinary decisions. They stated this was most similar to the [Nick] Foligno hit [earlier this season]. which only resulted in a $2,500 fine.
I could not agree more with that statement. Like I was saying yesterday, there is no rhyme or reason for what merrits a suspension and was does not.
He continues...
"When Joe asked the league, directly, what he could have done differently, they could not clearly explain. I guess being 5'9" was Joe's only solution to avoid this suspension. We are extremely disappointed with the league's decision and feel the continuing uncertainty with league actions will only hurt the fans of the NHL."
Again, when asked what he could have done to avoid it, these assholes had no clue, further proof that ego is more the reason than any rules or facts. When the people responsible for creating a rule can not give a straight answer, what does that make you think?
St. Louis Blues president had this to say about the incident...
"Joe Thornton is a terrific player but he crossed the line," Davidson said. "Is he not supposed to be subject to what the penalties are in this league if he crossed the line? Joe Thornton is not a dirty player. But he crossed the line. We have a player that can't play tonight because he got a shoulder to the head that was blindsided."
Blindsided? Crossed the line? Are you fucking kidding me? The dude skated into his shoulder. Even Stevie Wonder could see that. And he can't play tonight? He played the rest of that game and scored a fucking goal. I mean I don't like to see a guy get hurt (actually that depends on who it is, my blood lust is funny that way), but come on, it was a total accident, and just as much Perron's fault. I mean if I walk into a wall and break my nose, is it the walls fault? No, it is my fault for not looking where I am going, and maybe the beer company's for making beer so delicious.
Here is what Joe Thornton had to say about it...
"I didn't actually see the hit until this morning. I didn't intend to hurt or do anything bad to him. He kind of ran into me, to be honest with you. Last night and this morning I had about three dozen text messages from players around the league saying they can't believe I even got a penalty."
"So 11 games into the year and I get my first penalty, I was on pace to win the Lady Byng and all of sudden I get flagged for an illegal head check," Thornton told ESPN.com. "That's a little strange since I have no history with that. But it is what it is. You look at the new rule, I think they're still in limbo at the rule in itself and they're not quite sure maybe on how it should fly and I got caught in the middle of it."
No history with that sort of thing is what really pisses me off. The NHL loves to talk about dealing with repeat offenders, yet they seem to selectively enforce this notion, like not doing anything about the Dan Carcillio hit on the same night. Again, it makes no logical sense. In that case, Fedotenko was falling down, and could not avoid the hit Carcillo laid on him. And with his track record, it should have been a no brainer, which is why the NHL over looked it, as they in fact have no brains.
San Jose GM Doug Wilson gave this statement.
"We strongly disagree with the two-game suspension handed down by the NHL today to Joe Thornton. What is most distressing is that we feel the suspension is not consistent to the recent reviews by the league following similar collisions resulting in players leaving the penalty box and establishing their place on the ice, including [Los Angeles Kings defenseman] Willie Mitchell on [Chicago Blackhawks forward] Jonathan Toews."
Wilson went continued:
"In Joe's case, it was clearly not a predatory-type hit with an intent to injure, shown by the fact that the player returned to the ice for his next shift so it is clear that the contact to the head was minimal. We put a lot of time and effort into helping define the NHL's new rule on headshots but we feel strongly that this suspension is not a reflection of the rule's true intent."
He makes some good points. But like I said before, this will not be the last cluster-fuck of inconsistency we will see this season. This will continue as long as the NHL employs ego maniacs in the head office. Of course Darth Moron and his side-kick Colin Campbell would not comment on this story, and that makes sense, as they know what ever they say will make them look stupid, however that hasn't stopped them before from opening their yaps.
Here is the link to the Pierre LeBrun article I got the quotes from. http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=5768457
Well that is all for now, I am off to watch the game, and see if anything tonight angers me enough pull out the old keyboard.
Until next time
Stay Angry!!
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