First things first: the NHL is cracking down on violence and the Philadelphia Flyers are having none of that. But, whatever the Philadelphia Flyers are guilty of (hits from behind mostly, a little cross-checking), it doesn’t compare to the latest psychotic act from New York Islanders goon Chris Simon. Prior to this, Simon had been suspended 7 times for a total of 40 games-basically the equivalent of three 2007 Flyers. That number will go up for this stabby stomping.
I had felt good about hockey this summer, when the NBA was dealing with gambling referees, the NFL was ignoring Michael Vick’s gruesome hobby, and the WWE (notarealsportbutwhatever) was suffering through a tragic familicide and accusations of encouraging steroid abuse. (The MLB, for their part, had the usual doping questions to hide from.) Hockey was looking pretty clean until it started up again.
But instead of focusing on the negatives, like why in the world violent acts seem to be increasing proportionally to the league’s efforts to eliminate them, I would like to commend the New York Islanders organization for the correct handling of an unusual situation. Instead of waiting for the league to measure intent against prior record into a sum of games, they sent Chris Simon to counselling for an indefinite amount of time, allowing him to (hopefully) take care of some issues knowing there will still be a place on the team for him, but not for his brand of justice. It’s refreshing to see a team that can balance their responsibilities to both their player and the league.
2 comments:
My labour management perspective on violence in the NHL:
The problem is the way violence gets treated in pro sports in general and the NHL in particular. First, the NHL workplace (and that's what the rink is - a place where players work) get a societal free pass on a lot of rules about how you conduct yourself that apply to all other employees. In a normal workplace, if you assault someone, you are lucky if you don't get fired. If you assault two people, you most certainly do get fired. Chris Simon wouldn't have had a chance to assault Ruutu with a WEAPON because he'd already done that last year, and assault with a weapon gets you fired and charged criminally and possibly jailed. He wouldn't have been around to do it a second time.
The funny thing is that every argument I've ever heard used to defend or justify hockey violence is the OPPOSITE of a mitigating circumstance. The fact that the NHL is an emotionally charged, physically demanding, inherently dangerous workplace in which everyone is equipped with weapons is not why we should expect this sort of thing to happen. It's the reason NHL players should instead be held to a higher standard of discipline and control. Being unable to control your emotions in that environment means you could kill someone. Burtuzzi, Simon, McSorley, Domi and others have all use variations on "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt him, I just lost it" as an excuse. It's EXACTLY why dismissal from the league should be a legitimate option for the disciplinarians - telling everyone your unstable is no excuse and in no way protects anyone from it happening again. Sending someone for counseling, as in Simon's case, after its happened twice is too little too late.
Instead, we have a culture in which the union essentially does nothing to protect its members (possibly because so many of its members would be out of work if they cracked down) and the employer does nothing meaningful. And all because the trite but true fact is that they make money off it, and we give it to them. And maybe because the employees are all millionaires with lawyers. Who knows. Fuck Chris Simon though. He's in the wrong profession for a man who can't control himself when he's under pressure.
Sorry, Mike. That was long. I'll get my own blog....
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