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Campbell sets dangerous precedent
by David Lee on 03/10/10 at 06:44 PM ET
Comments (9)
After nearly three days of waiting for the ruling on Matt Cooke’s blindside hit which has apparently ended Marc Savard’s season, NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell made his shocking decision: no suspension for Cooke. Consistency has never been one of Campbell’s calling cards. His bizarre method of justice has never made any sense. Somewhere in his office, he has a disciplinary wheel of fortune, a dartboard of justice, a random number generator. Nobody ever knows what to expect when a player has a meeting with Campbell. Sometimes identical incidents result in widely differing supplemental discipline against the offending player.
Perhaps, then, this decision not to suspend Matt Cooke isn’t surprising at all.
Instead of saying “we made a mistake with the Mike Richards incident, and we want to get it right this time”, Campbell said he needs to be consistent. Never mind that he’s never been consistent at all. The really dangerous thing is that Campbell has played the “consistency” card and he will have to live with that for the remainder of this season. Other players now know that they can deliver blind-side head-high hits and not be held accountable. The safety of the players is being totally disregarded.
Fortunately, most players in the NHL respect each other well enough not to take advantage of Mr Campbell’s asinine precedent. However, I’m really worried that somebody is going to suffer a horrible injury.
If the league isn’t going to discipline Cooke, who is a notorious repeat offender with hits to the head, there’s a chance that somebody might take advantage of that precedent and serve Cooke with a technically legal taste of his own medicine. The Bruins and Pens will meet again later this month, and it could get ugly. The league doesn’t need another premeditated Bertuzzi/Moore incident, but Colin Campbell is practically setting the table for that to happen.
This is a horrible, horrible mistake, and I sincerely hope that nothing bad comes out of this.
Filed in: | Red and Black Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Colin+Campbell, Matt+Cooke,
Comments
Rarely do these rematches lead to bloodshed. More times than not, nothing happens. Although I certainly would enjoy an old fashioned donneybrook.
Posted by McFly on 03/10/10 at 08:24 PM ET
It’s time to call for Campbell to be fired. I used to think Gry Bettmann was the worst thing about this sport, obviously he has competition at the bottom.
Posted by sean from T.O. on 03/10/10 at 08:27 PM ET
No doubt bettman explained to his chief lapdog/enforcer, Campbell , that any suspension to cooke might cause the penguins to slip in the playoff seedings ,and in turn might create a premature exit from the playoffs for the penguins, thus eliminating the NHL’s ability to market re: (cram #87’s mug into our face) during NBC’s game of the week.
Mr. Campbell, seeing the wisdom in little gary’s logic, agreed, and issued no suspension.
Another win/win decision by the “new” NHL 
Posted by Down River Dan on 03/10/10 at 08:31 PM ET
There had better be a brawl next week in Boston or hockey is now played by candyazzes…..People in Boston want to see some blood. If nothing happens the fans might take matters into their own hands. This could be good!!!! As it is right now Bruins fans are disowning this team for their pathetic display last week. The Bruins almost have to do something violent. It’s great!!!!! The mob must be appeased…......
Posted by kevin from boston on 03/10/10 at 08:53 PM ET
Dan, please stop inventing your own half-baked conspiracy theories. Cooke has been suspended before, and since he’s not an essential piece to Penguins succes, it would have been easy to sacrifice him to discourage similar acts. Even a semi-strict punishment would have him back in the lineup for the playoffs, and the ghost of blindside hits to the head would be less likely to reappear.
Instead Campbell chose a stupid path that may or may not have dire consequences. Using that as another unsubstantiated attack on Pittsburgh displays a similar lack of intelligence.
Posted by Moq from Denmark on 03/10/10 at 09:12 PM ET
Un-freaking-believable. Is it going to take someone being paralyzed or worse? WTF?
Posted by Jennemy of the Skate from putting the b*tches in the box on 03/10/10 at 09:38 PM ET
No doubt bettman explained to his chief lapdog/enforcer, Campbell , that any suspension to cooke might cause the penguins to slip in the playoff seedings ,and in turn might create a premature exit from the playoffs for the penguins
Premature exit because Cooke would miss five games? The Penguins play in the East, dumbass. They could lose Crosby, Malkin, Gonchar and Fleury and still finish second.
Posted by steve on 03/11/10 at 02:49 AM ET
Hello McFly!!! God that is the perfect set up name. LOL Rarely do they have repercussions??? What sport are you watching . Ahh and with respect how long? Just to give you an idea how long I have been watching. I have been watching since the 60’s rarely does this happen??? LOL Ok if you say so!
Posted by wnchpuckdrop twitter from Asheville,NC on 03/11/10 at 09:41 AM ET
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David Lee is a restaurant manager with an unused degree in political science. He can be found at Carolina Hurricanes games, Scrabble tournaments and indie-rock shows. Sometimes, all in the same day.
David has contributed to CBC.ca for their Stanley Cup playoff coverage in 2006 and to the New York Times Slapshot blog for theirs in 2008. Red and Black Hockey was founded in July of 2005.
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I think it set the stage for next meeting I believe the 18th is Penguins and Bruins. the game could be a disaster. Campbell will look like the fool he is then. Some people carve a poor destiny for themselves. I am sure the Bookies will be onto of the next meeting of these 2 teams and wont be about the Score of how many goals are scored. AS Life long Bruins follower and Whalers/ Canes . I remember how some of these situations were settled! Glad I am not Cooke!
Posted by WNCPuckDrop twitter from Asheville,NC/Rye NH on 03/10/10 at 08:01 PM ET