Hockey 2010-2011

[smc]

Originally Posted by shadows

The NHL is far too political at times. The whole issue with Colin Campbell for instance. How can anyone do such a lousy job(from a fan's standpoint) yet keep their job? Easy. He is liked by those in power as he cowtows to their every whim(which is why the suspensions are a joke. The owners don't want their players gone for an overly long amount of time.).

Kevin Paul Dupont has a good piece on Campbell in yesterday's Boston Globe. His starting point is the court records in Canada that have him writing that Marc Savard of the Bruins is a "little fake artist." Savard has been out with a serious concussion.

"What's wrong with that?" Dupont asks. And he answers: "Nothing, according to Campbell's boss, Gary Bettman. Ditto for Bettman's deputy, Bill Daly, who, like his boss, believes Campbell is not only doing an acceptable job, but continues to remain an exemplary guardian of the game's officiating system and its overall on-ice integrity.

Dupont points out that the NHL, like it or not, does have a problem with Campbell, though, because "enough people in the viewing and listening audience believe Campbell has a problem."

He also points out Bettman's own history: "We only need to roll back the calendar nearly 18 years when a bold Bettman, less than six months on the job as NHL commissioner, had the mettle, common sense, and temerity to slap Dale Hunter with an unprecedented 21-game suspension for a dreadful and concussive late hit to Pierre Turgeon in the 1993 playoffs."

And now: "Bettman sat on his hands, mouth conspicuously sealed, when Campbell last season watched David Booth and Savard get lugged off the ice, in far worse shape than Turgeon in '93, and then dither about the rulebook not empowering him to punish their attackers (Mike Richards and Matt Cooke, respectively)."

How far we've come!