Yesterday, the NHL's chief judge and executioner, Brendan Shanahan, suspended Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand for 5 games following his hit on Vancouver Canucks defenceman Sami Salo last Saturday afternoon, in what was one of the best games of the season.
There has been quite a bit of discussion about the play, and as usual, the hockey world seems split almost 50/50 as to whether Shanahan made the right call. For what it's worth, I think it was the right call.
To recap, Sami Salo and Brad Marchand were both heading towards a loose puck along the boards. It was a very similiar situation to one which had taken place a mere 15 seconds previously. In the first play, both players went shoulder to shoulder, with the result being that the much larger Salo outmuscled Marchard in the battle for the puck.
In the second instance, Marchand lowered his body and hit Salo near the back of the left knee, causing the latter to flip "arse over tea kettle", suffering a shoulder injury and a concussion in the process.
While the infraction is termed clipping, in common hockey parlance it is called submarining and is viewed as being one of the more dangerous and less honourable plays.
Some have said that in the play Marchand was simply put himself in a defensive position preparing for a big hit. It is in an argument that I don't buy because you can clearly see Marchand drive his shoulder through Salo's body, hardly a defensive maneuver.
Others have said that Shanahan's suspension of Marchand is too long. Again, I disagree.
One of the main arguments for NHL teams for retaining the services of players whose main, if not only purpose, is to fight, is that they are necessary to act as policemen to prevent, or at least counteract, the actions of players who regularly use illegal, and dangerous, tactics on the ice. Players such as Marchand.
Brendan Shanahan has clearly stated, over and over, since the season began, that the NHL is striving to do away with on-ice vigilantism and justice making by ensuring that the league lives up to its responsibility in terms of player safety by making sure that illegal and dangerous acts are dealt with seriously.
So, the message is clear. Submarining is something that the NHL takes seriously. Do it, and expect to have to pay the consequences.
- A few years back I worked for a car rental agency at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport in Montreal. Among our customers were a few that the company deemed to be VIPs, and as such their cars would be driven up directly to the doors for them. Among these people was the general manager of a National Hockey League team.
He spoke with a thick French accent, had a raspy voice, and a gruff manner. Some of the girls who worked at the counter were actually kind of intimidated by him. "He always looks angry", one of them said.
Over the course of a few months, I got to know him a little bit. As someone who follows hockey a somewhat, I would say things like "Nice win over Detroit last Tuesday", or, "I see that so-and-so scored his 100th point this week", and a short conversation would take place.
One time, I mentioned to him that I had read somewhere that he was renowned for being able to remember the birth dates of virtually every player who had played in the NHL over the course of the last 50 years. "Was this true?", I asked. "Try me", was the reply.
In almost Rain Man-esque fashion, he answered "March 28, 1948" "February 29th 1936" and so on, correctly matching birth day to player.
As the months wore on, he began to throw trivia questions my way. Smiling and nodding when I got the answer right, shaking his head in disappointment when I got the answer wrong.
A few months after I left that job, one of the women who worked there with me gave me a call. "That old hockey guy left a package here for you, he didn't know your name, but when he gave the description, I knew he was talking about you.".
When the package finally made its way to me, I opened it up to find a St-Louis Blues golf shirt, and a note "Good luck with your new team. Prof"
Ronald "Le Prof" Caron, former General Manager of the St-Louis Blues, and NHL scouting legend, died yesterday at the age of 82. He was born on December 19th 1929.
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