Zamboni driver hype a convenient NHL distraction
Never mind emergency goalies, how about some consistency with headshot rulings?
Call it a classic case of misdirection.
Look here, says the NHL, dangling a shiny bauble for all to see. Look at the 42-year-old Zamboni driver who has become the best thing to happen to the league since John Scott was an all-star game MVP. Watch David Ayres as he makes an appearance on The Today Show and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert after he became the first emergency backup goalie to win a game. Did you know that he now has his own Upper Deck rookie card or that the stick he used to win a game is on display at the Hockey Hall of Fame?
Now that you’re distracted, let’s try to forget about all those silly complaints to the department of player safety and the general lack of consistency with suspensions and fines.
What a smokescreen. What nonsense. What a waste of time.
Ayres, who came on in relief and beat the Toronto Maple
Leafs last week when Carolina’s starting and backup goalies both got hurt, is indeed a great story. But he should be wrapping up his 15 minutes of fame about now. And yet, at this week’s GM meetings, a lot of time and energy will be spent on whether the league has a David Ayres problem.
General managers will ask what would have happened if the Leafs had lit Ayres up like a Christmas tree? Would it still be a feel-good story or an embarrassment? What would have happened if the Hurricanes had lost the game because of Ayres’ inability to stop the puck and then missed out on a playoff spot by a couple of points?
Should teams be forced to carry a full-time third goalie on the road? Uh … no. Not necessary. Don’t waste your breath.
What made the Ayres story so endearing is the reason why another minute shouldn’t be wasted discussing what it means for the game. It was a rarity. You don’t normally see two goalies get hurt in the same game.
Chances are we won’t see a playoff spot or a playoff game determined by an EBUG. You can’t say the same about a crosscheck to the face or a head shot. Those are a lot more common, as is the constant hand-wringing over how inadequately the NHL deals with them.
While Ayres was making the talk show circuit, Rangers defenceman Jacob Trouba was catching Islanders forward Michael Dal Colle with a high bodycheck that looked a lot like an illegal head shot. Based on Trouba’s history and the initial point of contact, it appeared a suspension was inevitable.
“The first contact was the head,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. “And he was vulnerable, so that’s some of the red flags.”
But according to Arthur Staples of The Athletic, the league deemed the bodycheck was a “full body” hit and decided against supplemental discipline. Confused? You’re not alone. When San Jose forward Evander Kane was slapped with a three-game suspension for elbowing Winnipeg defenceman Neal Pionk last month, he went to Twitter to voice his displeasure with the department of player safety’s George Parros.
“No one person can tell you what is and isn’t a suspension in today’s game, it’s a complete guess,” wrote Kane. “There is a major lack of consistency with NHL department of player safety”
Kane suggested a solution. “There has to be an outside third party making these decisions to remove the bias that transpires in this department,” he wrote.
Kane is right.
It doesn’t make sense that he was handed a three-game suspension but that a week earlier Arizona’s Lawson Crouse received a minor penalty after catching Boston’s Charlie Mcavoy with a similar-looking elbow. It doesn’t make sense that Bruins defenceman Zdeno Chara received less of a fine for cross-checking Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher in the throat than Montreal’s coach
Claude Julien did for criticizing officials.
It also doesn’t make sense that Kane’s issues with the department of player safety isn’t getting the same attention that Ayres has received.
It’s not that Parros, a former player, is not qualified to determine what is and what isn’t a suspension. It’s that there is no consistency to his rulings. Having someone who isn’t involved in the league might change that.
But rather than talk about that this week, the league will instead perform a little sleight of hand and turn its attention to whether something needs to be done to avoid another Ayres situation.
There doesn’t. But while we’re arguing about it, a bigger issue is going unnoticed.