Players Policing Themselves?

” When it comes to gratuitous violence in hockey it is time for the player to police themselves” says Colorado Avalanche winger Teemu Selanne. With the Todd Bertuzzi hit on Steve Moore and the latest round of violence in the NHL, Selanne is probably right. On Saturday we saw Wade Belak take a 2 handed swing with his stick to the head of Colorado defenceman Ossi Vaananen. Yesterday it was Mark Messier spearing Pittsburgh defenceman Martin Strbak. Something has to be done with this violence. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those bleeding heart liberals that believes fighting should be taken out of hockey. A good spur of the moment, face to face fight is a normal part of the game and I would much rather see guys get mad at each other and fight than swing sticks or sucker punch each other. Then you have the idiotic move that Calgary Flames coach Darryl Sutter pulled on Saturday night. With 3 seconds to go in the game and his team down, he chose to put Krzysztof Oliwa for the sole purpose of starting a fight. The game has no room for this type of action either. While I realize that it is each coaches perogative to play who he wants, it was quite obvious what Oliwa was out there for. The NHL is trying to do its best; suspending Bertuzzi for the rest of the season and possibly longer, suspending Wade Belak for 8 games, suspending Mark Messier for 2 games, suspending Krzysztof Oliwa for 3 games, suspending Darryl Sutter for 2 games and handing the Flames a $50,000 fine. The league so far this year has handed out 81 games in suspensions not including the Bertuzzi suspension. The problem with this is the players and coaches are not learning or don't care. The 2 game suspension to Mark Messier will cost him $44,444.44 in salary...big deal. His salary is high enough that the amount is just pocket change; it doesn't hurt him. Until the league hits the players where it hurts, substantially in the pocketbook, they will not be able to control the rise in violence. It is time that the players themselves and the NHLPA stand up and look after the situation themselves. Right now the players don't respect each other and until that happens the unnecessary violence will continue. Players must be held accountable for their actions. Until the players learn what respect for each other is larger suspensions and fines are how this is going to be controlled. Enough with the 1-3 game suspensions. Make it hurt them. Come on NHL, get some balls and get rid of the black eye the greatest game on earth currently has.

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