Quote:
Originally Posted by calgaryblood
What are you even talking about? Tkachuk wasn't called for elbowing, the ref didn't see the play as he was turned around at the instant the elbow made contact.
Tkachuk was called for roughing for the scrum afterwards so maybe know how things played out before calling me out?
And if you've followed hockey long enough you'd know it doesn't matter what they call on the ice when it comes to supplemental discipline. It literally makes no difference if the refs missed it or not.
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You seem to have trouble understanding the opposing argument, which is approximately this:
NHL rules state that if your elbow makes contact with an opposing player's head, you may be given a minor penalty for elbowing.
The NHL's normal practice is not to review minor penalties for supplementary discipline.
The NHL claims to be ‘serious’ about punishing hits to the head. Yet the minor penalty for elbowing still is an option. If every incident of elbowing is appropriately punished by a two-game suspension, why does the elbowing minor even exist?
So we have a situation where the NHL can give a player 2 minutes for elbowing, or 5 and a game, or a fine, or a suspension, or nothing at all – and the decision is entirely arbitrary and not subject to review. There is no consistency at all in which punishment is imposed; except that the league seems to give out stiffer penalties in response to complaints in the media, which usually means that an offence against a star player is deemed worse than an offence against anybody else.
I know it's fashionable nowadays to be cynical and ‘edgy’. But there is still such a thing as sportsmanship, and the rules are supposed to be there to enforce a standard of sportsmanship. If the rules are merely there so the officials can pick on players or teams they don't like, they are no rules at all and the competition is no more honest than professional wrestling. It's just an empty spectacle.
Is that what we're paying money for?