Quote:
Originally Posted by transplant99
Very very odd decision IMO.
Either its 10 for leaving the bench, or nothing at all .....havent had a chance to listen to Shannys reasoning, but that may clear it up.
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Why does it have to be "all or nothing"? Why does everything have to be black and white? I think some thought needs to be put in to what the intent of the automatic 10 game suspension was. Likely it's to prevent players on the bench leaving to join a brawl in progress where all 5 players on the ice are involved to prevent the "bench clearing brawls" we used to see, or to prevent someone from the bench jumping on to interveen in a fight that is already going on in progress.
Its obviously fair to suggest that whether this was a line change or not, or if Clowe thought this was a liine change or not is completely debatable. The first time I saw the play in live action, I thought for sure Clowe had come on the ice for Pavelski but just before he made it to the bench was hit by Shaw and understood the confusion. After watching the replays, I agree, I really don't know if that's the case, or if he thought he was changing for someone else, or if simply he did just jump on the ice with no thought of a line change.
But regardless, IMO the spirt or reason behind the 10 game rule IMO was not violated in this case, and if the NHL has leveraged the "grey area" the unusual nature of this play lended them to ensure they land on a more appropriate punishment than the default 10 games, then I see no issue with it, not everything in life needs to be black and white.