Quote:
Originally Posted by northcrunk
Your really going to compare this to murder? murder? Am I right? murder?
|
He's not even right in his comparison either. In some cases, a murderer very much could be out on bail pending an appeal. Though obviously not in extreme cases. And if we are going to carry this metaphor forward, deliberate injury of an official is an infraction with the most severe mandatory penalty defined in the rule book. So Wideman's crimes would be the type where bail would not be granted.
As far as playing pending appeal goes, that is problematic too. We often see in baseball (especially with pitchers), that a suspended player will appeal just long enough to make their next start, or to complete an immediately critical game for the team, then drop the appeal and serve their sentence. It is blatantly gaming the system. And it would be worse in the NHL, especially in key playoff races.