Mario Lemieux, owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins and NHL Hall of Famer, unleashed a wave of controversy on Sunday night, speaking out against the league and the resulting fallout from the Penguins 9-3 loss in which 14 fighting majors and 21 game misconducts were handed out.
This occurred just nine days after the Penguins handed the Islanders a 3-0 loss that saw Penguins goalie Brent Johnson level Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro with just one punch, putting DiPietro on the shelf with a broken bone in his face. That same game featured a questionable hit by Penguins forward Max Talbot that knocked Islanders forward Blake Comeau out with a concussion. Both players are still on the IR. The Islanders exacted a measure of revenge using both their fists and their sticks in the 9-3 rout as the game deteriorated into an all-out brawl on three separate occasions.
In one of these brawls, Islanders forward Matt Martin jumped Talbot, seeking revenge for his team mate, and delivered a sucker punch as Talbot struggled to defend himself. He was given a 4 game suspension. Islanders forward Trevor Gillies was suspended 9 games for delivering a jumping elbow to the head of Penguins forward Eric Tangradi, who is now on the IR with a concussion. In the same stoppage, Islanders forward Michael Haley fought Talbot before proceeding over to Brent Johnson, instigating a fight and causing Penguins tough guy Eric Godard to jump off the bench and come to his goalie’s defense, earning himself an automatic 10 game suspension. The Islanders organization was later fined $100,000 for the incident.
Lemieux, in a statement released on Sunday, called the game a ‘travesty’, and a ‘sideshow’. He also suggested that he is reconsidering whether he wants to be a part of the league. However, Lemieux should really lead by example, and follow the old adage that actions speak louder than words. It’s understandable for him to be upset, his team is already missing several regulars including all-stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and will now be without Godard and Tangradi for extended periods. However, this isn’t the first time the Penguins have been associated with something like this.
Penguins forward Matt Cooke has been the subject of many controversies over the past several seasons, including last season’s now infamous head shot to Boston Bruins forward Marc Savard, the shot many point to as the one that caused the league to implement a new rule against headshots. Cooke was also involved in a dirty hit on Fedor Tyutin earlier this year, not to mention that he was the one who ran Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro in the earlier Penguins 3-0 win, triggering the massive line brawl that saw Brent Johnson put DiPietro on the IR.
If Lemieux were truly serious about getting this kind of behaviour out of the game, he would not employ people like Matt Cooke. In fact, prior to Friday’s game the Penguins were among the more penalized teams in the NHL, and that would include several fighting majors for players like Cooke, Godard and enforcer Derek Engelland. It seems Lemieux has no problem with his players injuring other team’s stars, but when players like Crosby and now Tangradi end up on the shelf due to concussions, all of sudden these things are ‘travesties’ and ‘sideshows’.
The Penguins have shown themselves to have no internal disciplinary process, as the team hasn’t handed out any sort of punishment to any of their players involved in these various incidents, most notably Matt Cooke. When Sean Avery’s famous ‘sloppy seconds’ quote hit the airwaves, the Dallas Stars were quick to levy their own punishment to Avery in addition to any that the league set out. If the Dallas Stars can show a little bravado and discipline one of their own, why can’t the Penguins?
Matt Martin received 4 games for his sucker punch of Max Talbot, a situation that many are likening to the infamous Todd Bertuzzi / Steve Moore incident back in 2002. Lemieux has no problem with Talbot driving Blake Comeau into the boards, putting him on the IR, but when it comes time for Talbot to man up, he runs off, instead choosing to fight Michael Haley later on in the third period after Martin had already been ejected.
There had been precedence for this type of incident earlier, as Ben Eager received 4 games for his sucker punch of Colby Armstrong that left Armstrong with a black eye, but I suppose Lemieux would have wanted the league to ‘set an example’ with Matt Martin and throw the book at him. Trevor Gillies got 9 games for his elbow, but Michael Haley escaped with no discipline at all. Unfortunately for the Penguins, the simple act of Godard leaving the bench is what earned him a 10 game suspension, as that rule has been in place for years and he knew about it before he stepped on the ice.
Nobody likes to see star players injured. Nobody likes to see games deteriorate into the madness we saw last Friday, and players like Trevor Gillies probably do not belong in the league. However, owners such as Lemieux need to take responsibility for their own actions and model their teams after what they would like to see in the league. The Detroit Red Wings, the benchmark for all hockey clubs, haven’t employed a true enforcer for a number of years, and yet their stars seem to be protected enough to get the job done. Why do Mario and the Penguins feel the need to play that style of hockey?
The NHL disciplinary committee is at best superfluous and at worst an absolute joke, plagued with inconsistency and favouritism. If Lemieux wants to see a real change in the league it has to start with the product he puts on the ice, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
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Born and raised in Northern Ontario but currently living in Toronto, Tyler wouldn't have it any other way. Home to his two favourite sports teams, Tyler revels in the day to day sports experience that is Toronto. 