The NHL got it right suspending Aaron Rome despite unspecific methods.
BOSTON — The poor, ham-fisted National Hockey League.
Even when it gets one right, it screws up the process so severely that you walk away wondering if this is the new standard of discipline so many of us seek, or is Colin Campbell’s "Wheel of Justice" simply being spun by Mike Murphy’s hand?
The Good: Vancouver defenceman Aaron Rome received a significant suspension (four games) for a hit that came three full strides after Nathan Horton had passed the puck away. It was a clear head shot, delivered to an unsuspecting player who did not possess the puck and hadn’t for nearly a full second.
The Bad: Mike Murphy — the NHL exec who you could tell agonized over this decision, had you watched his press conference — said numerous times that the length of Rome’s suspension was in direct correlation to the severity of Horton’s injury. The problem being, of course, no one knows how severe a concussion really is inside of 17 hours, which was the time span between the hit and the suspension coming down.
Honestly, it’s like the NHL forgot that Sidney Crosby ever happened.
The Ugly: Murphy copped that, among others, he consulted former NHL discipline czar Brian Burke in the process. Yeah, Burke — the Toronto Maple Leafs GM whose draft pick (acquired from Boston) will be either 29th or 30th, depending on whether Boston or Vancouver wins this series.
Oh, and by the way? Burke was fired by the Canucks, and is now watching the team he largely built take a run at the Cup.
We won’t impune Burke’s character here we honestly believe he would have given Murphy his straight and reasoned opinion.
But asking another GM?
Especially one that has a perceived rooting interest?
There are people in Vancouver who honestly believe the NHL wants the Canucks to lose this series to Boston. Why would you give them this kind of ammunition
"I take (this decision) very seriously, very seriously," said Murphy, who is filling in for the removed Colin Campbell, whose son Gregory is a fourth-line winger for the Bruins. "Aaron Rome is an important part of the Vancouver team. Guys play all their lives to get to this series on both teams, and you might never get back.
"I do not make light of this," he said gravely. "I wish I wasn't sitting here. I wish Aaron was playing, and I wish Nathan was playing."
Alas, neither likely will. Rome for sure, and Horton, if you saw him twitching on the ice Monday, is highly unlikely to return.
It is the longest suspension in the history of the Stanley Cup final — never before has a player been suspended for more than one game. Of course, the Canucks to a man disagreed with it and the Bruins — who trade their No. 1 right winger for Vancouver’s No. 6 defenceman (when Dam Hamhuis is healthy), thought the league got it right.
"Hortie’s been one of our best players all year — you guys can form your own opinions on Romer," Bruins tough Shawn Thornton said.
Asked what kind of player Rome, who has no past history of these things, was in his eyes, Thornton stepped back:
"It doesn’t matter what the guy is like. Sure, I know Romer (from their time together on the 2006-07 Anaheim Ducks). But it doesn’t matter if he’s a great guy off the ice, or if the guy is an asshole. The hit is the hit. He made the hit. What kind of guy he is has nothing to do with it."
The Canucks issued a statement on Rome’s behalf, which he likely never read and will not grace this column. General manager Mike Gillis, when asked, thought it better not to address the Burke issue with your correspondent.
And of course, the Canucks shielded Rome from the media for the second straight day, just as they did Raffi Torres after his controversial Round 1 hit on Brent Seabrook.
These guys have got the courage to be NHL steamrollers, but somehow are scared to bits by the thought of facing the media and talking through us to you, the fans, about it.
"I don't think he could talk to you right now," said head coach Alain Vigneault. "He’s very emotional. He’s very disappointed. He’s been taken out of the Stanley Cup playoffs. A couple of weeks ago, he was almost taken out of the Stanley Cup playoffs by another player (San Jose’s Jamie McGinn) in a situation that, in my mind, my opinion, was far worse."
That inherent lack of objectivity runs through a hockey man’s veins, you’ve got to understand. Even levelheaded Daniel Sedin said the Rome hit shouldn’t have garnered a suspension.
The Canucks love their predator Torres, yet despise McGinn for his game, which is at least as honest.
There is only one body that can make an objective, even-handed decision on a situation like this, and the NHL did so on Tuesday, based on totally unclear medical evidence and a conversation with a conflicted GM.
And somehow, Mike Murphy still got it right.
I guess that’s progress.
