Monday Musings: More DOPS follies on Kane hit
Confused by the light sentence on Evander Kane's hit on Nazem Kadri? Well, you're not alone...Plus, the legacy of former NHLer Larry Hillman, who died at the age of 85
In exactly what universe does one player crosscheck another into the boards from behind and injure him at the most crucial time of the season, then sit out for five minutes and go on to play the rest of the game? In what universe is the director of player safety quoted as saying, “This shove is delivered at a dangerous distance from the boards while the two players are travelling at speed and causes and injury,” then proceeds to suspend him for only one game? In what universe does a former referee in that league react to the injury by tweeting out, “Karma!”?
That would be the NHL universe, where nothing actually makes sense. It’s a place where Wes McCauley, who’s supposed to be the best official in a league that supposedly employs the top arbiters in all of professional sports, can witness the hit from feet away and call a five-minute penalty without attaching a game misconduct to it, something he had the discretion to do. It’s a place where Brandon Hagel can do almost the same thing to Eetu Luotsarinen, minus the injury, then get penalized with a major penalty that is reduced to a minor, but is then subject to review and receive a fine of $3,750, “the maximum allowable under the collective bargaining agreement”. Is it any wonder why we all have so much trouble figuring out what is going through these guys’ heads when they make a decision? The Hagel hit starts as a five-minute penalty and gets reduced to a two-minute penalty upon review. Upon further review, well, it’s worthy of Hagel being fined 1/400th of his yearly salary, along with the minor penalty.
It’s a place where Sidney Crosby can be guilty of the same kind of egregious hit from behind on Ryan Lindgren of the New York Rangers earlier in the season, then receive a major penalty with no fine or suspension. This would be the same Ryan Lindgren who knocked Rickard Rakell out of the series with a high hit in Game 1 and the same Sidney Crosby who was deleted from Game 5 after a borderline headshot from Jacob Trouba. It’s enough to drive a person to distraction.
As far as former official Tim Peel is concerned, he of the “Karma!” tweet, which he deleted soon after posting, Peel would argue that he is now a private citizen who lives in St. Louis, cheers for the Blues and has a right to his own opinion. He would probably point to hits that Kadri put on Tommy Wingels and Justin Faulk were every bit as bad as the one Kane put on him. He could probably even argue that as far as his officiating career is concerned, he and Kadri never had a history, nor did he ever have it in for Kadri. He could argue that now that he’s a fan, he’s can separate his fandom from what used to be his profession. Yes, he can argue all those things, that he is free to express his opinion now that he no longer works for the NHL. But what he is not free from are the consequences of expressing his opinion. And he’s not free from people drawing a direct line from the fact that he is only a little more than a year from being on the ice and that his career was cut short after he was picked up by a TV microphone clearly managing a game, and drawing the conclusion that officials are biased and that bias plays a part in the on-ice decisions they make.
Just another day in the paradise known as the NHL, where there’s always mayhem and where those at positions of power in the game talk a good game, but actually love this kind of stuff. Carry on, then…
LARRY HILLMAN - THE COLORFUL JOURNEYMAN
For those who don’t have an appreciation for the history of the game, the death of Larry Hillman at the age of 85 in Sudbury, Ont., after a short illness would probably be nothing more than a line of agate type. The truth is, however, that Hillman represents a very rich part of the fabric of the game, a guy who kept playing and winning despite never finding a permanent home in the hockey world. He was every bit a journeyman – 15 pro teams in a 21-year career - who happened to find himself in winning situations in the NHL more than most players. Or perhaps winning had a way of finding him.
It all started for Hillman in 1954-55, when he played six regular-season and three playoff games for the Detroit Red Wings, setting a record that will almost certainly never be broken. The record he holds is as the youngest player in NHL history to ever have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup. At 18 years and two months old, Hillman accomplished a feat that is literally impossible for any modern-day player to attain, since players have to have had their 18th birthday by Sept. 15 in order to play in the league.
From there, Hillman went to the Toronto Maple Leafs and was part of the dynasty team that won Stanley Cups in 1962, ’63, ’64, and ’67, the final of which he and defense partner Marcel Pronovost were on the ice for just one even-strength goal against through the playoffs. He won his final Cup with the Montreal Canadiens in 1969 and remains one of only six players to win championships with three teams. By the time he played his last NHL game in 1972-73, he had played for half of the league’s 16 teams. He capped it off by winning an Avco Cup championship in the World Hockey Association in 1974-75 with the Winnipeg Jets, then coached the Jets two years later, but not after suing the Jets in a contract dispute. (Hillman also won a Calder Cup in the American Hockey League and was named the league’s top defenseman in 1959-60.)
Speaking of contract disputes, Hillman’s imbroglio with Leafs GM Punch Imlach led to him imposing the ‘Hillman Hex’ on the Maple Leafs in 1968, vowing the franchise would never again win a Stanley Cup after squeezing him in contract talks and fining him for missing days of training camp. Even though Leafs president Brendan Shanahan famously repaid the amount, with interest, the Leafs are no closer to winning the Cup getting out of the first round than they were when Shanahan made the gesture. “He didn’t talk about it much,” said Hillman’s nephew and former NHLer Brian Savage. “But he mentioned he was pretty pissed off about it a few times.”
Savage said he never got to watch his mother’s brother play, but heard plenty of stories, both from his uncle himself and Hillman’s former teammates. “They’ve told me he was a tough, loyal, stay-at-home defenseman, great for a rushing ‘D’ to play with,” Savage said. “Tough as nails to play with. Didn’t fight often, but was strong as an ox. And he was always in great shape, even after he retired.”
Campbell, 5th
Waugh, 12th