'The Violent Gentleman' has got to go
The baffling decisions and inconsistency in George Parros' suspensions have always been on full display, but some of the recent head-scratching rulings show he's truly unfit to run NHL Player Safety
Even when George ‘The Violent Gentleman’ Parros gets something close to right, he still manages to get it spectacularly wrong. In that way, Parros is the scar-faced poster boy for a league that can never seem to stay out of its own way.
The number of times ‘The Violent Gentleman’ has dropped the ball on supplemental discipline is far too long to list here. Look no further than last weekend, which was a rough one for the department of player safety – or DOPS, or Dominion to Offend in Plain Sight, if you will. Three checks from behind into the boards that looked remarkably similar, with three disparate rulings that left everyone confused and unsatisfied.
But then came the six-game suspension to David Perron of the Detroit Red Wings for his vicious crosscheck to Ottawa Senators defenceman Artem Zub on the weekend. Whether it was DOPS’ Wheel of Justice™ landing on six games or Parros himself coming to that number, it was a courageous and statement-making call by the department. Even though there are a lot of people who would have been comfortable with Perron getting an even stiffer sentence, it represented a step forward. Those criticizing Perron’s suspension for being too long actually have it wrong. The Perron call was right. The ridiculously light sentences for offences to which it is being compared were wrong.
But then, in one sentence, Parros undid so much of his good work. In the video explaining the suspension, The Violent Gentleman actually said the following: “Perron takes several strides toward Zub, and with sufficient time to engage Zub in a different manner, or at the very least ensure that his crosscheck is delivered directly to the body…”
Just sit and think about that for a minute. Here you have the man who, by his job title is supposedly responsible for keeping players safe, basically advising players when they get angry about something to crosscheck their opponent in the ribs rather than the head. And if you could maybe make sure he’s ready to absorb the crosscheck, well all the better.
We’ve all grown to expect no less from The Violent Gentleman. I can’t decide whether he’s really good at his job or really bad at it. If he’s acting at the behest of those above him, who secretly love this stuff, then he’s killing it. But he’s also killing the game. And it’s time for him to take his Princeton degree and move to the business side of the game and out of hockey operations.
WHAT COMES AROUND…
The slightly haggard coach had just emerged from behind his team’s bench, his nerves a little worse for wear after watching his team grind out a 5-3 victory in which they needed a goal in the final two minutes before adding an empty-netter.
“These 15-year-olds,” the coach said, “they sure make things interesting, don’t they?”
The coach was one of those 15-year-olds back in the day, and probably played in the Silver Stick Tournament himself. Almost 30 years later, Justin Williams finds himself coaching the Carolina Jr. Hurricanes Under-16 team. Two weeks ago, the team travelled to Whitby, Ont., to play in the prestigious tournament, which is the first big showcase for the Ontario Hockey League draft. Williams’ son, Jaxon, plays for the Jr. Hurricanes. Alongside Williams on the Hurricanes’ bench was his assistant Ryan Smyth, the former NHLer whose son, Alexander, plays for the Hurricanes and scored a goal and three assists in the game. Shane Willis, another former Hurricane, is also an assistant coach for the team and couldn’t make the trip, but his son, Laken, did.
In fact, there was no shortage of NHL lineage at the tournament, which featured fast, entertaining and skilled hockey. It’s actually quite remarkable what these high-level kids are capable of doing on the ice. Two players for the Buffalo Jr. Sabres – Jake Brown (Dustin) and Nick Rivet (Craig) are the sons of former NHLers. Luke Lalonde of the Detroit Little Caesars is the son of Red Wings coach Derek, while his teammate Logan Stuart is the progeny of former NHL defenceman Brad. Brady Guolla of the Oakland Jr. Grizzlies is the son of former NHLer Steve, who also coaches the team. Brock Chitaroni of the Barrie Colts is the son of Terry, a former junior star who was a draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs. (Pretty sure I’m missing a bunch of others.)
For both Williams and Smyth, coaching gives them a chance to bond with their kids and help them chase the dreams they realized. “I tend to put everything I can into everything I do,” Williams said. “I’ve got this going, I’m doing some development stuff with the Hurricanes and I’m sliding in some TV (with Rogers Sportsnet). It’s been fun. Retirement has not been boring, that’s for sure.”
Smyth actually lives in Nashville with his family, so he does skill development with his son on his own then joins the Hurricanes for weekend games and tournaments. As NHL players retire in non-traditional hockey markets, they are pivotal to building minor hockey programs in those places, which seem to be continually churning out NHL players. No need to look beyond St. Louis to see the effect former NHLers have had on youth hockey. So when you’re at an elite tournament, there’s a good chance that there are more than a few people with NHL ties on hand.
“I was at a game a couple of months ago and I get a tap on my shoulder,” Williams said. “It’s Marty St-Louis and he’s like, ‘Hey, buddy, how are you? What’s going on?’ You never know who you’re going to run into. Even with (Smyth), we played together in L.A. and our kids were having play dates when they were babies. Years later, they’re still playing together.”
FUN WITH NUMBERS - SITUATIONAL SCORING
I’m not even sure whether people enjoy looking at this, but I enjoy compiling it, so Hockey Unfiltered’s Situational Scoring Race is back for another season. What makes it different from every other stat out there is that it tracks only the important points, the ones that matter. Garbage points need not apply.
As always, there are a couple of things to note, the most important being that goals are weighted more heavily than assists, with goals worth one point and assists worth half a point. In this system, goals can be worth more than one point and assists worth more than a half a point. For example, the first goal of a game is automatically worth two points, one for being the first goal of the game and one for putting that player’s team ahead in a game. An overtime goal is worth three, one for putting the team ahead, one for being the game-winner and one for the overtime goal. If that is the only goal in a 1-0 game, it’s worth four.
It can all be a little confusing, so here’s a glossary:
FIRST: When a player scores the first goal of the game.
AHEAD: Any goal that puts a team ahead at any point in the game, including overtime.
TIED: Any goal that pulls a team into a tie at any point in the game.
COMEBACK: A goal that is scored when a team is trailing by two goals or more and is part of a series of goals that eventually ties the game, regardless of the ultimate outcome of the game.
WINNER: A game-winning goal, but not by the NHL’s definition. The game-winner in this category is the goal that puts a team ahead in a game to stay. So in other words, you could have a 7-6 game and maybe the first goal of the game was the game-winner.
OT: Overtime goal.
SO: Only shootout game-winning goals are counted in this category.
NHL: Where the player stands in the actual NHL scoring race.
You’re not going to find the likes of Cole Caufield, Jonathan Marchessault or Vincent Trocheck in the league’s top 25 scorers, but they’re there in Situational Scoring. Conversely, Nathan MacKinnon is fourth and Connor McDavid eighth in the NHL scoring race, but they can’t crack the top 25 here. (But Connor Bedard can.) That’s what makes this stat fun.
If only a former “skilled” player, perhaps whose career was cut short by injury or concussion, were in charge of the DOPS. But instead by installing a former “goon”, the NHL shows its lack of seriousness of “Player Safety”.
I thought that cross-checking was no longer called in the NHL.