HockeyControversial hits making headlines, and what is Bob thinking?

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Things follow the usual pattern: borderline hit occurs; injured player (Jason Chimera) or injured player’s teammate (Keith Ballard) or coach/GM (Randy Sexton) rips play as dirty; aggressor claims he didn’t mean it (Richards/Ovechkin); coach says he didn’t see it (Marc Crawford); GM defends honour (Paul Holmgren). Fans of offending player/team rationalize act and argue for no suspension. Fans of victimized player/team scream for blood. Media calls NHL a joke.

Then, of course, everyone’s opinion changes when they’re on the other side.

There are times when the NHL does bring the hammer. For example, the major media attention given Marty McSorley and Todd Bertuzzi gave the league no choice. Chris Simon was essentially run out of North America after his seventh suspension. Jesse Boulerice got 25 games, Steve Downie 20.

But, since the calendar shifted to 2008, there hasn’t been a single suspension of 10 games in length. And there’s a reason: no one supports it. Colin Campbell gets the most blame, because it’s in his job description, but there are plenty of co-conspirators. The bottom line is that when Campbell begins the process of determining discipline, no one is on his side.

The two GMs in question are biased. Sometimes, you get a general manager (like Jim Rutherford with Tuomo Ruutu) who recognizes a suspension is coming, but is still lobbying for fewer games. Other times, you get one who exaggerates the injury to his player in hope of making the punishment more severe. The NHLPA always argues against harsh justice. (There are a lot of players who don’t believe hits like the one Richards gave Booth should even be penalized.) The CBA doesn’t allow meaningful monetary suspensions. The owners get involved too. There is so much money at stake, so much on the line in terms of making the post-season, you better believe they’re putting pressure on the league not to go hard on their guys. If you’re the Capitals, wouldn’t you do everything possible to make sure Ovechkin doesn’t miss a shift? What about the Flyers with Richards? Or the Kings with Scuderi?

And, if the infraction occurs during the playoffs, it’s even worse.

Campbell takes his job very seriously. Someone once told me I’d be surprised at who he calls to ask for advice whenever one of these things comes up. I’d guess he wanted to sit Artyukhin longer. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wanted to give Ovechkin a game.

But, unless the incident is so serious that it has major external impact, no one wants to see anything too harsh – especially with an important player.

GAINEY’S SILENCE SAYS A LOT

When Claude Julien began to use Cristobal Huet more than Jose Theodore back in January 2006, Bob Gainey fired him. The change came on a game day, after Julien named Huet the starter following the morning skate. That night, with the GM behind the bench, Theodore started.

Two years later, with Guy Carbonneau trusting Huet over super-rookie Carey Price, Gainey traded the veteran to Washington, installing Price as the number one. It was a stunning move (although it should be pointed out that it’s believed Gainey thought he was getting Marian Hossa and Johan Hedberg from Atlanta in another deal).

That’s why it’s so interesting to see Jaroslav Halak getting the push in Montreal. Maybe Gainey and Jacques Martin are trying some sort of mind-game to motivate Price, but it doesn’t seem as if the goalie’s attitude was at all problematic this season. Instead, it appears as if Martin is being given the green light to see what Halak’s got.

It’s hard to tell what Gainey thinks, but, for the first time in two years, it’s possible he doesn’t see Price as his goaltending future.

MAILBAG QUESTION:

I can handle a few of these, but let’s start with one. (Of course, I’m assuming there is actually more than one request per week.)

“Elliotte, I have a question about contracts and the salary cap. Let’s say a player signs for a million dollars but has huge incentive clauses that could take his contract to 5 million. Do the incentives count against the cap and if so how would that be handled?” -Craig Wright

Craig,

There are three types of players who can receive bonuses:

1. Players on entry-level contracts
2. Players over 35 as of June 30 who sign one-year deals (Brendan Shanahan, for example)
3. Those who’ve played 400 career games and spend at least 100 days on Injured Reserve, then sign a one-year contract. (Pavol Demitra will qualify for this possibility next season)

Bonuses for entry-level players are capped. There’s a limit to what can be offered (a list of them can be found in the CBA’s Exhibit 5, if you care to search online).

Basically, how it works is this: All POTENTIAL bonuses count against your cap this season. Jonathan Toews’ base salary is $850,000, but his cap hit is $2.8 million because of what he could earn. Now, teams can go 7.5 per cent over the maximum to cover what you could possibly owe for bonuses. With the cap at $56.8 million, it means you can technically go up to $61.06 million. If you’re tight, it’s unlikely one player would receive $4 million, as in your scenario, because it leaves almost zero room for anyone else. If you’re the Islanders, who used such bonuses to hit the salary minimum, you’ve got no problem.

However, teams like Chicago, who have no cap room, are punished later. Even though there is a cushion, the $56.8 million figure is hard and you can’t go over. Assuming Toews plays well enough to reach his extras, the Blackhawks will have approximately $2 million less under the cap next season.

There is one other catch. Right now, the CBA is scheduled to expire after next season. The players have an option to extend it for another year, and it is expected they will do so. But, unless a new agreement is hammered out beforehand, either 2010-11 or 2011-12 will be the final one under the current CBA. And, since you need a “next year” to make room for bonuses, it’s possible that either the summers of 2010 or 2011 will be bonus-free, because there won’t be a firm “next year.” This happened prior to last season, because the NHLPA had right to re-open after 2008-09 and was late in filing the paperwork to decline. It was one of the reasons Shanahan signed so late – teams didn’t have cap space for him without bonus room.

Hope that helps, Craig. CBA stuff is about as exciting as a 2002 Wild/Devils game.

NON-HOCKEY THOUGHT OF THE WEEK:

I remember – as a kid – reading how sad it was for people to watch Willie Mays at the end of his career. I now understand exactly what they meant as I watch Vladimir Guerrero. It’s depressing.

30 THOUGHTS:

1. Ryan Kesler scored Vancouver’s second goal Saturday night on a wrister from the top of the circle. After the game, he told a very interesting story about realizing most of his goals came from the hashmarks down, and wanted to become a more dangerous shooter. So, last summer, he took 100 shots a day in his garage to improve from outside.

2. By the way, his new nickname should be: “Bo.” Why? Check this out. I couldn’t find video of Bo Jackson snapping his bat on his knee, but Kesler’s clearly seen it.

3. Very interesting week for Buffalo. Tyler Myers is a huge factor in their good start (ach, no pun intended), but Darcy Regier must decide whether or not he goes back to junior. Clearly, Myers deserves to stay, but the Sabres are one of the NHL’s most budget-conscious teams. I always wonder how other players are affected by economic-based roster decisions.

4. There was a lot of angst in CanuckWorld after Roberto Luongo’s first six games saw him go 2-4, with a 3.92 goals-against average with an .860 save percentage. Since he got to Vancouver, here are his six-game stats:

2006-07 – 3-3, 2.34, .920;
2007-08 – 3-3, 3.20, .897;
2008-09 – 3-3, 3.35, .890.

He’s a slow starter. If you know why, contact the organization. No one can figure out a reason, and neither can Luongo.

5. Briefly asked Luongo about Brian Burke comments that he doesn’t sell tickets even though he’s the best goalie in the game. He didn’t care.

6. I am not basing this on fact, but conjecture. A pure, educated guess. If Alexander Frolov is going to be traded anywhere right now, I would bet on it being to Nashville. The Predators made a huge pitch for Phil Kessel, have cap room and desperately need scoring. This is not an organization that can afford to struggle for too many years in a row.

7. Great Quote I: Ilya Bryzgalov on being named NHL first star of the week. “I don’t care,” according to the Arizona Republic. “I don’t like to run in front of the train because the train at some point can run over you.”

8. Great Quote II: In denying he had an off-ice fistfight with Sergei Kostitsyn, Scott Gomez claimed to be responsible for Andrei Markov’s injury. “He was at my house and I knifed him.”

9. Entering Monday’s game in Anaheim, Matt Stajan and Jason Blake have not been on ice for a single even-strength goal scored by the Maple Leafs.

10. Peter Laviolette was runner-up to Dave Tippett in Phoenix. If the Islanders don’t show some improvement, might they ask him to come back?

11. Still laughing at Mikael Samuelsson saying he didn’t care about the Canucks’ new $2.3 million dressing room. But, everyone else on that team loves it, and the organization hopes that Team Canada’s Olympians – who will use it in February – notice.

12. The coaches’ room used to be away from the players’, but Mike Keenan moved it close because he wanted to know exactly what was going on. Loved that Alain Vigneault moved it back because players were hearing his staff’s critiques.

13. Will Marc Savard be back in Boston? That question might be answered by how well the Bruins do without him. If Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci can handle being 1-2 down the middle, Peter Chiarelli can spend his money elsewhere in the lineup.

14. It’s early, so it’s hard to tell if Craig Anderson and Dustin Penner are for real. But both men are proof that if you’re going to invest millions in someone, make sure they’re the right fit. The Avalanche targeted Anderson, and that looks like a perfect marriage. But it took three years for Edmonton to make Penner comfortable, and you can’t have that in a cap world.

15. Michael Grabner was a 174-pound junior. Realizing that was too light for the NHL, he became a workoutaholic and gained 16 pounds of muscle. It cost him speed. The Canucks appreciated the effort, but changed the routine to make sure he regained that gift.

16. Mike Richards boycotted the Philly media for a few days, angry that Joffrey Lupul was asked about being traded to break-up the young, single group of Flyers. Understand that Richards would be upset anyone would question his professionalism, but being a captain means answering questions even when you hate it.

17. A GM who called the Red Wings about a trade was told no thanks. “They’re going to let their young players learn the hard way this season. No panic deals for them.”

18. Stunning to watch Anaheim. Last year, the Ducks cost Detroit the Stanley Cup. Just brutalized the Red Wings in the playoffs. Now, they’re getting pushed around – not the same hard-edged team without Pronger and Beauchemin. Lost their identity.

19. Watching Sergei Kostitsyn deciding to play for Hamilton is like watching Ross Perot deciding to run for President.

20. I think you’re going to see Luke Schenn de-emphasized as a Face of the Franchise for Toronto. He’s still a huge part of the future, but the organization believes there’s too much emphasis on this 20-year-old.

21. Were the Blue Jackets competing at Wimbledon last week? They lost three out of four: 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 2-6.

22. The word on John Tortorella from someone who loved playing for him. “All he asks is that you do what you’re supposed to do. He recognizes some guys are stars and others are role players. It’s when the stars act like role players or the role players try to be stars that you get into trouble.”

23. Henrik Sedin said the biggest adjustment he had to make not playing with twin brother Daniel was actually needing to look and see where his wingers were on the ice.

24. Word is that Mike Richter is seriously interested in replacing Glenn Healy at the NHLPA.

25. Those of you hoping Jonas Gustavsson will be saviour in Toronto should be aware of this: The team he played for in Sweden played a New Jersey-style system. (Darren Pang came up with that, so credit goes to him.) The Leafs prefer to attack.

26. Kevin Prendergast – the Oilers assistant GM – has reportedly been at Montreal’s last three home games. Maybe he’s got a poutine craving.

27. Michael Nylander had five assists and a shootout-winning goal in the AHL last weekend. Will that convince a KHL team to take him?

28. Under the Radar: Eric Staal blew up at the referees late in Friday’s 5-4 loss to Colorado. He was tossed with 40 seconds left after taking a slashing penalty. Dan Marouelli and Francois St. Laurent added an unsportsmanlike conduct minor, a misconduct and a game misconduct. It didn’t help. The Hurricanes lost 3-2 in overtime at Minnesota the next night.

29. Bet everything on Buffalo Friday night against Toronto. The Maple Leafs are coming back from a Western swing and get only one day off. Historically that means no chance.

30. Those of you interested in concussion research will enjoy this piece by Malcolm Gladwell in The New Yorker. It’s about football and dogfighting, but the information about head injuries certainly applies to hockey. Great, great read.

Do you have a question for Elliotte? Email it to: CBCHockeyOnline@cbc.ca

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