Jones Gets 2 Games; Colin Campbell is a Joke

BOULDER, Colorado -- My prediction that the NHL would come down hard on Randy Jones and the Philadelphia Flyers organization for the hit on Bruin Patrice Bergeron was incorrect. Jones was suspended two games, and the league did not level any sanctions against the team or the coaching staff.

NHL Dean of Discipline Colin Campbell had this to say about the hit and the light suspension: "He did deliver a hard check to a player who was in a vulnerable position," Campbell said, according to the AP. "There have been suggestions by some that this hit was comparable to incidents earlier this season where players received significant-game suspensions for blows to the head. These comparisons and suggestions are wrong."

If anything is certain about Jones' hit it is that he drove his forearm into Bergeron's head. Intention is immaterial on this matter; remorse on the part of Jones is irrelevant. If the league wants to crack down on headshots - and the organizations that encourage them - they need to send a clearer message than two games, which will have absolutely no impact on the Flyers' culture of goonery.

This suspension is a joke. Colin Campbell is a joke. Any stance the league took about cracking down on dangerous play at the beginning of the season - throw it out the window. The spineless weasels in the league office should be ashamed.

Junior hockey has taken a strong stand against hits to the head and from behind. Any hit that results in a blow to the head, intentional or not, is at minimum a penalty, and the major junior leagues have been issuing suspensions liberally. Every player in major junior, and in many other leagues, has a STOP sign stitched to the back of their jersey to remind the opposing player to think twice about making a dangerous and illegal hit from behind.

Has the level of disrespect and sheer stupidity in the NHL reached such a level that they have to resort to this? Do players have to be constantly reminded not to try and kill one another each and every game? It seems that they probably do, but the league is doing nothing to get that message through the thick skulls of the Broad Street Morons.

Should Campbell ever show his face in Boston, I suggest the Bruins faithful give him a greeting similar to the one given another Campbell - Clarence - at the Monteal Forum in 1955.



ESPN.com commentator Scott Burnside shares some of these sentiments in his Monday column. He had this to say about the Flyers' disregard for their opponents:

"The Flyers have essentially robbed their opponents of a chance to compete through their flagrant disregard for the rules. McAmmond has yet to play for the Senators. As for Bergeron, the most talented of the three victims, it is not overstating the case to suggest he is crucial to the Bruins' return to the playoffs. Now, Bergeron's return to action is in question and one wonders what effect it might have on the Bruins' strong start."

Edit: I shouldn't have called the executives at the league office "spineless weasels." Instead, I should have used better judgment and employed a Mike Milbury turn of phrase, "gutless pukes."

If ever there was a case to be made to repeal the instigator rule, it's the 2007-08 Flyers.