Problems with the top

Note: I like to write my posts ahead of time so that I have posts available if I can’t get around writing anything new for some reason. This was actually written before Colin Campbell made his most recent mistake. What I wrote for this post was not out of frustration about recent events. I wrote with a clean mind that wasn’t muddied by emotion.

 

In the NHL, there are three people in high positions that I don’t like right now. This is a big part of the reason that I have lost a lot of respect for the league.

Let’s start with the obvious, Gary Bettman. Gary Bettman is the commissioner and the primary reason that we had to go through two recent lockouts. He has convinced the owners to blindly follow him during labor negotiations, and he resorts to unethical tactics to get the deals he wants. He is a big PR guy who would rather play the media than work with the players.

In addition to the legal side of Bettman, I have other issues with the man. He has shown his bias. When Sidney Crosby entered the league, he pushed a nonsensical draft system that improved the odds for the Rangers. More recently, he pushed for realignment that benefits the northeast.

Gary Bettman also pushed for the rule changes that are destroying the game.

Colin Campbell has essentially acted as Bettman’s lackey. He blindly agrees with everything and helps with the spin.

Mr. Campbell also used to head the supplementary discipline in the league. I’m unaware of anyone who felt that he did a good job. A lot of time, it seemed that he played favorites. Other times, it felt like he was using a dart board (think Captain Peter "Wrongway" Peachfuzz predicting the weather).

At one point, evidence had been provided that Colin Campbell had been leaning on officials to help out his son, Gregory. I believe the primary evidence was in the form of comments from a former official and leaked emails. If I remember right, Campbell has admitted that the emails were real. Interestingly, the season in which the evidence was provided was followed by Gregory Campbell having his name engraved on the Stanley Cup.

There’s one more person that I have serious problems with, but he isn’t as obvious. I’m talking about Mike Murphy. My frustration with him primarily come from two huge mistakes against the Canucks that I believe were consecutive years.

The first Murphy incident was a disallowed goal. When asked about the reason for disallowing the goal, he said that he thought that there was a kicking motion. He also emphasized that it was not a distinct kicking motion. The rule book emphasizes that it must be a distinct kicking motion to be disallowed. While many in the media started reporting a rule change in order to defend Mr. Murphy, the truth was revealed. If you visit the NHL’s website, you will still see the “Distinct Kicking Motion” still in the rules. His ruling directly contradicted the rule book.

The other incident was when he was given responsibility for supplementary discipline for the Stanley Cup Final. After Aaron Rome hit Nathan Horton late, Murphy gave him an unprecedented 4-game suspension. He defended the decision by insisting that he had no history and had to make up the rules as he went. He specifically mentioned two criteria that he looked at, the lateness of the hit and the severity of the injury. Two games later, Johnny Boychuk engaged Mason Raymond, who never touched the puck. He put Raymond into a vulnerable position. After the puck had been completely out of the area for a while, he pushed Raymond into the boards. Mason Raymond suffered a broken back. The unquestionably dirtier play was further from the puck and with a more severe injury, but Murphy did a complete 180 on the rules he had invented two games earlier.

As I have stated before, bias is unavoidable. There are situations, however, that should be addressed. Mike Murphy clearly has a history that works against the Canucks. Even if his huge mistakes were accidental, they would likely cloud his judgment. He is almost certain to have stronger bias than most people when dealing with the Canucks. For that reason, he should be excluded from any future decisions involving the Canucks.

The way I see it, the league needs to get rid of all three of these men if they want to restore any credibility. Unfortunately, the league doesn’t seem to care about credibility.