In last night's game against the Vancouver Canucks, Chris Pronger, an all star defenseman for the Anaheim Ducks, intentionally stomped on Ryan Kesler's leg. Today, in typical NHL fashion, it was announced that he will not face disciplinary action. Of course, Chris Pronger is no stranger to suspensions after receiving two seperate suspensions, one game each, during last year's run to the Stanley Cup. He is, however, a stranger to real suspensions that send a message to the player and the league. Instead, he's always received PR-style reprimands that are only designed to appease an irate audience. This time, however, it's actually quite shocking that not only will he not receive a lengthy suspension, but he won't receive any kind of disciplinary action at all. Frankly, it's absolutely ridiculous and I wonder how this situation might be different had Kesler been injured. Just a few months back Chris Simon was suspended for 30 games when he stomped on Jarko Ruutu's leg in a game between the New York Islanders and the Pittsburgh Penguins. In fact, the incidents appeared to be very similar, if not identical, in nature so how can the NHL excuse one and not the other? While I agree that Pronger's was not as violent, I can't help but feel like you have to punish the act regardless. I think 5-10 games would have sufficed. I've included links to the videos below for your review.
Chris Pronger - No Suspension
Chris Simon - 30 games
To take this analysis a little further I present exhibit B:
Chris Pronger - Suspended one game
Steve Downie - Suspended 20 games
While these hits are not as similar to one another as "the stomps" the drastic difference in the length of the suspension seems a bit absurd. It's also important to note that Dean McAmmond either has the worst luck ever or did something very bad in a previous existence.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
The Pronger Stomp
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2 comments:
It's only a matter of time before someone takes a vicious shot at Pronger (e.g., crosscheck to the face, hit from behind, etc.). And, frankly, it would be hard to say he doesn't have it coming (McAmmond elbow, Holmstrom elbow, Kessler stomp, etc.). The guy is a goon, plain and simple, but because he's more skilled than Claude Lemieux, he gets away with more.
Without question. I also find it amusing that the Ducks were complaining about how the Blackhawks played against Pronger just last week claiming that they were taking cheap shots at him.
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