NHL's hypocrisy on display once again with Tavares fine
John Tavares took his slashing fine in stride after putting the lumber to Oilers defenceman Vincent Desharnais on Saturday Night. The Leafs captain said that he was better than that and needed to control his emotions. Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe disagreed, saying that players take liberties with stars and that Tavares did the right thing by standing up for himself. As for the Department of Player Safety, they somehow managed to embarrass themselves, even when making the "right" decision.
Lets be real, Tavares probably deserved the fine he got. That was a nasty hack on Desharnais. Justified maybe, but still nasty. Here's the problem, Desharnais himself threw a worse slash at Bruins superstar David Pastrnak this season and there wasn't so much as a peep from player safety. Watch both plays and tell me there's enough difference for one to be punishable and the other:
Yes, I understand that one slash was to the wrist/hand and another was to the back/shoulder blade. It's still two cases of a player using their stick as a weapon and using a lot of force to do so. In my mind, these are equally bad. Desharnais' chop may even be worse, as Pastrnak was simply going to get the puck. Tavares acted in self defence, Desharnais was clearly not. What's done is done, and I'm sure the fine won't hurt Tavares financially, it's just another case of the Department of Player Safety picking and choosing where and when they decide to dole out punishment without any sort of recognizable pattern or formula. Honestly, It's an embarrassment to the league.
| POLL | ||
MARS 13 | 166 ANSWERS NHL's hypocrisy on display once again with Tavares fine Should Desharnais have been fined as well? | ||
| Yes, definitely | 109 | 65.7 % |
| Neither should have | 25 | 15.1 % |
| No, Tavares was worse | 32 | 19.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
