NHL Double Standard Clearly on Display Following Fine to Leafs' Oliver Ekman-Larsson
A clip from last season has emerged, showing and unpenalized and unfined David Pastrnak landing a similar hit on John Tavares last season to the one that Oliver Ekman-Larsson was just fined for.
On the heels of the decision by the National Hockey League to come down harder on Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson than most expected, the argument has resurfaced of whether or not Player Safety deals with the Maple Leafs by a different set of rules when it comes to supplemental discipline than it does with any other team.
After the thirty-three-year-old landed a hard reverse hit on Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jake Guentzel, the league announced today they have fined the newly signed defenceman $5000 for his efforts, but to many, it didn't make sense.
When trying to compare the same sort of hit and the situation, one must take into consideration what happened when Boston Bruins star David Pastrnak laid the same sort of hit on John Tavares last year. The hit you'll see provided in the clip below did not result in a penalty or a fine. Is this a case of the league not knowing its own rules, or does it go deeper? There could be an argument made that George Parros doesn't like the Toronto Maple Leafs, but without real proof it's all just rhetoric. Nevertheless, this clip is pretty damning evidence, when you compare it to the OEL hit.
The major problem lies within the inconsistency when the Department of Player Safety hands out these fines and suspensions. When they are forced to make a decision on a call, more often than not, they blow it. But why is that? You can make the argument that no two plays are alike, so the league has nothing to go on, but then how are they assessing the situation to determine the type of punishment that needs to be given? Obviously, there has been a history of inconsistency across the board, but it appears that when it comes to policing the Toronto Maple Leafs, it feels like the punishment is consistently worse than it is for just about every other team in the NHL.
It sounds harsh, but either the man who has a Princeton education in George Parros has massive hate for the blue and white, or he's ill-equipped to do his job, which is hindering his ability to make sound decisions. What other excuses are there?? While that may not be a fair assessment, the idea that the league will do anything to make sure the Toronto Maple Leafs aren't successful, at least on the ice, makes perfect sense and is valid, because the market generates revenue win or lose, whereas other markets really only see their earning potential boom when they win. But either way, it's not a very good look for the league.
| POLL | ||
3 HOURS AGO | 122 ANSWERS NHL Double Standard Clearly on Display Following Fine to Leafs' Oliver Ekman-Larsson Should Gary Bettman fire George Parros and hire someone else to run the Department of Player Safety? | ||
