Deep dive reveals a clear bias against the Leafs, Bruins from Player Safety head George Parros
The NHL's Department of Player Safety was established in 2011 to help address concerns about player safety on the ice. Ironically, retired enforcer George Parros was named as head of the NHL's Department of Player Safety before the 2017-2018 season. An enforcer, someone who was paid to hurt people, as the head of Player Safety. Okay then.
Many are of the mindset that a former player has no business running the Department of Player Safety, let alone an enforcer. The obvious conflict of interest is one reason, but another is simply the fact that someone with dirty hands should never be the one "dispensing justice".
For Parros, after a long career of fights and questionable behaviour, after all of the rivalries, after all of the injuries, you can be sure that some biases were formed. For Parros, his career ended during the 2013-14 season while he was a member of the Montreal Canadiens. Now the head of Player Safety, is anyone actually surprised that the two teams who have earned the most suspensions since the end of his career are the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs - two of the Habs' biggest rivals?
Writer Jeff Veillette completed a deep dive into which NHL teams have been suspended the most in the Parros DOPS era. The results show that the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs are the two teams who have received the most suspensions with nine. Boston is second with 28 games lost due to suspension, Toronto is third on the list with 25. The Washington Capitals have the most at 43 games lost to suspension. 20 games of that total is the punishment Tom Wilson received for his infamous illegal hit to the head of St. Louis Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist.
Former Maple Leaf Nazem Kadri notoriously found himself in trouble with the NHL's DOPS while with Toronto in the playoffs. Kadri was suspended three games for boarding (April 2018 playoffs) and "the rest of the series" for a cross-check (April 2019).
In all honesty, George Parros has worn out his welcome as the head of Player Safety a long time ago. I'm not sure how anyone can look at his body of work and some of the players he has let just skate by with a slap on the wrist, while others far less deserving of a lengthy suspension had been issued one and say that he's done a satisfactory job. He has shown a clear bias and it's long past due to get someone else in that chair - someone who actually cares about the safety of the players.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 27 | 578 ANSWERS Deep dive reveals a clear bias against the Leafs, Bruins from Player Safety head George Parros Which team is the dirtiest in the NHL? | ||
| Florida Panthers | 361 | 62.5 % |
| Boston Bruins | 203 | 35.1 % |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 14 | 2.4 % |
| Other | 0 | 0 % |
| List of polls | ||
