No wonder Colie is confused

[puckhead]

Colin Campbell takes most of the slings and arrows when it comes to suspensions (and non-suspensions) in the NHL.

But when it comes to hits to the head, he's really the wrong target.

Campbell, after all, didn't write the league's new blindside head shot rule and can't be blamed if, as the league's general managers intended, it eliminates very few hits to the head.

Rule 48 is available for viewing with the rest of the NHL rulebook on the league's website, but what's not highlighted and underlined is just how infrequently it comes into play. Only five players were suspended for a blindside hit this season. Two others were fined.

And the in-game penalty, which can only be a major and a game misconduct, was very rarely ever called.

In that context, looking back on the Raffi Torres incident of a couple days ago, it shouldn't come as a surprise that he wasn't penalized for a blindside hit.

Few players are.

Campbell was on the Fan 590 last night attempting to explain how the rule works, and the first question he was asked was, does he feel that Torres hit should be against the rules, even though it currently isn't?

"Do you want my honest answer?" Campbell asked. "I don't know anymore."

Which seems like a problem.

Campbell went on to say that "Rule 48 has really gone sideways out there. Everybody thinks we disallow shoulder hits to the head. We don't. Rule 48 almost prescribed where they're not allowed on the ice in certain situations. We pointed out where it's still acceptable to have contact, your shoulder with a player's head, and this is one area."

And there are lots and lots of other areas, too, which is why all of those vilifying Torres a few days ago were off the mark. Those in charge of the game, who set the rules, want the hit that knocked Brent Seabrook out of Game 4 (and perhaps the series) in the game.

The fans, meanwhile, seem split on all this, with some wanting to keep that contact and others calling for every hit to the head to be banned.

The NHL has tried to appease both groups, but they're really just waffling with this fuzzy, rarely used rule, which is why confusion reigns – even for Colin Campbell.

It's no wonder many fans, media and players aren't sure what to make of calls, on the ice and in Campbell's office.

Campbell said yesterday he believes the time is coming when hits like Torres's on Seabrook will be illegal, which would presumably mean a more clearly defined rule.

Until then, we'll still need explanations like this to make sense of what the NHL and its messenger are trying to tell us about hits to the head.

Even if it may actually be a whole lot simpler than we make it out to be.

"We're trying to make the game safer," Campbell said, addressing yesterday's two suspensions. "And what was accepted as a penalty before ... now should it be a suspension? It's been a long time since I was on the ice playing. You've got to give these guys a little bit of room if they haven't done something before. These things happen fast on the ice.

"We sell violence. You go in any arena, you don't just get goals on the big screen, you get goals, hits, fights and saves. Right now, hit 'em. Hit 'em hard, hit 'em often, wear 'em down."

Do you understand the NHL's head shot rule? - The Globe and Mail

 

[SLY]

Tis a joke... That hit was completely legal across the board and should not be removed from hockey. They're shitting all over my favorite sport with their disney-esque ideal hockey league. Fuck off fruitcakes.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

he is such an idiot ... seriously a stupid man ... did he get his grade 12? it seems it always takes him multiple interviews to explain his decisions or rationale

and the league has him speak publically on disciplinary issues ???

he caused great confusion trying to explain why Torres didnt get suspended. He threw out the term "hitting zone" (that the media has completely jumped on) in describing the hits that are acceptable behind the net

all he had to say was the league doesnt consider that type of hit behind the net to be a lateral blindside hit ... rather they consider it a north-south hit

 

[puckhead]

Tis a joke... That hit was completely legal across the board and should not be removed from hockey. They're shitting all over my favorite sport with their disney-esque ideal hockey league. Fuck off fruitcakes.

yeah i agree with that, but for the guy who's in charge of it to basically say he has no fucking idea what's going on is a bit of a head-scratcher.

love the line at the end that "We sell violence". next guy that gets called on the carpet should save that soundbite.

 

[mattola]

you guys (and girls) have GOT to listen to the interview on TSN.ca/nhl with colie and some toronto media. HOLY crap its good. Campbell is incredibly condescending in that interview.

 

[puckhead]

you guys (and girls) have GOT to listen to the interview on TSN.ca/nhl with colie and some toronto media. HOLY crap its good. Campbell is incredibly condescending in that interview.

lol. thanks for the heads up. entertaining listen.
he came into the interview with his feathers ruffled already, that's for sure.

"do i suspend Torres because I don't like him?"
I beg your pardon? you just admit that you don't like a player?
- kind of nice that the Dj's made him spend 10 minutes defending Torres though

 

[mattola]

you guys (and girls) have GOT to listen to the interview on TSN.ca/nhl with colie and some toronto media. HOLY crap its good. Campbell is incredibly condescending in that interview.

TSN Video Player

 

[Eddie_Shack]

It's common sense.

A questionable hit or play occurs.

You look at it. Was it dangerous? Careless? Downright malicious?

Decide how dangerous, careless, or malicious, and sit that player down for an amount of time matching the extremity of the incident. If that player has a history of suspensions, then be more harsh.

IT'S THAT GODDAMN SIMPLE!!

 

[dash]

I listened to that interview last night...Holy unprofessionalism, Batman. Colie throwing out the "Do you even watch hockey?" zinger. Classy.

Colie reminds me of that drunk relative that you have over on Xmas day that keeps rambling on and on and by the end of it, you've forgotten and they have forgotten what the original topic was.

 

[mattola]

anybody get the sense that the media is starting to get a god complex? and that is why Colie was soo aggressive against them in this? Ive never worked in media but isnt their job to report the news and not try to swing the way the actual story is to be resolved? at least in sports media it seems they try to dictate what needs to happen now instead of reporting it dissecting it and waiting for a judgement.

 

[dash]

anybody get the sense that the media is starting to get a god complex? and that is why Colie was soo aggressive against them in this? Ive never worked in media but isnt their job to report the news and not try to swing the way the actual story is to be resolved? at least in sports media it seems they try to dictate what needs to happen now instead of reporting it dissecting it and waiting for a judgement.

No doubt that some members of the media have that attitude, matt (Skip Bayless comes immediately to mind). Colie is just not very good at interviews and getting his message across, though, and I'm sure is frustrated with all the supplementary decisions that he's had to address.

/obligatory youtube

 

[mattola]

No doubt that some members of the media have that attitude, matt (Skip Bayless comes immediately to mind). Colie is just not very good at interviews and getting his message across, though, and I'm sure is frustrated with all the supplementary decisions that he's had to address.

/obligatory youtube

great video. Ive never seen that.

Damien Cox is another.
Matt Sekeres is close to being another.

I wouldnt even put the stench of death Tony Gallagher in that list.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

anybody get the sense that the media is starting to get a god complex? and that is why Colie was soo aggressive against them in this? Ive never worked in media but isnt their job to report the news and not try to swing the way the actual story is to be resolved? at least in sports media it seems they try to dictate what needs to happen now instead of reporting it dissecting it and waiting for a judgement.

I think it has more to do with Colie not having much respect amongst media so he isn't "protected"

Like dash said he isn't a good public speaker or interview. A lot of people wonder how this guy got and keeps his job

If the nhl isn't going to a discipline committe the least they could do is get someone intelligent in there that can articulate the message they want articulated

Ie rob blake or b shanahan

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

anybody get the sense that the media is starting to get a god complex? and that is why Colie was soo aggressive against them in this? Ive never worked in media but isnt their job to report the news and not try to swing the way the actual story is to be resolved? at least in sports media it seems they try to dictate what needs to happen now instead of reporting it dissecting it and waiting for a judgement.

I disagree about their job being purely to report.

If you think about that interview (and others like it), the media people are asking the same questions that we would all like to ask. The difference being that, as members of the media, they get access to guys like Campbell and Bettman (or politicians if you want to apply it that way too) that your average man-on-the-street doesn't get.

It's one thing to ask obviously slanted questions, to be downright belligerent or use various sneaky techniques to get a bad soundbite out of your interviewee (you know, "If given the choice between freeing a registered sex offender or massacring every first born male...?" gets spun in the media then as "so-and-so favors freeing sex offenders").

 

[Darkstone42]

I think the distinction needs to be made between fact and opinion, and the media of late is struggling with making those distinctions. Hard news and opinion are separate branches of news writing and should be kept separate, but it's now very difficult to find hard news without speculation and opinion, which is making it difficult to isolate the facts.

Nothing with any speculation or bias in information selection should make it into a hard news section. There are folks who are supposed to just report, to write an AP standard article and leave it at that. Inform the public about what's going on, nothing more. Then the public can form their own opinions or start reading the opinion section concerning the issue, where they can get analysis of the presented facts, see different biases, etc.

In sports writing, it should be the same. There is plenty of room for the type of journalism going on today if it is designated that not everything in the report is hard fact. But there needs to be that hard news style of reporting to accompany it.

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

Without venturing too off-topic, I think that some speculation and information selection bias is important even for a hard news story.

Speculation is important when the facts are not fully known, especially when reporting on developing stories. I will caveat that by saying that the media has a responsibility (which, IMO they are terrible at) of later acknowledging when their initial speculations were incorrect.

Selection bias is important and happens all the time, whether we see it or not. Reporters have to select who they want to quote in a story, what polls they want to cite, etc. This is usually done in a calculated method based on the perceived reliability of the source, but that perception of reliability is a form of bias in itself. They also have to determine if they think that a particular story is newsworthy in some cases, which I also see as a form of bias, though this can be overt (Fox News refusing to cover a story that shows a conservative in a bad light) or otherwise (believing that the story isn't a big deal, only to later realize that it was).

Where I do agree is the way that a "reporter" will try to spin the results of a poll or interview to put forth their own political viewpoint.

 

[Ho_Brah]

"You think I want to do the popular thing here? I don't get paid to do the popular thing. I don't get paid to do the easy thing to do," he said.

Right, but since you are paid to do this unpopular thing, why are you complaining about it? It's in your job description. Being unpopular, for you, is a tax deduction.

Campbell strongly disagreed that either of the hits Sidney Crosby suffered leading up to his absence with a concussion was worthy of a suspension. "You guys are crazy when you say that," Campbell said. "What do you want to do to the game? You're nuts. There are some hits out there that we don't like, but ... Come on, you guys. You can't say that was dirty, you guys. ... You can't say that hit was dirty or you guys don't watch hockey." Crosby absorbed a blindside hit to the head from then-Washington Capitals forward David Steckel during the Winter Classic outdoor game on Jan. 1. He was then checked into the boards by Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman on Jan. 5 and has not played a game since.

That the Penguins allowed Crosby to continue playing while concussed is bafflingly stupid and, I think, negligent. Everyone knows it's the second concussion on top of the first (not yet healed) one that does the damage. I didn't know anyone pinned that on Campbell though.

There have been a number of questionable hits in this postseason already. "I've got a responsibility to try and protect players from other players in the game of hockey but yet keep the physicality in the game," Campbell said. "To keep jobs like your jobs, everyone's jobs. The game supplies a lot of jobs."

Interesting. Translation: "I've got a responsibility to try to protect the players if that's possible while not hurting profits." What's the point of saying, "to keep jobs like your jobs" (aside: kind of a threat, really), "the game supplies a lot of jobs" unless to really actually protect the players would COST US JOBS?

Jobs = money.

I'm surprised he came right out and said it.

Note that he did not say, "if you make hits to the head illegal, it will make players less willing to hit at all, which will make the game less fun to play and less fun to watch." What he said was, "jobs."

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

anybody get the sense that the media is starting to get a god complex? and that is why Colie was soo aggressive against them in this? Ive never worked in media but isnt their job to report the news and not try to swing the way the actual story is to be resolved? at least in sports media it seems they try to dictate what needs to happen now instead of reporting it dissecting it and waiting for a judgement.

I prefer reporting that gets the answers. Tells it like it is. I don't want to be told any B.S. Give me the truth.

Living in the U.S. this rarely happens.