Seriously. I throw this claim at pretty much every talking head lately, but it stems from a much earlier incident.
In the beginning of this season, the NHL suspended Nashville Predators forward Scott Nichol for nine games for a sucker punch on Buffalo defenseman Jaroslav Spacek the previous night. I didn't see it right away, but then I caught the replay, and Scotty straight up cold-cocked the boy. Whomped him good.
Me personally, I'm happy with a nine game suspension. It was swift and significant action, and Nichol sat out a full three weeks away from the rink. Yes, it was a cheap shot, but it wasn't Todd Bertuzzi chasing Moore down from behind so he could donkey punch him. All is well.
Then all day on the day the suspension was announced, there are talking heads everywhere going on and on about how "oh, when black NBA players get into a scuffle, it's a bunch of thugs in a riot, but when a white hockey player punches another, it's just part of the game." Which turned into these long, rambling diatribes about how the pooh-poohing of any sort of violence in the NBA and the condoning of it by the NHL is an overarching race issue.
This is, by any standard, a big, steaming pile of crap. First of all, it is a well established fact that hockey is a predominantly white sport, and basketball (along with football, for that matter) is a majority black sport. That's just the way it is right now. Secondly, in basketball you have a sport that is played in an open court, with physicality in the form of hand-checking, bumping shoulders, and the occasional charge or hard foul. Hockey is a sport played by guys who are just as fast, but doing so while skating around on a slick surface within a confined area. I don't doubt that the NBA would be far more violent if the players had the option of checking their opponent into the boards (it's certainly true in arena football). So hockey can't help but have a significantly higher level of violence; slick surface+skates+big players = lots and lots of momentum within very finite spaces.
Article comments
1 - Alessandro Nicolo
Geeves, you're right; it's not a race issue. Two different sports. But Nichol didn't get enough. It could have turned into a Bertuzzi thing. The NHL is terrible when it comes to sending strong messages.
2 - geeves
I disagree. Sure, he sucker punched him, but what he did and what Bertuzzi did are on COMPLETELY different levels. Nichol was in a scrum and snuck in a very wicked cheap shot. Not classy, but not something that hasn't happened five bajillion times before. Bertuzzi skated Moore down from behind and bashed his head off the ice.
I could maybe see an argument for 12 or maaaaaybe 15 games, but no more than that, at most. There's a difference between justifiable and fair punishment and just hitting everyone with the biggest book you can find.
3 - alessandro nicolo
12-15 sounded more appropriate.