SHARKSPAGE

Saturday’s NHLPA appeal of Thornton suspension rejected

HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA PANEL DISCUSSES THORNTON SUSPENSION - CBC

The NHLPA appeal hearing for Joe Thornton’s suspension was held Saturday morning via a conference call with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, NHL Sr. VP Colin Campbell, San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan and GM Doug Wilson, NHLPA lawyer Matt Nussbaum, and Thornton’s agent and brother John Thornton among others. The NHL rejected the appeal and upheld the suspension which kept Thornton out of Saturday night’s 5-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lighting, and will keep him from suiting up for a Pacific Division contest Tuesday night against Anaheim.

According to a hotstove panel discussion yesterday on Hockey Night in Canada, the Sharks made the case that the Thornton hit on Perron was similar in circumstances to a 2009 Willie Mitchell hit on Jonathan Toews that the league included on a video sent to each team at the beginning of the season. The DVD was meant to clearly delineate what was an acceptable hit. In that specific instance, Mitchell also left the penalty box to deliver a shoulder-on-shoulder hit.

While the Sharks believed that Thornton did not target the head of Perron, the NHL did not agree. Despite several different camera angles, there is not a good enough view for definitive proof of a head shot. Several seem to show that the 6-foot-4 Thornton appeared to initiate the check in the chest area of the 6-foot-0 Perron, not the head. As with the Mitchell hit on Toews, momentum carried the blow upwards. That lateral element also was not clearly defined. Thornton was looking directly at the crest of Perron’s jersey prior to the hit. In football parlance, he was “aiming for the numbers”.

The conversation in the hockey world quickly moved from Joe Thornton’s individual play on David Perron, to a more comprehensive look at how the Rule 48 “Illegal Check to the Head” policy has been implemented to date, and how it will be implemented in the future. “We are now in the precedent setting mode,” Mike Milbury said on HNIC Saturday. “Every one of these hits is going to make a difference in how these are judged going forward. (The Thornton hit) they dropped the ball on.”

Spelled out in Rule 48 specifically are lateral and blind side hits to an opponent, hits where the head is targeted and/or the principal point of contact. On paper, that is what players, teams and the NHLPA have to work with, but there are other elements that should be in play. Intent has to be a factor, possession of the puck has to be a factor, whether the opponent being checked is making an unsafe play, size disparity, the reputation of the player initiating the hit also needs to be evaluated. “Universally… there is confusion about Rule 48, and supplementary discipline,” Pierre LeBrun said on HNIC.

Evaluating the elements of the split second play Thornton’s hit on Perron fails on a number of levels. One there is not a definitive element of a head shot any more than recent hits by Dan Carcillo, a non-call, or Nick Foligno and Tom Gilbert, both $2500 Rule 48 fines, or the league approved video of Mitchell. How are players to differentiate between the fine-worthy, suspension-worthy and non-called infractions? Right now you can’t.

Possession? Perron kicked the puck off his skate moments before the check. Intent? Thornton took an aggressive boarding call on an earlier shift, but none of the parties involved claimed an intent to injure. Unsafe play? Perron skated for several seconds with his head turned behind him. In boxing competitors are told to protect themselves at all times. Size disparity? The larger Thornton said he lowered his shoulder and froze, allowing Perron to run into him. Video backs him up. Reputation? Thornton’s reputation completely accurate or not has been one of a finesse player, not a head hunter a la Carcillo or Matt Cooke.

“Two points, the (GM’s) know they don’t have it right, that is helpful,” Milbury said with regards to Rule 48 being on the agenda for the General Managers meeting in Toronto on Tuesday. “It has repercussions, this lack of clarity, around the league.”

In an ironic twist it was Sharks GM Doug Wilson and Red Wings GM Ken Holland who were two of the leaders pushing for a more definitive rule to protect against dangerous hits to the head. Wilson was reportedly angered after learning of the suspension. The Sharks players were almost as a whole dumbfounded.

[Update] Predatory hits take centre stage – John MacKinnon for the Edmonton Journal.

[Update2] Weekend wrap: More Joe Thornton fallout; Zach Parise gears up for talks – Pierre LeBrun for ESPN.com.