Smug in his glass house, Lemieux biffs rocks at NHL

The Chronicle Herald wrote:In his playing heyday, especially during that period when he was regarded as the best hockey player on the planet, Mario Lemieux’s attacks on hockey violence carried considerable weight.

And why not?

As a player, he dominated the game the way a superstar should. He was aggressive but within the rules. And he was a big enough star that he could afford to speak out about how the game needed to be cleaned up.

So I guess it shouldn’t have been a surprise on the weekend when the retired superstar, who now owns the Pittsburgh Penguins, tore a strip off the league for handing out punishment that he felt was too weak following a wild Friday night series of fights between his Penguins and the New York Islanders.

The fights, and there were several with all players on the ice paired off, were reminiscent of the no-holds-barred NHL of the 1970s, when anything went and fans were hungry, or at least the NHL thought they were, for gang wars.

The league suspended the Islanders’ Trevor Gillies for nine games and Matt Martin for four and fined New York $100,000. The Islanders were clearly the early aggressors. It was suspected they were seeking payback for unresolved issues between the two teams from a previous game.

Here’s Lemieux’s statement from the weekend:

"Hockey is a tough, physical game and it always should be. But what happened Friday night on Long Island wasn’t hockey. It was a travesty. It was painful to watch the game I love turn into a sideshow like that. The NHL had a chance to send a clear and strong message that those kinds of actions are unacceptable and embarrassing to the sport. It failed.

"We, as a league, must do a better job of protecting the integrity of the game and the safety of our players. We must make it clear that those kinds of actions will not be tolerated and will be met with meaningful disciplinary action. If the events relating to Friday night reflect the state of the league, I need to rethink whether I want to be a part of it."

Whoa!

Mario is threatening to take his stick and go home.

I agree with what he’s saying about the league’s failure to sufficiently punish violent offenders. And in this game, the Islanders’ goon tactics showed they were looking for trouble. The NHL has to evolve past that.

But Lemieux is a hypocrite when he whines like he has no recourse. He can now do something about the violence and how the league handles it. He’s an owner. He has the power to help change antiquated policies and create more enlightened ones.

He could start by cleaning up his own house. NHL stats show his Penguins lead the entire NHL, yes the entire league, in fighting majors. And though the Penguins were the victims of early Islanders’ goon tactics Friday night, they weren’t exactly a group of boy scouts over the remainder of the game. Only six Penguin skaters were left to play in the final seconds of the game.

So Lemieux is right but also wrong on this issue.

He’s right that the NHL needs to clamp down on the escalating violence and fighting before the game once again goes too far down the slippery slope toward goon hockey.

But he’s wrong in taking such a self-righteous stand as the owner of the Penguins when, in many ways, his own team is one of the best examples of the kind of ills the NHL needs to get rid of.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Sports/1228064.html