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Wednesday, December 2, 1998
Respect thrown out the window
Sounds like pretty simple rules to live by, but neither is being followed in the NHL these days.
Los Angeles' Matt Johnson gets 12 games for sucker-punching New York's Jeff Beukeboom. Buffalo's Rob Ray will sit out four games for slew-footing Florida's Alex Hicks. Edmonton's Sean Brown high sticks Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson in the face.
In his first 62 days in office, NHL VP Colin Campbell has been a busy man. Fines are up and suspensions are on the rise as the league attempts to crack down on the amount of dirty work.
"It's a lack of respect and somebody is going to get seriously hurt," warned Nashville tough guy Denny Lambert yesterday. "We're supposed to be working together to promote this league, we shouldn't be out there hurting each other.
"What's happening out there is crazy. We've definitely got to respect each other. We can't be trying to kill each other. Sometimes you go a little cuckoo, like I did (earlier this season), but we've got to start being more careful."
Lambert, selected from the Senators in last June's expansion draft, speaks from experience. He has already faced the NHL's chief justice once this year and was handed a four-game suspension for a vicious slash on Detroit's Kirk Maltby.
And while Lambert admits to making a "dumb decision," he says he was provoked by Maltby who hit two Nashville players -- winger Patrick Kjellberg and Lambert -- from behind on the same shift.
"I slashed him once and I really didn't think I got my message across. I was sitting in the penalty box for two minutes and all I was doing the whole time I was sitting there was getting more and more upset," said Lambert.
"I started thinking: This guy could have ended my career or another guy's and what's he going to do while I'm lying on the ice? He's going to lean over and say 'I'm sorry.' Big deal. What good would that do me?"
The NHL has decided to crack down this season by handing out more suspensions. Lambert claims to have learned his lesson by losing four game cheques.
But Lambert maintains the league would be a lot better off if it got rid of the two-minute penalty for instigating.
Fighters can only battle fighters. Little guys, carrying big sticks, are allowed to run around out of control.
"In the old days," said Nashville coach Barry Trotz, "if you hit Bobby Clarke with the Philadelphia Flyers, then the whole team was going to come after you, because that was the style that they played. It's not that way anymore."
That has made life difficult for the tough guy to survive. Fighting is down -- which is exactly what the league wants -- but wouldn't a good tussle be better than a player getting a stick in the face for 15 stitches?
Given a choice, Lambert would rather see fighting make a comeback. Though, he'd like it noted, he has to do more than fight to stay in the league.
"I don't like to see the stuff that is going on right now," said Lambert. "Fighting is down but the dirty work is up.
"That's the new law in the NHL. The small guys can go out there and do whatever they want without having to pay any price for it. Because if something happens, their tough guy is going to have to settle the score.
"I admit what I did was stupid. But when you have a guy running around like Maltby was you have to deal with it in some way. I just lost my head. Next time, I'll think more. But there has to be more respect."
Respect is a pretty simple word, but, in today's NHL, it's been forgotten and sooner or later, somebody is going to pay a big price with a major injury.
