Game o' the Day

Hasek Suspension Jive
By Michael Dell, editor-in-chief

On Thursday, the NHL suspended Dominik Hasek for three games and fined him $10,000 as a result of the Sabre netminder physically attacking Buffalo News reporter Jim Kelley on April 25.
The incident occurred following Buffalo's Game Five loss to the Ottawa Senators in the first round. Hasek, who was out of the lineup with a knee injury, confronted Kelley in a hallway at Marine Midland Arena after the contest. The two-time Vezina Trophy winner screamed obscenities at Kelley and spit at his feet before grabbing the reporter and shaking him. Witnesses broke up the scuffle before anyone was hurt, although Kelley did suffer the horror of a ripped shirt.
A few days prior to the event, Kelley wrote an article that questioned the validity of Hasek's knee injury, which was sustained in Game Three of the series. Kelley hinted that Hasek knowingly bailed on his teammates, partly because of the pressure of the moment and partly because of an ongoing feud with head coach Ted Nolan. The story immediately spawned an enormous uproar, subjecting Hasek to quite a bit of embarrassment and emotional anguish. So much so, that Hasek and his teammates actually held a newsconference in their dressing room on the off-day before Game Five in an attempt to alleviate the controversy.
After studying this case thoroughly, LCS has reached an opinion about Hasek's suspension. Our thoughts on the NHL's ruling can best be summed up in three words:
Man, that's jive...
This is just another example of Brian Burke and the NHL being silly. Three games is just ridiculous. What did he do? Oh no, he ripped the guy's shirt. Keep in mind Kelley's just a reporter, so it was probably a $10 Sears special anyway.
Okay, granted the league can't condone its players running around beating up reporters. But it is painfully clear that Kelley instigated the situation. He publicly doubted Hasek's dedication to his teammates, fans, and profession, thereby bringing his very character as a man into question. Kelley called the tune, let him pay the ol' piper. He's just lucky he didn't pull the same stunt with Rob Ray, otherwise he'd still be spitting up teeth.
Here at LCS, we often make jokes about players. But we only tease in fun. With that said, if a player reads something in LCS that he doesn't like, he can feel free to swing away without fearing us running to the NHL searching for a suspension. Of course, there's one thing wrong with that example. Who the hell reads LCS? I mean really, if Dominik Hasek were to beat me up I wouldn't care. Because it's Dominik Hasek! How cool would that be?
LCS just wonders who suspends Kelley? This guy is the president of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association. Shouldn't he be held up to a little higher standard than everyone else?
The right of free speech needs to be protected. If reporters fear for their safety they can't properly do their job. At the same time, they still need to be held accountable for what they write. Hasek did wrong, but the punishment doesn't fit the crime. He had already apologized to Kelley before the league issued its judgement. That should have been it. If the league still wanted to step in, a one-game suspension and a new shirt would have been about right.
If Kelley's a smart man, he would have done everything in his power to convince the NHL to make the suspension as small as possible. Because it's not going to be much fun living in Buffalo and being the guy responsible for having Hasek miss the first three games of the Sabres' series with Philadelphia. About the only people who are going to be happy to see him are the Legion of Doom.