Pronger Gets Eight

There was very little question about the incident, even with the blurry evidence that was presented the first time, that Chris Pronger (Marcus) had actually stomped on Ryan Kesler (Aaron) in the game on Wednesday. The shock horror of the first time around was that they couldn't find conclusive evidence on video to warrant a suspension.

Thankfully, the league was presented with "clearer" video evidence which made it exceptionally clear of the stomping Pronger gave Kesler. So, the league measured Pronger's actions against the same stomping that Chris Simon (non-pool) gave Jarkko Ruutu (non-pool) earlier in the season, where Simon got 30 games and gave him 8. 8? Wait a second.

When the NHL announced the Simon suspension, they said it was because it was because of his career-long list of suspensions that is exceptionally long. Now, granted, Pronger hasn't served a suspension longer than four games before, but he has served seven previous suspensions before this one. Of course, Pronger being a previous NHL MVP, there seems to be some sort of bias, but that will be up for debate all next week.

If I was part of the NHLPA, I would go after the league for being so harsh on guys like Steve Downie (non-pool) and Simon, who have both served some exceptionally long suspensions this season. You cannot defend their actions, but you can defend the length of their suspensions. In both Downie and Simon's incidents, their 'victims' were both defenseless and unaware of what was coming to them. Wasn't Kesler in the same boat?

I would sure like to see Colin Campbell step down as head disciplinarian of the NHL, once the league and the media eat him alive for this debacle.