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Friday, October 6, 2000
NHL players unhappy with judge's ruling
Associated Press
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BEDFORD, Mass. -- Some players on the Boston Bruins wonder
who might be prosecuted next.
"It's a little discouraging that a court of law has stepped in.
It opens up a can of worms," said defenseman Don Sweeney,
speculating a major league pitcher might now be vulnerable for
throwing at a batter.
Sweeney spoke Friday after learning Marty McSorley was found
guilty of assault with a weapon but will not go to jail. The NHL
enforcer smashed an opponent's head with his stick.
McSorley has said he did not mean to hit Vancouver Canucks
forward Donald Brashear in the head during the game Feb. 21 between
Boston and Vancouver. He said he wanted only to provoke him into a
fight.
But the blow sent Brashear to the ice with such force that his
helmet came off. He was temporarily unconscious and sustained a
concussion.
A Canadian judge on Friday determined McSorley aimed for
Brashear's head and sentenced him to 18 months of probation. The
NHL had suspended McSorley for 23 games.
"It's something that's happened in the heat of the action and
it should be dealt with on the ice, not in a courtroom," Bruins
left wing Joe Hulbig said Friday as he prepared to fly with his
teammates to Philadelphia for Saturday's game.
The trial was the first for an on-ice attack by an NHL player
since Dino Ciccarelli, then with the Minnesota North Stars, was
sentenced in 1988. He received one day in jail and a $1,000 fine
for hitting Toronto's Luke Richardson with his stick.
Bruins defenseman Kyle McLaren called the verdict "shocking."
"It happens in games. It happens all the time. There's other
stuff that's probably worse than that," he said, citing players
who jab their sticks to the back of other players' necks when
referees aren't watching.
"The NHL did a good job of policing itself," McLaren said.
"Now it's going off-ice. It's sort of crossing some bounds here."
Sweeney agreed.
"The National Hockey League came down extremely hard on Marty
McSorley and justifiably so," he said. "But maybe that's where it
should have been left."
"I think it's a shame that he was found guilty and I still
can't believe he was found guilty," Toronto Maple Leafs tough guy Tie Domi told CBC Newsworld. "It's absolutely disgusting to me."
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman never wanted the matter in court.
He said Friday the hit by McSorley was "not representative of NHL
hockey or NHL players" and the ruling "does not alter our
position that we will continue to punish severely acts of
inappropriate conduct in our game."
Bob Goodenow, the executive director of the NHL Players'
Association, said the judge sent a message when he said that
"having to live with the stigma of the trial was punishment
enough" for McSorley.
"I'm certain that, notwithstanding Marty's rights to consider
an appeal, both individuals want to put the matter behind them and
move forward," he said.
Former NHL goaltender Chico Resch thinks no player in the NHL
will be happy with the verdict.
"The reverberations are going to be that you're going to see a
lot of tentativeness among players when it comes to physical
play," he told The Fan 590, an all-sports radio station in
Toronto.
However, Maple Leafs forward Shayne Corson said the ruling is
"not going to change the way I play at all."
McSorley was a defenseman last season with the Bruins. He was
suspended by the NHL for the rest of the season after the hit and
is an unrestricted free agent.
McSorley has played for six NHL teams through his 17 seasons.
Before he can play again, he must be reinstated by Bettman.
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ALSO SEE
Johnson: Guilty verdict misleading in McSorley trial
Judge rules McSorley is guilty of assault
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