Eddie and Doug are taking this weekend off for Easter but wanted to debate the punishment handed down to Anaheim defenseman Chris Pronger. The former MVP and Norris Trophy winner was suspended for eight games this week after he used his skate to step on the leg of Vancouver’s Ryan Kesler. Enjoy this bonus audio. Eddie and Doug will return with a full episode of the Puck Podcast on March 29th.
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As far as Pronger you cannot honestly be serious that 8 or even a 10 game suspension is enough. This incident is as serious as you can get. We are in a season where one player slit his wrists by accident as his skates fell from a peg and another got his neck sliced.
The most dangerous thing a person can do on the ice is to use the blade of your skate as a weapon; consequently, the punishment for such behavior should be severe.
If Pronger had not had a past history I could understand an 8 game suspension but he has multiple suspensions on his record. Does anyone honestly believe that this suspension will stop Pronger from behaving as he does? Absolutely not, and if I am another star player I am not going to be overly discouraged from engaging in a like behavior. To get this into perspective. If a person with seven suspentions on his record gets eight games for stomping on someone with his skate what should a person without any past history get? Two games? That is asinine.
The whole point of these suspensions is to let players know that things like this will not be tolerated. I will be utterly surprised if Pronger doesn’t get another suspension in the next year. If he does get one, I will bet my dog that it won’t be because he is playing on the edge. It will be because he is playing dirty.
This is an epic tale of epic fail on the part of the NHL.
Chris Pronger should have received the same as Simon. It is a double standard that all leagues use for star players especially for a league such as the NHL that needs the attention. There is no suspention that can stop the bad behavior of players. Pronger and Simon did not do these thing “stomps” on purpose, no player would but it will happen to just about any player happens in the heat of battle.
Chris Simon definitely stomped on Rutuu on purpose and so did Pronger. While Pronger’s was definitely more reactionary he’s no less off the hook. With what happened to Richard Zednick and the Ducks own Correy Perry (which were both accidental no less) you’d think that Colin Campbell would use this second stomping incident to show that this type of behavior is simply unacceptable and will be punished harshly. Again, if a player can get his jugular severed and another player can get his leg cut badly by accidental skate-blade injuries, there should be no mercy when handing out disciplinary action when a player does it deliberately. Simon was right to complain, Pronger should have gotten a longer suspension. But what’s done is done and the only good thing to come out of this whole situation is the fact that Kesler wasn’t injured.
i don’t feel good about the 8 game suspension on pronger i beleived it should’ve been 15 games…..pronger is a dirty player and also an elite player..just don’nt figure on the ruling…..however martin havalat while playing for the senators received a 5 game suspension for kicking a player behing the net….to me anything that isn’t hockey related .should be dealt with harsly.a player livelyhood is on the line
For any of you that enjoy the intro music to the Puck Podcast as much as I do, here it is. Thanks to Eddie–it’s “Jumpman” by Buckethead. Love the KFC chicken bucket on his head…
Pretty obvious which commentator is a Duck fan eh. Pronger should have gotten a minimum of 15 games and none of this crap where its limited to regular season games, which is what I expected them to do if the suspension ran into the playoffs. They just gave him a nice rest for the post season.
What I find most interesting about the whole situation is the precedence that this will set for later stomping incidents. 8 seems like a low number for even a first-time offender (I’d start at 10, personally). So now when a person without a prior history of suspensions (or at least not as extensive) commits a stomping offense, how small of a suspension will they receive? 3-5 games? Only 3-5 games for bringing a piece of sharpened steel down on another person? In my opinion, 8 games was low-balling the incident and could be restrictive to later suspensions.
Another thing to consider when doling out penalties is player pay. Simon gets 1/6th of what Prongs does. I am a Ducks fan and am horribly disappointed with our Captain’s actions. As a fan, I have no influence on what he’s suspended, all I can do is just accept it and move on.