Supplemental Discpline 2013-14

[IPv6Freely 2100]

Clarkson has a hearing for something in the last game. I didn't see the game though (lucky me, really) so I'm not sure exactly what it is for.

[oldtrainerguy28 478]

https://twitter.com/DarrenDreger/status/411934508921794562

Good call I think now we just have to continue that with others in the league when and if it happens again!

Clarkson has a hearing for something in the last game. I didn't see the game though (lucky me, really) so I'm not sure exactly what it is for.

2 games hit to the head

[SirJW 207]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=438984

15 games for Thornton.

[chk hrd 164]

I've always respected Thorton as a player and with as many PM's and fights as he has and no previous suspensions I was surprised to see what he did to Orpik. 15 games isn't bad. Bertuzzi lost a year for attacking someone from behind (I don't go for the "other guy can't play anymore, Moore's injuries were caused when everyone jumped on the pile). I think what is worse to a player like Thorton is loosing the respect from players and fans.

[IPv6Freely 2100]

Wow, only 15 games. I guess the lack of history forced Shanny to keep the number a lot lower than it should have been.

[wrangler 157]

Shanahan video: http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=510247&catid=60

[chippa13 1844]

I thought 10 would be the right number for Thornton. It would have been hard to go past 15 with the fact that Thornton has done such a good job of toeing the line as an enforcer/contact player. I don't like what he did but I doubt too many fans and players have lost respect for Thornton.

[that_guy 2]

https://d13csqd2kn0ewr.cloudfront.net/uploads/image/file/21853/cropped_Abdelkader.gif

In person hearing for Engelland for this hit. He was given a match penalty during the game. Did not look intentional but he needs to control himself better and avoid this from happening. Adelkader also dipped his head down to reach for the puck last second. Engelland was suspended once in 2011 for a head shot. So not a "repeat offender" in the eyes of the NHL (18 month rule) and Adelkader did not return to the game. Interesting to see what will happen. I am thinking three or four games.

Edit: Apparently the 18 month thing in the new CBA only takes pay deductions into consideration not length of suspension.

[chk hrd 164]

Thorton was very remorseful about the incident. I think he lost a little respect from himself about it. He is a stand up player. The respect he did loose will be earned back.

When I saw the Englland it did look intentional. Even though Abby was in a vulnerable position and reaching for the puck Englland changed his line of direction and when he did make contact he finished it in an upward direction; his shoulders and arms go up. He would have had the same results if he just skated through and knocked Abby off the puck instead of head shotting him. Checking is removing the player from the puck, not removing the head from the body. Not every hit needs to be a highlight video.

[EBondo 233]

Look at the way his arm goes after he makes contact with Abdelkader...looks like every bit of an intentional hit. He's got an in-person hearing so he may be getting 5+

[Chadd 916]

Look at the way his arm goes after he makes contact with Abdelkader...looks like every bit of an intentional hit. He's got an in-person hearing so he may be getting 5+

Abdelkader even tries to pull back and avoid it a bit. There should be no doubt that it was an intentional blow to the head with the intent to do damage.

[stevelknievel 51]

Pretty rough hits on schenn just now and getzlaf earlier. Have to imagine quincey and Wilson get some phone calls.

[troy 12]

Schenn made a late turn, but the real danger was the charge and the board Wilson would have executed regardless of Brayden's actions.

Wait, you mean a correctional facility isn't just a rape zoo?

And now we have the distinction between theory and practice.

You boys been readin' any of that Foo-ko?

[wrangler 157]

People have to realize that Thornton's loss of control is also part of who he is.

Thornton's suspension for 15 games makes Neal's suspension look like a token punishment. That really makes the NHL policy of basing the suspension length on injury look stupid, and not serious about their stated objective of preventing head injuries.

[Jason Harris 31]

I agree with your premise, but after watching Thornton for the past five years, I don't quite agree with the first part of your statement. He's always expressed pride in fighting "the right way" -- never hitting a guy after he's started falling -- so he was quite ashamed and contrite afterward. He knew he come unglued and threw away years of respect that he had built up.

There's no doubt he deserves the long suspension, because the NHL can't have players going beyond some self-policing and into the Wild West. But this was definitely out of character for him.

[chippa13 1844]

I'm not sure how you can make that statement about Thornton when this was really the first incident of his career of over 800 penalty minutes where he "lost control".

I believe that the gap between Neal's 5 games and Thornton's 15 is exactly why the NHLPA wanted Thornton to appeal. They want clarification on the difference.

[wrangler 157]

I was addressing all the comments I've heard on what a wonderful human being Thornton is. His loss of control is part of who he is, along with the rest of his history -- not something to be ignored because of his history. Don't infer that I meant anything further than what I stated.

It's up to the individual fan/viewer to decide how big a part of Thornton that is. I did not address that.

[chippa13 1844]

And yet by making the comment it is inferred to be more than an (accounting term) immaterial amount of his makeup. Otherwise, the comment in not necessary.

[wrangler 157]

And yet by making the comment it is inferred to be more than an (accounting term) immaterial amount of his makeup. Otherwise, the comment in not necessary.

That's exactly the point I made -- that it should be understood to not be negligible. It's not something to be disregarded due to his other history, but something to be taken into consideration along with his other history. And given the weight that any person chooses to assign to it. Some would assign it very little, but that's their prerogative. Others may differ. I leave them to their own inferences and opinions.

(I find an important difference in degree of importance between the use of "material" in an accounting context and a personality context, so I am avoiding the use of the term in responding here.)

[chippa13 1844]

So a single incident in 15 years of professional hockey and "lost control" becomes a part of the makeup of Shawn Thornton? Interesting.

[Stewie 721]

So a single incident in 15 years of professional hockey and "lost control" becomes a part of the makeup of Shawn Thornton? Interesting.

I dont think its that far fetched. It only takes once for you to show its something your capable of doing, and you cannot gaurantee he wont do it again.

[Trooper 8]

The NHL is a laughingstock. The only mainstream press they get is when these incidents come up. The NHLPA is making things worse. They find more ways to lessen suspensions than to deter this behavior. Forget past history, forget injury, you do something that far across the line you get a meaningful suspension. The players association needs to look out for the players' total well-being, not just financial.

[Jason Harris 31]

That's exactly the point I made -- that it should be understood to not be negligible. It's not something to be disregarded due to his other history, but something to be taken into consideration along with his other history.

I think that's an unfair standard to be given to any of us. Everybody has had an embarrassing or shameful event they were involved in. Would you really want that to be known as "a part of who we are" or as an incident we have to rise above?

This in no way absolves Thornton, but maybe a better way to ask this is why does one time of losing control outweigh hundreds of times of not losing control, to the extent that people need to realize that "loss of control is also part of who he is?"

[Jason Harris 31]

I dont think its that far fetched. It only takes once for you to show its something your capable of doing, and you cannot gaurantee he wont do it again.

Yes, but if you're going to use the word "capable," then we're all capable of anything and we can't guarantee that anyone won't do something the first time or subsequent times. In fact, when one friend of mine was essentially backed into a corner by the line of questioning in divorce proceedings whether he could envision our mutual friend doing what the ex-wife alleged, he had to respond, "Well, everyone has a breaking point."

So in this realm, we obviously can brandish Thornton as someone who totally lost his cool, but it seems silly to suggest we now have to consider him being at risk of becoming a repeat offender. Could he lose his cool again? You bet he could, because everyone has a breaking point. But I'd just as readily assume that his fifteen years of, relatively, maintaining his cool combined with readily apparent shame and contrition for his one egregious act, suggest he will have now moved his breaking point much further out than before.

The players association needs to look out for the players' total well-being, not just financial.

You're right.

[Stewie 721]

Yes, but if you're going to use the word "capable," then we're all capable of anything and we can't guarantee that anyone won't do something the first time or subsequent times. In fact, when one friend of mine was essentially backed into a corner by the line of questioning in divorce proceedings whether he could envision our mutual friend doing what the ex-wife alleged, he had to respond, "Well, everyone has a breaking point."

So in this realm, we obviously can brandish Thornton as someone who totally lost his cool, but it seems silly to suggest we now have to consider him being at risk of becoming a repeat offender. Could he lose his cool again? You bet he could, because everyone has a breaking point. But I'd just as readily assume that his fifteen years of, relatively, maintaining his cool combined with readily apparent shame and contrition for his one egregious act, suggest he will have now moved his breaking point much further out than before.

You're right.

if someones "breaking point" is labeled as a physical play, such as a check, then hockey might not be the right sport for them. I dont think this case has anything to do with a breaking point at all. It was just a stupid move.

I dont think he is a headcase, I just think his 15 years of toeing the line has been tarnished is all. Yes we are all capable of doing so, but he wasnt "backed into any corner" or really first handedly provoked into doing this act. Its not a defensive or reactionary, he sought orpik out and went nuts. To just say everyone is capable of reacting that way i think doesnt work in this case, because we'd see this kind of outcome more often in the sport