I forgot all about the Caps/Pens game coming up, and it's probably on a Saturday on NBC as well, so of course Campbell can't give Bettman's cash cow too long a suspension..
I remember the Pats doing that, they got hammered by the league. I must say I do admire the NFL for that, they don't fuck around with suspensions, someone does something stupid, they're gonna get nailed for it. The NHL(Bettman) is too concerned with making the game more appealing to US viewers to come down that hard on anybody, but when they start with these non suspensions or inconsistent suspensions they start to alienate other viewers like the ones in this thread who want to see the same physical game, but without all the bullshit hits, and Cooke, Carcillo, Ruutu, Richards, and even Ovie cheapshots.
Agreed, the NHL is the joke of the sports world, especially when you factor in the actions of the commish and the punishment czar. What I've never understood is, they have possibly the greatest player ever to put on skates totally uninvolved in the NHL. If they were smart they'd be trying to get Gretzky into some type of job at the NHL head office, at least the guy played the game and understands it, I don't think Bettman has the first clue about hockey, well I know he doesn't, if he did he wouldn't still have a team in Atlanta where they have more players on the bench than fans in the stands, or Phoenix, but if he drops those his Southern expansion legacy goes tits up. They need to start making changes i nthe NHL and I think they should start at the top, and soon.
Love the Josh Gorges ingterview he did about the Ovechkin hit, he didn't pull any punches when speaking of Ovechkins style of play, I'll try to find it to post here.
EDIT: Round 5 of Orr/Carkner tonight, been some pretty spirited bouts, Orr has the advantage so far, he's won 3 out of 4.
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4