Illogics 101
Craig Berube has always been an appealing player to those of us who appreciate his style (our preferred style!) of play, throughout his career. Two stints with the Philadelphia Flyers and now again his second stint with Washington Capitals. He resembles a member of the Old Guard, a type of player, ready to sacrifice for team at the drop of a hat (or glove). His resume is one that he can be quite proud of, with a legion of fans and a reputation that he will carry with him all of his life and into the eternity of Hockey.
My previous article for HockeyFights.Net (Rivalries, Aug.1st, 2000), briefly touched on the ways in that which the powers-that-be in Hockey are implementing shortsighted goals, without a real sense of purpose. Well, at least to some of us. To assure the queasier-stomached element of modern society that their hypocritical and peculiar aesthetic bent won’t be offended by the style of play we prefer, certain rules have been written into stone so that all parties concerned are aware of who or what are at the helm of the ship.
The rule, which has the most devastating long-range potential, is the instigation penalty, which assesses an extra minor to the player deemed by the referee, to be guilty. Here then are a couple of reasons why I feel that that is.
Numero Uno: Not only from our personal point-of-view does this rule smell to high heaven, but also it glaringly illustrates the illogic-ism that runs rampant in the board room at NHL headquarters. Is it possible that these insiders to the game are unaware that virtually every penalty doled out in each and every game is a retaliatory penalty? I certainly do not advocate the following, but if the league was intent on diluting (yes, that’s what they really want to do) the roughhouse aspect, should they not, by the agenda they are following, penalize the real instigator likewise? How many times per game does this happen, where one player spears another in front of the referee and gets off scot-free, while the recipient of the misguided stick gets two for a head smack? Not only from a spectator standpoint is it unnecessary, but also it actually, logically, leads to the kind of play that the league so desperately wants to see go the way of the Mastodon. In short, the league is attempting to cater to fringe fan base with rules that have non-conducive results.
The sad thing is that there simply have to be people in authoritarian position that know this. We cannot be alone in this observation.
The second reason I would like to present in closing has to do with the aforementioned Craig Berube. Although I praised the Chief previously, now its time for him to take a couple of lumps.
I forget, at this particular moment, what game it was during the last years regular season, in which Berube and an opposing player (Not just once, mind you, I saw it on several occasions) got into what seemed like a developing tête-à-tête in the corners, where the Chief works so well. Berube appeared all set to drop his gloves and do his duty and at the last second, reneged on this. The other player, invariably a visiting player, obligatorily dropped his mitts, only to find himself the recipient of a two-minute minor. Not only this insult, but also the announcers for the Philadelphia Flyers lauded Berube, on his wizened, thinking-mans methodology of drawing a penalty against the opposition.
One can simply brush aside a finesse player (I am not against any style of play) doing this and one could forgive a player, even Berube, if he was injured, in doing this. However, it simply illustrates the result of an illogical, poorly thought out course that the league is taking. My 5-year-old daughter watched one of these games with me, at the time of one of these incidents, and questioned me as to why I looked sick. Was it because of all the Flyer fans that were ostensibly cheering Berube for his vertical dive? This short termed appreciation of an act by Berube, and in fairness to all of those whom I am unaware of, is going to reap the whirlwind one day. Taking advantage of things in life, at times, seems to be the best way, the intelligent way of doing things. If an asinine rule, such as the instigator penalty did not exist, then there would be nothing to take advantage of, just pure playing of the game. Its a shame that a member of the Flyers, one of the front guard of teams in playing our style of Hockey and the Cheif, no less, would now be willing players in this form of Hockey antithetical to all things which we love and care for.
