“Carolina Hurricanes forward Tuomo Ruutu has been handed a three-game suspension by the National Hockey League for his hit on Avalanche forward Darcy Tucker in Friday’s 5-4 Colorado victory.
Tucker was slammed into the boards by Ruutu as he tried to play the puck in the Hurricanes’ end in the second period of friday’s action. Tucker’s face hit the glass hard and he fell backwards to the ice. He was unconscious as Avalanche doctors and trainers attended to him.” (Source:TSN Staff)
If you haven’t seen the hit in question here’s a link to view it courtesy of You Tube.
As with all hits and infractions there will be endless debate as to whether the punishment fits the crime, there’s lots of possible comparisons to other situations that might or might not have deserved more or less than the 3 games Ruutu recieved.
I’d like to take a look at the root problem here, and in my mind it’s a respect issue. I’m not going to try to paint Darcy Tucker, of all people, as a saint (we all remember the cheap hit on Micheal Peca delivered by Tucker when he was with the Toronto Maple Leafs) but the culture in the NHL needs to change. The “win at all costs” attitude is what drives the players to do whatever it takes to get the job done, regardless of the example they are setting to the younger audience, the same audience who grows up to become NHL players and push the bar of respect even lower. The responsibility needs to be on the players to make the right decision when a player has his back turned, and no amount of subsequent discipline will change the play after the fact.
In comparision, if you watch some mixed martial arts fights you’ll actually see a fighter help an opponent to his feet at the end of a match, sometimes even holding the opponents hand in the air in a show of respect. In the NFL, you routinely see opponents help each other to their feet at the end of a play. I realize this isn’t always the case but when have you ever seen this kind of sportsmanship displayed in the NHL?
In sports that are so steeped in violence, a small show of humanity goes a long way when developing future players impressions of, what is in fact, the most important thing.