Call the WAAAAAAAmbulance…
I always laugh when people get so upset and distressed over bad calls by referees and other “injustices” to over-paid athletes. Okay, I do feel bad when Olympic athletes fall prey to obvious scumminess because the IOC is corrupt and ineffective. However, if people could muster even a fraction of the outrage they feel when pro athletes get a “raw deal” with respect to REAL issues on the local or global level, our world would be a much better place. I usually refrain from commenting on sports issues because of this kind of silliness.
However, as someone who used to love competing and watching sporting events, I do have concern over the recent increase in violence in sports from a very young age. In most cases, the kids are encouraged to act badly by their “heroes” on TV, their coaches, and sadly their parents. Any parent who acts too inappropriately should be banned from kids’ sports for life–simple. They should also serve jail time in many cases, when physical assaults take place.
Similarly, any coach who encourages little kids to take cheap shots should be banned from coaching for life. A few high profile cases like this will do wonders for the game. As for the kids themselves, since they are caught up in the middle of the action and are often following adults’ orders, they should be suspended for quite some time for severe actions and then banned for life if they repeat such transgressions. As they get older and become more responsible for their actions, the same rules should apply except that they should be punished more severely and face a lifetime suspension more quickly. Once again, a few high profile cases should help to clean up this mess.
Let’s see how the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League deals with the brutal cheap shot by Patrice Cormier, who came off his team’s bench and caught an opposing player, Mikael Tam, with an elbow in the neutral zone, knocking out some teeth and sending him into convulsions on the ice; he may now have a brain injury. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy the physical aspects of hockey and love a good fight among two willing players. But cheap shots that can ruin a person’s career and possibly kill him/her have no place in hockey.
The COMMENTS section contains the whole CANADIAN PRESS/STAR story and shows that Cormier and his coach/team don’t get it. Assholes. And if anyone doubts that Cormier is a douchebag on ice, check out his similar elbow/cheap shot during a freaking EXHIBITION game during the World Juniors.
Patrice Cormier, seen here during the world juniors on Jan. 2, 2010, was given one of the longest suspensions in QMJHL history. (THE CANADIAN PRESS FILE PHOTO)
January 27th, 2010 at 6:34 am
Cormier’s team to appeal ‘excessive’ suspension - Player says he ‘deeply regrets’ the hit that sent Mikael Tam into convulsions
Patrice Cormier will not accept his suspension by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League after all.
The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies said Tuesday they will appeal the suspension handed Cormier for his hit to the head of Quebec Remparts defenceman Mikael Tam.
Coach and general manager Andre Tourigny said on a conference call that the suspension for the rest of the season and the playoffs was “excessive.”
“He could serve up to 48 games, that’s too much,” Tourigny added.
Later, Cormier read a short statement to The Canadian Press over the telephone. It said:
“I respect the decision of the QMJHL even if I find it too severe. I deeply regret the circumstances surrounding this event and I wish Mikael Tam a speedy and full recovery. Thanks for your attention.”
He declined to answer questions on the decision.
Earlier Tuesday, the Huskies centre had seemed to suggest he had accepted the league’s ruling in statement released through his Halifax-based agent Tim Cranston.
“I fully respect the Quebec Major Junior League’s decision regarding the Mikael Tam incident,” Cormier said in that statement. “I deeply regret the circumstances surrounding this event and wish Mikael Tam a speedy and full recovery.”
A spokesman for the QMJHL said in an email that the league had no comment on the appeal and added it had yet to receive the appropriate paperwork. No date for a hearing has been set and Cormier will remain suspended during the appeal process.
The league gave one of the longest suspensions in its history to Cormier on Monday for his hit in a Jan. 17 game that sent Tam into convulsions and left the 18-year-old with brain trauma and several broken teeth.
Cormier, who served as captain of Canada’s team at the world junior championship, had already served two games and is to miss the Huskies’ 18 remaining regular season games, plus the playoffs.
The 19-year-old New Jersey Devils prospect had a five-day window to appeal.
Tourigny called Cormier’s hit “regrettable” and that the team accepted that it deserved “severe” punishment, but that the league went too far.
The Huskies were gunning for a league championship and participation in the Memorial Cup tournament and made a handful of trades in the January dealing window to bolster their roster with experienced talent.
Among them was a trade with the Rimouski Oceanic to land Canadian junior team players Cormier and Jordan Caron in exchange for two 17-year-olds and a package of draft picks. They also acquired defenceman Steven Delisle and forward Antoine Quevillon from other clubs.
Cormier was in only his third game with the Huskies when the hit on Tam took place.
Video of the ugly hit has been replayed numerous times over the past week. On the play, Cormier came off his team’s bench and caught Tam with an elbow in the neutral zone, sending the Quebec defenceman into convulsions.
Tam spent two days in hospital with head trauma before returning to Quebec City last week.
January 27th, 2010 at 8:57 am
Cormier is an idiot who should remain off the ice. So he thinks the suspension is excessive… too bad he didn’t think of the consequences of his actions beforehand. And maybe he should be reminded that he is not the one with head trauma. In a way, I hope he files his paperwork for appeal, just so they can slap him with an even tougher sentence (but who am I kidding here? That will never happen!)
The problem with hockey is that too many players think they are above the rules. It wasn’t the first time Cormier did this move, and it probably won’t be the last if he is allowed on the ice again. He (and all of his like) need a serious wakeup call so they understand clearly that if they want to play hockey bad enough, then they better follow the rules, or else . Very simple!
Unlike you, I NEVER enjoy the physical aspects of hockey and ALWAYS HATE a good fight among two willing players. That’s probably why I never watch the game.
I agree with you that parents and coaches who model or encourage this kind of behaviour should be held accountable as well.
January 28th, 2010 at 6:01 am
Thank you for your comments, Lily. Let’s see what happens and I really hope that there is SOME trickle down effect to kids. And sorry, but I still love hockey fights and UFC, as long as it’s not me…