NHL suspends Laraque -- but not nearly long enough
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The long and trembling arm of the law reached out from NHL headquarters Monday to suspend Montreal Canadiens enforcer Georges Laraque for five games without pay for an ugly knee-on-knee hit to Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall last Saturday. It’s about 15 seconds into this clip.
Kronwall suffered a severely sprained left knee and will be out four to eight weeks.Laraque will lose $38,860.10 in salary and won’t be eligible to play again until Dec. 4.
‘Mr. Laraque’s actions were dangerous and caused a significant injury to his opponent,’ said Colin Campbell, the NHL’s senior executive vice president of hockey operations.
No kidding.
Laraque should have been banished for eight to 10 games, and the on-ice officials who gave him only a tripping penalty should be sanctioned too. Laraque clearly stuck his knee out recklessly and could have ended Kronwall’s career. Five games isn’t enough to emphasize the message that dirty hits simply won’t be tolerated, whether delivered to the head, the knee or anywhere else.
-- Helene Elliott