NHL Gets Tough With McSorley

Rejecting Marty McSorley’s claim that he accidentally struck Donald Brashear in the head last Feb. 21--but cognizant of McSorley’s contrition and desire to play again--NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman on Tuesday extended McSorley’s suspension through Feb. 20.

Bettman said the veteran defenseman, an unrestricted free agent, is free to negotiate and sign a contract with any team but can’t begin training and practicing until Jan. 1.

The suspension for a calendar year is the harshest in NHL history for an on-ice incident. McSorley was found guilty of assault with a weapon--his hockey stick--in a Canadian court Oct. 6 but got a conditional discharge, keeping the conviction off his record.

“It is difficult to imagine a more irresponsible and dangerous act on the ice than the one that was involved in this case,” Bettman said in a seven-page, single-spaced decision that took him a week to write.

“This is not just about Mr. McSorley; there is so much more at stake here than Mr. McSorley’s career. In the end, this decision will constitute an important statement about the game itself, and, more specifically, why parents should be confident knowing that their children can play hockey because the game will not tolerate this type of conduct.”

McSorley hit Brashear in the temple with his stick after Brashear refused to fight him in the waning seconds of a game the Vancouver Canucks were winning, 5-2, over McSorley’s Boston Bruins. Brashear fell backward and hit his head on the ice, resulting in an epileptic seizure and a concussion that idled him six weeks. McSorley was suspended for the final 23 games of the season and the playoffs, although the Bruins didn’t qualify for postseason play.

Bettman also stipulated that McSorley would have to speak to him before he could be reinstated, and McSorley attended a hearing Oct. 31 at Bettman’s New York office.

At that meeting, McSorley--a former King who ranks third in penalty minutes on the NHL’s all-time list with 3,381--gave Bettman an enhanced videotape of the incident. McSorley said the tape, which was not shown during his criminal trial, would prove he hit Brashear on the shoulder and the stick unexpectedly ricocheted upward to hit Brashear’s head. He also said hand and wrist injuries distorted his aim, as did Brashear’s decision to duck before the blow.

Bettman viewed the tape but found it unconvincing.

“I find that Mr. McSorley’s conduct in delivering the slash to the head of Mr. Brashear was deliberate or, at the very least, reckless in nature,” Bettman said. “Although I do not discredit this testimony completely, I do not find it to be entirely persuasive, either. Specifically, it appears to be contradicted by both the physical and videotape evidence of the incident, which seem to belie any claim that Mr. McSorley was trying to deliver a slash to the upper portion of Mr. Brashear’s midsection. . . .

“However, even if I were to accept every word of Mr. McSorley’s testimony, I find that Mr. McSorley’s on-ice actions were nonetheless wanton and reckless, and that they are therefore deserving of an appropriately harsh sanction. In short, no matter how it is viewed--whether as an intentional blow to the head or as a reckless slash which accidentally made contact with the head--Mr. McSorley’s conduct clearly ‘crossed the line.’

“There is no doubt that Mr. McSorley intended to hit Mr. Brashear with his stick--the only possible issue from Mr. McSorley’s standpoint is whether he was aiming for Mr. Brashear’s head. At the end of the day, however, regardless of his true intent, Mr. McSorley must be held responsible for the results of his intentional act (i.e., the slash itself).”

New York Ranger General Manager Glen Sather, who coached McSorley in Edmonton, said the ruling will be a deterrent.

“I’m sure [Bettman] analyzed this thing upside down and backward,” he said. “Decisions like that aren’t made for the individual, they’re made for the good of the game. That’s his job, to make decisions, and they’re not always going to be popular.

“You look at the long-range ramifications of a one-year suspension and you’re going to think long and hard about swinging your stick at somebody. But I’m sure Marty doesn’t like it.”

Sather said someone might take a chance on McSorley, 37.

“Marty is one of those guys who’s a tremendous athlete and works hard at everything he does, but missing a year of hockey is tough,” Sather said. “If somebody gets hurt, a guy like that with playoff experience could help.”

Bettman also expressed distaste for McSorley’s comments that incidents such as the one in which he was involved are common. Bettman said those comments didn’t influence his ruling.

“I feel that Mr. McSorley’s post-trial comments have brought unfair disrepute on the game and its players,” Bettman said. “Nor do I accept the notion that the ‘culture of the game’ necessarily led Mr. McSorley to commit this act.”

In addition, Bettman disputed McSorley’s contention that he understood his job was to initiate a fight, and to do that he had to slash Brashear’s upper body.

“I reject the notion that anyone, including any of the Bruins’ coaches, directed or could fairly have expected, Mr. McSorley to strike Mr. Brashear from behind and to swing his stick at Mr. Brashear’s head,” Bettman said.

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* STARS SHINE ON L.A.

The NHL awarded the Kings and Staples Center the 2002 All-Star weekend, including the 52nd All-Star game. D6