The NHL slapped the New York Rangers with a $250,000 fine after the team blasted George Parros and called into question his ability to lead the Department of Player Safety.
Although circumstances were different, the discipline evoked memories of when the league issued another six-figure fine eight years ago to the San Jose Sharks for critical comments made by general manager Doug Wilson.
Either way, the NHL showed it will not tolerate public criticism from individual teams.
The Rangers were furious that the NHL elected to fine and not suspend Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson for his actions Monday toward Rangers players Pavel Buchnevich and Artemi Panarin. In a blistering statement Tuesday, the team said it was “extremely disappointed” that Wilson was not suspended “for his horrifying act of violence last night at Madison Square Garden.
“We find it shocking that the NHL and their Department of Player Safety failed to take the appropriate action and suspend him indefinitely.”
The Rangers, who have been eliminated from playoff contention, said Panarin will not play again this season before they took aim at Parros and his role with the league.
“We view this as a dereliction of duty by NHL Head of Player Safety, George Parros, and believe he is unfit to continue in his current role,” the Rangers said.
A statement from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman on Thursday said public comments “of the nature issued by the Rangers that were personal in nature and demeaning of a League executive will not be tolerated.
“While we don’t expect our Clubs to agree with every decision rendered by the Department of Player Safety, the extent to which the Rangers expressed their disagreement was unacceptable. It is terribly unfair to question George Parros’ professionalism and dedication to his role and the Department of Player Safety.”
While the Rangers thought the NHL was too lenient on Tom Wilson, the Sharks in 2013 felt the league was too tough on Raffi Torres.
The Sharks were fined $100,000 by the NHL after Doug Wilson criticized the league for suspending Torres, then a Sharks forward, for the remainder of the team’s playoff series with Los Angeles for his hit on Kings forward Jarret Stoll.
In the announcement, the league said $25,000 of the fine was for violating rules that ban any comment on a disciplinary decision for 48 hours while it can still be appealed. The other $75,000 was for “the inappropriate nature of the comments.”
Brendan Shanahan, then the NHL’s senior vice president of player safety, said at the time that Stoll’s head was “the principal point of contact” of Torres’ hit. The incident took place in Game 1 of the series, which the Kings would win in seven games.
Stoll would not play the rest of the series, returning 17 days later for Game 1 of the Kings’ Western Conference final with Chicago.
“It is abundantly clear that this was a clean hockey hit,” Wilson said in a statement after the suspension was announced. “As noted by the NHL, Raffi’s initial point of contact was a shoulder-to-shoulder hit on an opponent who was playing the puck. He did not leave his feet or elevate, he kept his shoulder tucked and elbow down at his side, and he was gliding — not skating or charging.”
It was, at the time, Torres’ fourth career suspension. “Although it’s unfortunate that Jarret was injured on the play,” Wilson said, “we feel this decision is grossly unfair to Raffi, his teammates and our fans.”
Wilson felt the league incorrectly applied Rule 48.1 for illegal checks to the head, saying at the time there was no evidence Torres targeted Stoll’s head.
“It appears that the NHL has not only made an inappropriate application of this rule but is trying to make an example out of a player who is being judged on past events, one who has changed his game dramatically this season and taken only six minor penalties in 39 games,” Wilson said.
Torres would only play 12 more games for the Sharks as his career would be derailed by knee injuries and a 41-game suspension handed to him at the start of the 2015-16 season. Five of those 12 games during the 2013-14 regular season and seven more came during the 2014 playoffs when San Jose lost to Los Angeles in seven games in a first-round series.
