Ridiculous roughness, cheap shots and other nonsense have been creeping their way back into the NHL this exhibition season — but don’t expect it to continue.
An NHL official tells Metro he and his colleagues have been ordered to clamp down on gratuitous violence and penalize offenders quicker. The instructions came from NHL headquarters yesterday, less than 24 hours after a fight-filled pre-season game between the New York Rangers and New York Islanders.
“We were actually told to prevent the league from becoming the Old NHL, where goon tactics were common before the work stoppage,” the official said. “They clearly want to ensure a clean, New NHL.”
• Monday’s New York-New York silliness might have been avoided if Islanders ruffian Chris Simon was prevented from playing. He received a 25-game suspension last season for swinging his stick at the Rangers’ Ryan Hollweg. He won’t be allowed to start the regular season but, somehow, the NHL OK’d him for a pre-season rematch. Stupid … Look for Simon Gagne to accept the captaincy from the Philadelphia Flyers in the next few days. He turned it down twice before but thinks he’s more mature now … Look also for the Ottawa Senators to re-sign forward Dany Heatley soon. He’ll get about $8-million a year and will forego free agency.
• The Blue Bombers are fed up with inconsistent kicker Troy Westwood and are trying to persuade NFL reject Mike Vanderjagt to join them for the post-season. Vanderjagt’s agent is Gil Scott, who also represents Winnipeg general manager Brendan Taman … Argonauts president Keith Pelley will be making a fool of himself, I suspect, when he sings the national anthem before Toronto’s game in Edmonton Friday. Pelley is compelled to sing after losing a bet to Eskimos president Rick LeLacheur, who’s showing compassion by retaining a choir to drown out, er, back up the Argos’ prez … Also absurd: Charles Oakley trying to make an NBA comeback even though he’s 43 and hasn’t played for three seasons … Cavaliers superstar LeBron James will be the host when Saturday Night Live begins its 33rd season this week … Shaquille O’Neal, livid, is divorcing his wife, Shaunie Nelson. He’s convinced she hid money and had an affair with his personal trainer … Phoenix star Shawn Marion, unhappy that the Suns won’t give him a contract extension, could be traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for Lamar Odom and Brian Cook or to Utah for Andrei Kirilenko … In baseball, ex-Blue Jays GM Pat Gillick, 71, insists he’ll quit baseball after next season, when his deal as the Phillies’ GM expires … The Boss, George Steinbrenner, has health problems and has seen his Yankees in person only once all season — on opening day … Another MLB club has had it with Shea Hillenbrand. The L.A. Dodgers will cut him soon.
In three-plus decades as a columnist and broadcaster, Marty York has built a network of solid contacts and a renowned reputation for his hard-hitting, groundbreaking style. The tradition continues in Metro Sports.
