Marchment
Nikolai Belick
Hадеюсь все помнят о неравнодушии Далласа к сабжу ? В этом сезоне они с ним
расквитались, но сломает ли опять он кого-нибудь из звезд Далласа или лиги
опять
? - наверняка :)
Тут статейка попалась -
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Wednesday, October 28, 1998
Marchment's hits could bring NHL to its knees
By Jim Kernaghan -- London Free Press
An old sports writer named Willie Shakespeare would have said the quality of
mercy in the NHL is not strained, but the credibility surrounding it sure is.
We speak here of Bryan Marchment, the greatest beneficiary of clemency in
hockey history. No player in recent memory has inflicted as much pain, impaired
and curtailed as many careers and got off as lightly as the San Jose Shark.
Yet upon his return to the scene of one of his many crimes recently, his
apologists continued to step forward. This was in Dallas, where the Stars' Joe
Nieuwendyk just returned after he was put out of action by the infamous
Marchment knee during the playoffs last spring.
It's more like a torpedo than a knee, one that sidelined the likes of
Nieuwendyk, Mike Modano, Greg Adams and Kevin Dineen last season alone. Others,
such as Peter Zezel and Glenn Anderson, felt its sting earlier.
"It just goes on and on with this guy," Nieuwendyk says.
The NHL would do well to take heed of a case this week in England, where a
player was successfully sued for soccer's version of Marchment's specialty.
In soccer, it's called going over the top (of the ball) and a Bradford City
player who suffered a double fracture of the right leg won his suit against the
player who did it to him. Damages have yet to be set.
Marchment's classic manoeuvre is to line up an opponent in open ice. Nothing
wrong with that. Open-ice hitting has become a lost art and can be as
spectacular a momentum-shifting play as there is in the game.
The problem arises when opponents sense his presence at the last second and
instantly shift to avoid the hit. And Marchment, who sees the chance for a
solid
hip-check evaporating, cheats by getting his knee into it.
Invariably, whenever hockey players go knee-on-knee, the hitter goes to the
bench to muted accolades, the hittee to the hospital for surgery and months of
rehab.
Let's forget the euphemisms, the hard noses, the 110 per cents and all that
claptrap that surrounds a guy like Marchment and tell the truth. He's an
assassin, a bushwhacker who'd have been strung up without a second thought in
the Old West.
Forget the look of wide-eyed innocence after Marchment has ripped up yet
another anterior cruciate ligament with a well-placed knee. Subway psychopaths
with ice picks can have the same look.
And forget that tired defence designed to minimize his acts by dwelling on his
accountability in their aftermath: "Marchment doesn't back down."
Teammates embarrassed by his actions will say he's great to have on their team.
Of course. They don't have to worry about him crushing their knees.
But back to the league itself and its handling of Marchment. So far, it's been
merciful to the point of utter stupidity. On a couple of counts.
First, unless somebody uncovers a tribe of hockey superstars hidden away in the
Alps, there is far too little talent on the horizon of a rapidly expanding
league to permit one loose cannon to sideline it so readily. Fans want to see
the Nieuwendyks and Modanos, not the Marchments.
Second, players and their agents are becoming less reluctant to embrace
litigation. Next time Marchment hurts somebody -- and there will be a next time
-- it might not only knock one guy out of action, it might propel everyone
involved into court.
A lawyer for a player whose career has been curtailed by Marchment is in
position to launch one of those all-encompassing lawsuits -- the sort that
names
everyone from players to ushers to the crews of aircraft flying overhead. And
you know what the judge will do.
He'll shake the bag of prospective defendants and out will come a large rich
one.
That is the NHL itself, which would be called upon to explain why it did not
dequately protect the injured party.
It could well be proved the NHL has had sufficient opportunity to deal with the
likes of Marchment and, given the puny discipline administered, failed and
therefore bears some liability.
You could say the hand of Colin Campbell, the league's new vice-president in
charge of discipline, has been forced. A clear-cut case of Marchment kneeing
and
injuring yet another opponent will leave him no option.
He'll be compelled to throw the book at him for legal, if not moral, reasons.
It's happening in other sports.
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/Nikolai/ by nature has left the building. UIN #9950233
[Team Ice-T/Body Count] [BioHaZard/DownSet]