Ovechkin Banned, The Instigator Rule

Well, everyone knew this day would come eventually.

The NHL suspended Alex Ovechkin for two games for his vicious knee-on-knee hit on Tim Gleason. And about time, too.

Many around the hockey world, including me, had a major problem with the NHL not disciplining Ovechkin after his slewfoot of Atlanta's Rich Peverley, despite the fact that Anaheim's Evgeny Artyukhin was suspended for three games after committing an eerily similar slewfoot to that of Ovechkin's. Artyukhin was suspended on the same day that Ovechkin slewfooted Peverley.

Star treatment? Uh, duh.

Colin Campbell, the Senior VP and Director of Hockey Operations for the NHL, maintained that Artyukhin is a repeat offender while Ovechkin had a clean slate, which factored into his decisions.

Let's be real, here, Ovechkin did have a history. How about his knee-on-knee hit with Sergei Gonchar in last season's playoffs? His hit from behind on Jamie Heward? His hit to the back of an unsuspecting Danny Briere?

But today serves as a start. Props to Colin Campbell for (finally) making the right call. I have nothing against Ovechkin. He's one of my favorite players to watch, he's entertaining, and the fashion and rate at which he scores goals is other worldly. But the guy is wreck less. I'm a huge proponent of physical place, but you can't run around the ice continually throwing your body into other players without regard for the position they are in.

On the Gleason hit Ovechkin clearly leads with his knee - huge "no, no." Players who repeatedly break the "code" lose a tremendous amount of respect from their peers, and also make themselves targets in the process. Ovechkin may think he is, as he puts it, a "Big Russian Machine" who will never slow down or be injured - but he will, and he has so far this season - twice now (although this knee injury appears to be nothing serious).

Ovechkin would be wise to learn from this. Players around the league don't like these hits one iota. Nor does the league. Playing with a physical edge is part of what makes Ovechkin great. Playing with complete and utter wreck less abandon is what makes him a target - a target for suspension, a target for injury, and a target in the eyes of his opponent...

Speaking of the code, yet again I am reminded of why the instigator rule is, hands down, the stupidest rule in the game today.

In this past Saturday's contest featuring the Rangers versus the Penguins, Matt Cooke tattooed an unsuspecting Artem Anisimov in the head. Moving aside from whether the hit was clean or not, Donald Brashear, soon after, attempted to engage Matt Cooke in a fight, or at the very least, let Cooke know he was there.

Of course, the refs stepped in right away, and everyone in the building knew that Cooke would never actually fight Brashear, and that, because of the instigator rule, Cooke was completely protected. Cooke did answer the bell when challenged by Ryan Callahan - but that's not exactly a huge burden for Cooke to endure; Callahan is hardly what anyone would consider a fighter.

Do you think Cooke might think twice before ticking off the Rangers again after fighting Callahan? I don't. Do you think he might think twice before ticking off the Rangers if he had to tussle with Donald Brashear? He certainly would.

Rangers Coach John Tortorella had this to say after the game:

"Some of these guys that go about doing that and have no fear at all, as far as maybe a little retribution, it will continue. That's why our game is more violent right now. I think guys hide behind that rulebook...The linesman jumps in when someone is trying to take care of business. That should have been left alone. This is where our game is screwed up, as far as I'm concerned. There's just no respect in these types of situations. I think the rulebook has a little bit to do with that."

"Torts" is exactly right. All the instigator rule does is protect cheap shot agitators like Patrick Kaleta, Maxim Lapierre, and Jarkko Ruutu. They knew they can go out on the ice and act like complete idiots because they don't have to fight. That may seem barbaric to some, but it's one of the fundamental purposes of fighting in hockey (or at least it was).

"Alright, you want to take a run at our team's star player? That's fine, but be prepared to hear from our team's heavyweight."

That's how it should be. These agitators are completely protected.

As for the people who have a problem with fighting after clean hits - that's part of being a team! If you see one of your teammates, someone who puts it all on the line for you every night, get clobbered by a Dion Phaneuf open ice hit - clean or not - you're going to want retribution.

Of course, I doubt the league ever takes the instigator rule out of the game. They'll think no instigator rule equates with more fighting, and we all know the league doesn't want that. But it needs to be done. Put the game back in the players' hands; let them police themselves.

Unless more responsibility is given to the players, expect each and every agitator to continue serving their role as village idiot.