The night couldn’t possibly have gone much worse for the Vancouver Canucks in Tuesday night’s game. Not only was Roberto Luongo and the team picked apart in a 6-1 loss against the Minnesota Wild, they also lost Rick Rypien as he mentally fell apart. Rick Rypien had a rough and tough game, as he usually does, but he crossed the line when he tangled with a Minnesota Wild fan for a brief moment on his way to the locker room.
Rypien and Minnesota’s Brad Staubitz had fought once already (first period) in the tilt, and were getting ready for round two in front of the Wild bench during the second period when the linesman pulled the two apart. Rypien got a quick jab in on Staubitz, and appeared to push the official after being assessed a 2 minute roughing and 10 minute misconduct penalty.
The penalties were the least of his worries as he made his way to the locker room he shoved a fan who was applauding the action right in front of him. Teammate Manny Malhotra, among others, stepped in to pull Rypien away, and the fans were escorted out of the area.
No one was hurt in the tangle, but Rypien has since been suspended indefinitely pending a hearing.
Teammate Manny Malhotra didn’t directly defend Rypien’s actions, but he did offer some insight to the matter.
"There's boundaries that should never be crossed. We're in our area of work," he said. "We're all for the hooting and hollering and supporting your team and saying whatever is tasteful. But as soon as you cross that line and want to become physical with a player then we have to make sure we take care of ourselves. ... We have no idea of what their intentions are."
Malhotra applauded the NHL’s work to keep fans and players apart, but the result is distasteful in this case, and something must now be done.
It was announced today that Rypien will in fact be subject to an in-person meeting with the league regarding the incident, and he will be suspended until a decision is made.TSN Insider Bob McKenzie speculated on Off the Record with Michael Landsberg on Wednesday that the hearing will likely occur on Friday.
"It's not finalized but it looks like the meeting will be Friday," McKenzie told Landsberg. "Probably in the morning, probably in New York City and probably involving both NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL vice-president Colin Campbell."
Due to the extreme nature of the infringement, Rypien will likely incur a large suspension by the league, as clearly the whole thing could have been avoided. Bob McKenzie also speculated that due to the fact that the meeting will be in-person, and with league personnel of such hierarchy, he could be looking at five games minimum.
"You cross that line and go into the stands, then it become a bigger issue in hockey operations," McKenzie said.
"If I were to handicap this, I would say five or six game would be the low end, seven or eight games would be the medium and nine or 10 would be if he really gets hammered."
Rypien will no doubt be out of some coming contests, including Friday night’s rematch as the Canucks play the Wild once again. This is, unfortunately for Rypien, the absolute least of his worries. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune has reported that the 28 year-old aggravated fan is now seeking a lawyer.
"Bottom line, I was assaulted," said the fan who the Star-Tribune have identified as James Engquist, said.
"I was just standing straight up applauding as he was getting kicked out," he went on, “He was out of control. And then I said, 'Way to be professional,' and he obviously didn't care for that comment and decided to grab me and almost dragged me over the rail. It's been a long day. If my brother wasn't grabbing me, he probably would have dragged me over the edge. It's not right."
While there were no punches thrown, nor am I big on people paling up with attorneys, Rick Rypien’s actions were absolutely unprofessional, and absolutely worth a heft fine and suspension.
Players are paid to do their respective jobs on the ice. In Rypien’s case, a large part of his job is fighting, but never should it have anything to do with fans. No matter what is said, thrown at you, etc. the player must remain composure and know that at the end of the night that fan (or group of fans) has no bearing on his job, both in past and present terms.
While Malhotra may have something to say in Rypien’s defense, goaltender Marty Turco and Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks were the voice of reason that Rick Rypien apparently needed to hear before stepping onto the ice last night.
"We've all been there and wanted to slap someone silly," Blackhawks goaltender Marty Turco said. "(It's the) Heat of the moment and you snap. Emotions are high. As we know, and I'm sure he does this morning, interaction with the fans is inexcusable. You can't be doing that."
"The fans are pretty much the only reason why we are able to play this game," Kane stated.
The NHL has had to deal with some unfortunate happenings to the date, and Colin Campbell and Gary Bettman have had to earn their pay with the amount of suspensions and fines in a very short amount of time. It is of absolute that they make the right call in this case, and set an example to all players what happens when they cross that gigantic line, no matter what the cost for the 26 year-old Coleman, Alberta native.
Unfortunately this is not the first time players have crossed paths with fans. Here is a list of previous fan encounters composed by TSN.ca.
*From TSN
During the 2009 playoffs, New York Rangers head coach John Tortorella was suspended for one game after squirting a fan with water and hitting a fan with the water bottle during Game 5 of an Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series.
In 2004, Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis was fined $100,000 and given a one-week suspension by the league for an altercation with a season ticket holder.
There were also a pair of incidents during the 2000-01 season. Pittsburgh Penguins forward Matthew Barnaby received a four-game suspension for an incident with a fan in Florida and Toronto Maple Leafs forward Tie Domi was fined $1,000 when he sprayed water on a fan in Philadelphia. That fan ended up pounding the glass on the penalty box and fell into it, leading to a brief scuffle with Domi.
In January of 2002, then Rangers' forward Theo Fleury was fined $1,000 by the NHL for making an obscene gesture to Islanders fans who were taunting him about his difficulties with substance abuse.
It would be another two years before the NHL was forced to dish out any supplementary discipline for interaction with fans when the league suspended Nashville Predators' defenceman Jamie Allison one game for getting into a verbal confrontation with a fan after he received a 10-minute misconduct. The Predators were also fined $10,000 by the NHL for the altercation. It should be noted that there was no physical confrontation with the fan during that encounter.
- Kendall Grubbs
No comments:
Post a Comment