Fire Colin Campbell
Drew is in here somewhere...
This is going to be the top story on every hockey page today and really has nothing directly to do with the Wings, but it simply is too damning not to mention here. Tyler Dellows over at mc79hockey.com has uncovered some incredibly revealing emails written by the NHL's head disciplinarian, Colin Campbell.
Within these emails, there is clear bias shown for Colin's son, forward Gregory Campbell, whenever there appears to be a questionable call against him, even though the NHL has said he is forbidden from making decisions regarding his son. In addition, Campbell calls Marc Savard a "little fake artist" when reading about a call against his son.
Finally, and probably most damning, check out this one, showing Campbell heard about a bad call on his son from a freaking radio announcer and threatens to fire a referee.
Campbell: Game not televised. Radio announcers said it was a bullshit penalty…you need to find out for me. How…I don’t know but this was awful. 1:30 left in 2-1 game for [ATL] and [player] scored with 2 second left to tie it up them won in OT. FUCK
Not to mention other emails that show that he clearly considers how much a GM whines in making these decisions.
This justifies all of our own worst fears about the NHL's system of justice. This really looks like nothing more than the wheel of justice we all expected existed, only worse; some players are more protected than others.
So what should be done/effects of this?
- Colin Campbell needs to be released immediately. It is embarrassing enough that the NHL hasn't handled this internally already, as this was part of a Canadian court case.
- The NHL needs standard rules for dealing with these issues. Hit in the head? Then it's X amount of games. Dangerous check from behind? X amount. The NHL has lost its privilege to figure this out for themselves. This needs to be handled like a real legal system, not a Mickey Mouse organization like it is now.
- Transparency must be instituted. I don't know how, but this clearly isn't working.
- What about the multiple fines and suspensions already given out by Campbell? If I was a player (looking at you Mr. Avery), I think I would have a pretty good case for getting my money back...
Looks like the "tin-foil wearing Wings fans" were right all along. Makes you wonder what sort of politics goes on in every aspect of review (um...like goal reviews.)
