|
March 14, 2009
I do not make a habit of commenting on any suspensions or discipline action from the league, however, this incident I don’t believe should be blown over or swept under the rug.
During the warm-up on Wednesday night at the War Memorial in Syracuse, Crunch forward Jon Mirasty intentionally shot a puck at Bates Battaglia which struck him in the head. Since it was the warm-up, Battaglia was not wearing a helmet. Very luckily for Battaglia, he was not hit in the eye or face. He did go down to the ice and sit on the bench to shake it off. At the time, none of the players knew exactly where the puck came from, which is probably what saved a full-out brawl on the ice. There is clear cut evidence of Mirasty shooting the puck, showing both premeditation and intent to injure. He tired to claim in the Syracuse newspaper that he meant to chip the puck off the boards, yet he's staring at Battaglia and never faces the boards at all.
When asked about him testing out his shoulder, arms and fists against Riley Emmerson of Rochester, he was quoted as saying "I hope he's up for the task,'' Mirasty said. "I wouldn't mind starting a good rivalry and getting momentum for our team.'' Well, 3:03 into the first period on Saturday night, Mirasty fought Riley Emmerson. This is a premeditated act, and the kind of staged fights the NHL are trying to cut out.
This is not the first time Syracuse has been involved in warm-up issues, as you might recall a fight during a meeting last season. In fact, Syracuse had more than a few warm up fights last year. And Mirasty is a repeat offender and is no stranger to the league office, with his 0 points and 217 penalty minutes this year, or 3 career AHL points. I find it tough to think that a one game suspension is all this action warrants.
It’s never an easy job to hand out discipline, but events such as these are very rare, yet also can become precedent setting. If shooting pucks at other players in warm-up only gets one game, then it might become something that’s easy to do. What if that puck is a few inches over and catches Battaglia in the eye? Is it still a one game suspension? Do the Marlies then lose one of their top players for the year as the result of actions by someone not even on their team’s clear day roster?
Steve Downie was recently issued a 20 game suspension for intent to injure on an official after a face-off, when he swung his stick. Mirasty, who tried to shoot the puck seconds earlier, but stopped as a player skated in his line of fire before reloading, is only out for a single game.
His actions were irresponsible, outside the realm of any game action, and clearly beyond any code of respect between players on the ice. His side show act in Syracuse might be a ticket seller for the Crunch, but not the kind of publicity that the second best league in the world and feeder system of the NHL needs or deserves.
Like I said, it’s not an easy task when it comes to disciplinary action and I’m not sure what the right time for doing the crime is here, but it just seems to me that one game is getting off a little too easy.
Let’s just be thankful that Battaglia is ok and I’m sure there will be some more heads up in the next warm-up.
You can email John with comments and questions about the blog or the Marlies anytime to marliesradio@yahoo.ca.
|