On Friday, 10/4/13, we learned of Iverson's pending suspension. Not from the WHL, but from our teams radio PXP guy, during his pregame show. The way the league handled this really upset me. Again, the issue isn't the suspension itself, its how it went down.
Supplemental discipline happens. There is precedent.
#WHL Discipline - @Rebelshockey - Devan Fafard, tbd for check to the head major and g.m. at Saskatoon on October 1
— The WHL (@TheWHL) October 2, 2013
#WHL Discipline -@MJWARRIORS Tyler Bell, one game for boarding major and g.m. versus Saskatoon on September 28
— The WHL (@TheWHL) October 1, 2013
#WHL Discipline - @blazerhockey, Cole Ully, 2 games for checking from behind major and g.m. at Prince George on September 28
— The WHL (@TheWHL) October 1, 2013
The Iverson suspension stemmed from a game that happened on a Wednesday. It was first applied on a Friday, but not announced anywhere. On Saturday, a TBD announcement went up on the WHL discipline page, but nowhere else. Sometime late Monday, it was changed to 4 games, still with no announcement.
Tuesday morning rolls around - 6 days after the incident - and folks are still trying to get to the bottom of this.
I'm beginning to think this is an "Oliver Gabriel in the playoffs two years ago" thing, he did something no one wants to talk about.
— Dylan Bumbarger (@dylandb) October 8, 2013
@dylandb I just rewatched the play. Iverson hit Cardiff in the head, either with forearm or elbow. Sounds like Cardiff hasn't played since.
— Scott Sepich (@SSepich) October 8, 2013
@dylandb It was definitely unnecessary, if not overly brutal looking. But there was a significant impact to the head.
— Scott Sepich (@SSepich) October 8, 2013
it's just ridiculous that this is being left to people on twitter to figure out when it's not that tough for *someone* just to tell us
— Dylan Bumbarger (@dylandb) October 8, 2013
@dylandb sorry. Was off-twitter busy yesterday. Yes it was for the interference hit on Cardiff can confirm
— Todd Vrooman (@ToddVrooman) October 8, 2013
@ToddVrooman @dylandb that info shouldn't have to come from the teams PXP guy - you didn't suspend anyone. The #whl needs to be transparent
— CellPhones&PlaneTix (@hawkeyblog) October 8, 2013
Apparently that's where we are at. A week after said incident, we have a guy who blogs for the Oregonian (on his own time), and a local freelance sports writer going over the video (also on his own time) to assess the damage of the hit. This is confirmed by the teams radio personality, which should fall outside the realm of his duties with the team. Talk about reinventing the wheel.
After this group of local hockey heavies were batting this around, and I was throwing rocks at the league, they broke their silence with a full explanation of the matter:
#WHL Discipline - **UPDATE** http://t.co/6gTnt08rutOn the one hand, you could look at it like the league felt the pressure from our inquiries, and felt that they needed to acknowledge that supplemental discipline occurred. Its like they listened to us.
— The WHL (@TheWHL) October 8, 2013
On the other hand, what kind of shit is that? Is this the first 2 word press release in human history? Who does that? If some dude in Lethbridge does something, and we don't notice out here, does the WHL handle things differently for them?
Again, its not like they don't know how its supposed to work:
#WHL Discipline -@pdxwinterhawks Brendan Leipsic, three games under supplemental discipline versus Tri-Cities on September 24
— The WHL (@TheWHL) September 27, 2013
I was really starting to wonder what the hell Iverson did, as this thing continued to drag on. I was hoping that it was something badass like barging the other team's locker room, but that generally gets you 10 games. Sometimes you worry about something off the ice entirely, like a drunken car crash, but that may not effect your eligibility at all (but you might get run out of town). I think we remember that squirting the ref with a water bottle gets you 3 games, but squirting a fan is worth 2.
I've compared the transparency of the WHL to the KGB before, and probably will again. I don't know how good Ron Robison's backhand is, but at least Vladimir Putin can bury his shot:
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