Will Court Rulings Ever Override NHL Bylaws?

Written By: Mark "The Hard Hitter" Ritter

When it comes to on-ice violence, the NHL has always hidden under the umbrella of their self imposed bylaws to protect them from the laws that society in general must abide by.

As a result of these bylaws, NHL players can get away with just about anything while engaged in on-ice activities. Case and point, the Marty McSorely incident.

When McSorely whacked an unsuspecting Donald Brashear over the head with his stick, knocking Brashear out cold and nearly killing him in the process, many NHL fans were horrified by the severity of the incident and the injuries sustained by Brashear.

On Oct. 4, 2000, a Jury found McCorely guilty of assault with a weapon for his actions. As a result, McSorely was sentenced to his 18 months probation. Hardly adequate for such a violent crime, don’t you think?

For their part, the NHL extended Mcsorely’s 23-game suspension by suspending McSorely for one full year. The suspension was seen as sufficient by many, but there were rumblings that the NHL had not done enough to protect Brashear.

During the trial, former Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings teammate Wayne Gretzky attended one of the court sessions in support of McSorely. No doubt about it, Gretzky was there to uphold the belief of the “code” that NHL players play under and to vouch for McSorely’s character. Given the sentence McSorely received, I guess it worked.

If this incident had taken place on any public street McSorely would have been put in jail for a very long time. As it stands, due to the protection offered by the NHL’s bylaws and the inherent leniency that NHL players are shown by the courts, McSorley was given what amounted to a slap on the wrist for his actions.

The question is, will there ever come a time when an NHL player fails to be protected by the NHL’s bylaws? Will we ever see a day when a player in any professional sports league is held to the same level of accountability that your average Joe is held to? Will there be a time when a players actions on the ice are prosecuted as if they happened on the streets?

My bet is, probably not, but there is a case being made that they should be.

Fast forward to another matter, not seemingly intertwined with NHL bylaws and court rulings, but perhaps soon to be. The Jim Balsillie/Gary Bettman/Bankruptcy Court fiasco...

Recently, the NHL has been battling Research In Motion co-CEO Billionaire Jim Balsillie over his right to own the Phoenix Coyotes and his right to move the team to Hamilton. The battle is proving to be a tough one, one that is becoming more and more intriguing by the minute.

On July 29, 2009, the NHL, it’s Board of Governors and commissioner Gary Bettman overwhelmingly rejected Jim Balsillie’s bid for the Phoenix Coyote’s franchise, stating that Balsillie had bad character and was not to be trusted. The ruling was voted on by the NHL Board Of Governors and was thought to be final, legal and binding.

Clearly, by rejecting Balsillie’s offer, the NHL was showing favoritism to the other suitor of the Coyotes, Chicago White Sox and Bulls owner, Jerry Reinsdorf. Reinsdorf, who’s bid was $60 million less than that of the Balsillie bid, has emerged as the NHL’s preferred owner, if you will.

How the NHL can endorse a bid that is $60 million less than that of Balsillie’s bid is beyond me. Balsillie may be aggressive and his tact may need a little work, but he certainly is not of bad character, nor has he done anything that would lead one to believe that he is untrustworthy. Oh yeah, he, unlike some NHL owners, actually has the cash to back up his actions; he’s loaded!

The move strikes many observers as curious, especially when Jim Balsillie was all but approved to become an NHL owner way back in 2006. Tell me Mr. Bettman and Co.? Have Balsillie’s qualifications changed that much in three short years? I think not!

Truth be told, the NHL and Gary Bettman do not like to be challenged, Balsillie has made an effort to do that and now the NHL and it’s cronies will make every effort to keep the powerful Balsillie out of the NHL, damn the costs and damn the creditors!

Not so fast you bunch of secret handshaking pompous butt-heads; Judge T. Baum to the rescue!

In response to fears that many of the Phoenix Coyotes' creditors were being forced to settle for an inferior low-ball offer, bankruptcy court judge Redfield T. Baum ruled that the court would be accepting all offers for the Coyotes, even those that were rejected by the NHL, even the Balsillie bid.

For their part, the NHL is now contending that the court has no right to impose itself on the leagues ruling. The NHL feels that they are entitled to keep Balsillie out of the running for the Coyote’s based on the Leagues earlier rejection of said bid.

Clearly, something has to give. Will the NHL’s rejection stand? or will the courts overrule the NHL and insist that the highest bidder win the war for the Coyotes, regardless of the conditions attached to the bid?

If, as expected, the court ruling stands and they do table all offers for the Coyotes, it will be interesting to see how this shakes out. If Balsillie wins the bidding war, will the court intervene and demand that the NHL succumb to the conditions of Balsillie and force the NHL to let him move the franchise to Hamilton? Can the court actually do that?

If the court is able to intervene and uphold it’s own ruling despite the NHL’s bylaws and desire to keep Mr. Balsillie away from the NHL, it certainly has the potential to set a very interesting precedence, doesn’t it?

If it works out that the court does make the NHL change it’s tune, will the courts then be able to step in on on-ice incidents? What about things like fighting? Will injuries incurred during an NHL fight now become fair game?

If that is the case, will the players now be accountable for their actions regardless of the by-laws written by the professional sports leagues? Will the players no longer be protected by the NHL, the Players Association and its union?

From my chair this is all very interesting indeed. In the event that the court does further intervene on the the Balsillie matter it certainly opens the door for the courts to impose their will in other incidents.

Clearly, given the violence that is associated in hockey today, players could be charged and convicted of some very serious crimes. Not to mention the possible financial awards that may be given by the courts...can you imagine?

The Todd Bertuzzi/Steve Moore incident comes to mind- Without the ability to hide behind the league by-laws and the “code”, how would the court rule in that incident?
What kind of sentence might Bertuzzi face if not protected by the NHL by-laws?

Financially, what would the court award for a player that was injured to the extent that Moore was?

Worse yet, in the event that a player dies while engaged in a fight, what kind of charges could potentially come from that incident? Who is ultimately responsible?

Funny thing is, there is yet to be any kind of closure to the Bertuzzi incident. Todd Bertuzzi still makes millions of dollars as an NHL player, all the while, Moore suffers with daily pain and continually hits a brick wall when he attempts to seek financial retribution from the league, Bertuzzi and the others involved in the incident.

Simply put, the NHL is just praying that this whole thing goes away, to heck with Moore, he was playing a game, “stuff” happens, on with the show!

What about accountability? Let’s say a court does entertain the idea of prosecuting a player for manslaughter, would the player be the only one accountable? What about the NHL? What about the Coaches? What about the Referees? Could a conviction and subsequent huge financial award bankrupt a franchise? Worse yet, could a huge financial award bankrupt the NHL?

It remains to be seen how the Coyotes' ownership issue pans out. Clearly, the NHL has it’s work cut out for them.

If I were the NHL I’d be real nervous, not just about Balsillie becoming an owner, it’s the bigger picture that could impact the league and it’s players drastically.

The coming weeks will likely see the NHL embracing a new owner to it’s fraternity. More importantly, it may spell the end for the NHL’s governing body’s power to enforce legal decisions when it comes to it’s league and the self imposed by-laws that they run under.

As the great Bob Dylan once said, “The times, they are a chang’in”...or will they?

Until next time,

Peace!