2011 Stanley Cup Finals: NHL Has Only Itself to Blame for Dirty Play in Finals

The 2011 Stanley Cup Finals has become a series of dirty play, taunting, and players trying to injure their opponents, and the NHL has only itself to blame for the series getting out of hand. 

The Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks have played an immensely physical Cup Finals, and given what’s at stake, the physical play is expected and welcomed. 

But the amount of classless cheap-shotting has to end or the league will lose its star players to injuries that will permanently end their careers. 

The NHL already lost the face of its league to a head injury this season. Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby suffered a concussion this season and was unable to help his team in the few months leading up into the playoffs, and did not play in the postseason. 

Countless other players have gotten hurt with hits to the head, and many more will. 

Canucks defenseman Aaron Rome was suspended today for the remainder of the Cup Finals for a vicious hit to the head on Bruins forward Nathan Horton in Game 3. 

Rome checked Horton in the head well after Horton had made a pass to Milan Lucic, and was totally defenseless against Rome’s hit. Rome was given a major penalty for interference and was ejected. 

In Game 1 of the Cup Finals, Canucks forward Alex Burrows bit Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron during an altercation between the two at the end of the first period. 

Many TV cameras captured the crime, and directly showed the intent of Burrows. You cannot unintentionally bite someone and make them bleed, especially when they are wearing a glove that you have to bite through to even reach the skin. 

Bergeron was seen showing teammate Mark Recchi the blood from his finger after the Burrows incident during the NBC telecast. 

However, the NHL decided not to suspend Burrows, but they did suspend Rome. Why one and not the other when they both attacked a player in an illegal fashion? 

Because Horton is injured and will miss the rest of the playoffs. Bergeron’s finger seems to be okay and he hasn’t complained about any lingering affects about it since Game 1. 

Basically what the NHL is doing, is ruling on disciplinary manners by looking at the situation in one simple form—did the victim get hurt? 

What the league needs to do is suspend players when they commit illegal checks and cheap shots even when the victim isn’t seriously hurt. 

If you’re only going to suspend and fine players who injure their opponents, then players will continue to make dirty plays and hits thinking they’ll only get suspended if the victim is seriously hurt. 

More often than not, a player will take the chance his opponent won’t be seriously hurt, and he will make the overly physical and dirty hit.

By suspending players for illegal actions, and not just for injuring players, the game will become cleaner and less star players will get seriously hurt. 

Hockey is a very violent game, with huge players moving at rapid speeds. The NHL has to protect its players, even if you soften the rules. 

Nobody wins when the game is too physical and star players are hurt and thus their team’s seasons end. 

The NFL has made some rule changes involving hits to the head and concussions in recent seasons, and although several players believe the new rules are taking some of the toughness out of the game, players know that if they make an illegal hit to the head, they’ll face a major fine. 

This fear of harsh discipline makes players less likely to want to commit dirty plays, and thus football is less dangerous. 

The NHL made a mockery of itself after Game 1 by not suspending Burrows, who clearly bit Bergeron intentionally and hurt him, and also for not fining Canucks forward Max Lapierre for taunting Bergeron in Game 2 by waving his finger in Bergeron’s face.

If Burrows is disciplined for his Game 1 action, Lapierre never taunts Bergeron. If Lapierre is fined for his taunt in Game 2, Milan Lucic and Mark Recchi wouldn't have taunted the Canucks in Game 3 because they would have known a fine would have been an automatic punishment.

The NHL needed to stop this crap in Game 1 and they didn't so now the series will be very interesting going forward. Because the league has not fined players for taunting, no one is going to stop because they know they can't be disciplined. The league won't fine someone for taunting in Game 6 when they didn't in Game 2.

This really makes hockey look bad. Even if the league wanted to fine somebody for a cheapshot after a whistle or for a taunt, they can't based on their decisions earlier in the series. 

The league needs to send a message to its teams and players that these classless and gutless hits and taunts have no place in hockey, and whether you severely hurt someone or not, it won’t be tolerated in the future. 

Injuries in hockey are going to happen, you cannot stop them.

But many of the severe ones can be prevented, and showing players that suspensions and heavy fines will result when dirty plays are made will make players respect the game and their opponents more often.

Nicholas Goss is a Boston Bruins featured columnist for Bleacher Report, follow him on Twitter for Bruins playoff news and analysis.