Stompy McUnibrow Update

It appears the smoking gun/Zapruder film/second gunman has decided to make its appearance in regards to the Chris Pronger stomping on Ryan Kesler incident.

Be sure to check this link first to see it for yourself if you were doubting the validity of Kesler's claim.

Also doing a mea culpa with this is TSN's Bob McKenzie who had initially said he didn't believe Pronger should be suspended based on the "inconclusive" video evidence presented before. Now, with the new video showing a closer view of what exactly Stompy McUnibrow was doing to Kesler... he feels action should be taken.

The main guy changing course in all this, however, is Colin Campbell. Campbell had asked for Pronger to come to New York City to meet with him to discuss his newly minted indefinite suspension. Pronger opted to exercise his right to have his hearing over the phone.

What I found oddly amazing about this part of the story was this:

Traditionally, the type of hearing usually speaks to the number of games a
player can be suspended. The phone hearing normally means four games
or less, while an in-person hearing means five or more.

By waiving his right to an in-person hearing, Pronger acknowledges his
suspension could be more severe than the phone treatment usually determines.

So... basically you know how screwed or not screwed you are based on how they want to conduct business. I also find it a bit odd that the player who's about to be punished has the option of whether or not they come to meet with Campbell. Shouldn't something regarding what will likely be a long suspension have to require their presence in person? This would be like having a defendant be tried, convicted and sentenced all while never having to set foot in court....ever. Then again, it's not surprising that the NHL would operate in such a way.

This should prove interesting to see how harshly the NHL comes down on Pronger - remember, the bar is set at 30 games (what Chris Simon got for doing exactly the same thing). Also, remember that Simon and Pronger now both have the same number of doled out punishments from the NHL. I'm thinking Pronger will miss out on the rest of the regular season and then will be back and ready to go for the playoffs where he'll probably continue to be a beligerent rule breaker and menace to the safety of everyone on the ice.

This really couldn't have worked out any nicer for Anaheim.