Commentary
NHL needs to follow NBA's lead
JASON NADOLINSKI Sports Reporter
For the second time in recent memory, tempers flared and punches flew at an NBA contest as a late-game brawl between the New York Knicks and the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, Dec. 16, subjected the NBA's already-tarnished image to further scrutiny.

Late in the Nuggets' 123-100 victory in Madison Square Garden, Denver's J.R. Smith was going for a breakaway layup when he was nearly tackled with a foul around the neck by the Knicks' Mardy Collins. That was enough to send the eight other players already on the floor from both teams into the fracas, including Denver star Carmelo Anthony. Anthony eventually took a swing at Collins as part of the scrum spilled over into the crowd in a scene reminiscent of the November 2004 brawl between Indiana and Detroit.

All 10 players on the court at the time of the Denver-New York incident were ejected from the game, and while suspensions were doled out by the league afterwards, none was hit harder than Anthony. Anthony was told by league commissioner David Stern that his services wouldn't be needed (well, desired; I'm sure Denver would love to have him in the lineup, getting acclimated to the Nuggets' recently-acquired Allen Iverson) for 15 games. Oh yeah, Anthony was the league's leading scorer at the time.

What Anthony's suspension says to me is that Stern is trying hard to get thuggery and violence out of professional basketball. No one wants to see another repeat of one of professional sports' ugliest scenes (the Detroit Indiana debacle), and I think it's refreshing to see those in power not bowing to the league's stars. Anthony deserved to be punished for his role in the latest melee, and perhaps the only way to get through to these players is to take them out of their venue for a solid period of time.

That's why the NHL's paltry "penalty" handed down for Scott Nichol's sucker punch on Jaroslav Spacek in the Buffalo Sabres' 7-2 victory over Nashville Thursday, Dec. 21, is despicable.

Nichol, who has a reputation for these kinds of actions, was sent into the Sabres' goal by Spacek late in the game, and with Spacek's back to him, quickly got to his feet and sent Spacek to the ice with a shot to his jaw and a yank of his collar. Spacek was utterly defenseless, having no inkling that Nichol was ready to unload on him.

Getting just nine games for a vicious attack like that isn't going to teach Nichol anything, just like fining the Washington Capitals' Alexander Ovechkin a mere $1,100 - with no suspension - won't make him think twice about toning down his aggressive style a bit that could have seriously injured the Sabres' Daniel Briere. Ovechkin's fine amounts to a baker's dozen days worth of full per-diem meal expenses - and hey, what multi-millionaire doesn't need help paying for their day's worth of food - and, in my opinion, just rubs salt into Briere's still sore wounds.

The NHL treats its players, and especially its stars like Ovechkin, with kiddie gloves. Apparently, as long as someone doesn't get seriously injured, just about anything is fair game. The only way to really crack down on the ugly parts of the game - Nichol's sucker punch, Ovechkin's blind-sided check into the boards, etc. - suspensions have to be lengthy and fines have to be hefty. Otherwise, it's going to be business as usual until someone winds up dead on the ice.

e-mail: jnadolinski@beenews.com