NHL: Why, Domi?

Game four of the New Jersey-Toronto series was one of the best-played games of the entire season for the Maple Leafs. With the exception of Patrik Elias' power play goal in the second period, the Maple Leafs played the perfect game against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

All of that changed in the blink of an eye -- or in this case, an elbow to the head.

With only a handful of seconds left to go in game four of the Leafs-Devils series, Toronto was up 3-1 and on the power play. Trying to get back to the play was Devils defenseman Scott Niedermayer, skating up the right wing boards. Suddenly, Leaf forward Tie Domi was going the other way and knocked Niedermayer out cold with an elbow to the skull. Domi then joined in a two on none breakaway because most of the Devils had stopped skating. While Niedermayer laid flat on the ice (actually, he looked half dead), Leaf forward Shane Corson would have scored had not Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur made a save.

The only person who saw the play was Devils captain Scott Stevens, who was in the penalty box and went into a tizzy. One profanity laced tirade later, he was given a ten-minute misconduct and sent to the showers early. Meanwhile, Domi was handed a five-minute intent to injure penalty. Niedermayer was taken off on a stretcher as a precautionary measure, but was walking around the locker room on his own power about forty minutes later.

Still, this latest incident has put yet another black eye to an image-conscious National Hockey League. How did the NHL take action? By handing Tie Domi a suspension for the remainder of the playoffs – but should Toronto not advance any further, he will miss the first eight games of the 2001-2002 season.

This punishment is lenient. Domi’s impression of the Hanson Brothers was one of the dumbest moves I’ve ever seen in a hockey game. Maybe it’s the Old School mentality that a hit is a hit and a real player will shake off the cobwebs and play the next night. But with the increase in head injuries over the past several seasons, a player just won’t come back the next night and play. Look some of the names that have been forced to retire over the course of the last five seasons because of head injuries: Geoff Courtnall, Pat LaFontaine, Brett Lindros.

So what can the NHL do? Other than levy suspensions, they can do nothing. The one entity than prevent these unnecessary incidents from continuing is the NHL Players Association. Similar to Marty McSorley’s clubbing of Donald Brashear last season, the NHLPA hasn’t said word one about the incident. And they won’t likely ever until a player dies or is seriously injured because of an incident like this. What also makes me angry is that Domi’s teammates defended him. Sure, it’s acceptable to defend a teammate if they get in a fight. But for something like this is shocking.

Certain fans will dispute that what Scott Stevens did to Hurricanes forward Shane Willis in game two of the New Jersey-Carolina series was just as unacceptable. The big difference to what these two players did was not only did Willis have the puck, but also Stevens lowered his shoulder to level Willis, who was skating across the red line with the puck. Niedermayer never had the puck and Domi nailed the defenseman with an elbow.

What message did Domi intend to send? It’s uncertain. But game five of this series will likely be one of the most intense battles of the season. Scott Stevens, a slight non-factor thus far, will have a fire in his eye and will go after any Maple Leaf with the puck in the Devils’ zone.

God save any Maple Leaf who does so.