Hockey and Justice: The Burrows Debacle

Game One of the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks was classic, and one of the best ever.  It ended 1-0, with the lone goal being scored by the Canucks’ Raffe Torres after 59:41.5 of gut-wrenching gritty play and both teams being thwarted by outstanding goaltending theatrics.   The event of the first period would become the burning topic for the next 48 hours.

Alexandre Burrows bites Patrice Bergeron

In a little pushing match behind the Boston net, Patrice Bergeron and Alexandre Burrows put their gloves in each others’ face.  Burrows inexplicably bit the Bergeron’s finger through his gloved hand, drawing blood.  Bergeron pleaded his case to the officials on ice, which should have earned Burrows a game misconduct and possible suspension, but they chose to ignore it.

Despite the fact the incident was captured on national network TV, a luxury for pro hockey in this country, league officials claimed there was no evidence to suspend Burrows for one game.  A precedence for the biting suspension was set in 2009, when Jarkko Ruutu of Ottawa was suspended for biting Buffalo Sabre Andrew Peter’s thumb.  Ruutu was suspended one game and fined $37,707.

Game Two commenced, and ended in a 3-2 overtime victory for the Canucks.  Burrows scored two goals and added an assist in a game that he should not have been allowed to participate.  I was surprised at how vehemently NBC commentators Mike Milbury and Keith Jones criticized the league for its cowardly non-decision.  Milbury was even more steamed over a taunting incident where Maxim Lapierre tried to stick his gloved finger in Bergeron’s mouth, mocking the integrity of the game.

I had indicated surprise that any player had enough teeth to bite another, and joked that Burrows said Bergeron tasted just like chicken, and that every restaurant in Canada would be promoting chicken fingers on their menus.  The only chickens in this whole affair are in the executive offices of the NHL.

The league turned a blind eye to the incident in a cowardly fashion, indeed.  But I believe that in hockey, indiscretions are often worked out between the boards and not in some Toronto board room.  Shame on the league for not taking a bite out of crime.  But even more shame to the Boston Bruins for not making Burrows pay on the ice for his indiscretion.  They should have dogged Burrows on the ice with a Sean Thornton (who was scratched from the contest) or Milan Lucic or the completely dispensible Andrew Ference and crushed him.  Or at the very least send him a message.  Boston did not.

Now, down 2-0 in the series, Boston faces a thoroughly uphill battle to earn its first Stanley Cup in 39 years.  If they fail, they cannot blame the lame administration of the league.  They can blame only themselves.