The unwritten rule among fans is to support your teams’ back no matter what. Ordinarily, we abide by the code. Today, we simply can’t.
Flyer Danny Briere will have a conference call with NHL officials on Monday morning to discuss an ugly incident from the team’s 6-1 rout of the Islanders this weekend.
The NHL must suspend Briere. After a faceoff, Briere decided to take his stick to the opposition’s face. You just can’t do that.
A stick is a weapon that can inflict major injuries on people. We’ve seen it before. If you let Briere get away with this, what precedent does that set going forward.
And, even the most ardent Flyers fan can’t disagree with us. If Crosby or someone else had done this to a Flyer, all hell would break lose in newspapers and on talk radio. We have to hold our own players to the same standard.
The NHL has no choice but to give Briere a suspension. We’re not saying it needs to be 20 games. But, a game or two is coming.
If he gets two games, his return game is against the New York Islanders. That would be BAD. If he gets suspended at all, it needs to be three or more games.
That would be interesting. He will likely get more so as to avoid that. Good call.
Chris Simon got suspended for what amounted to 20+ games for intentionally using his stick to whack Hollweg on the head a couple of years ago. Since Briere is not a repeat offender, which Campbell uses as his measuring stick, he definitely won’t get near that. Still, he deserves at least 5 games (IMO). For him to have run like that after being challenged by DiPietro says it all. I’ve lost all respect for Danny now.