Apparently the NHL’s department of player safety doesn’t take kindly to those who knock out an opposing player by shoving the butt-end of their hockey stick into his jaw. For the second time in two months, Sharks goon John Scott was suspended by the league for an altercation with Anaheim Ducks grinder Tim Jackman.
This time the incident, which occurred during San Jose’s overtime loss to Anaheim on Monday, involved Scott retaliating to a routine shove by Jackman in front of the net by swinging his stick into Jackman’s face. Scott will be suspended for the next four games, meaning someone capable of playing NHL-level hockey like Chris Tierney will take his place in the lineup. Here’s the video from DoPS:
This is Scott’s third suspension in the last 14 months. In addition to the two-game suspension for leaving the bench to fight Jackman the last time the Sharks were in Anaheim, Scott was also dealt a seven-game ban last October for a headshot on Bruins forward Loui Eriksson back when Scott was a member of the Buffalo Sabres.
At some point, repeatedly suspending a player whose continued employment in the league is almost entirely contingent on him doing the things that earn him these suspensions is pointless at best and deliberately enabling at worst. At some point, the NHL needs to severely fine or extract draft picks from teams like the Sharks that employ players like Scott. It isn’t Scott’s fault that NHL teams keep paying him money to injure or punch other players and until the league penalizes teams for doing so, the department of player safety can go ahead right now and schedule a hearing with Scott every other month or so for the rest of the season.
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