Pittsburgh Penguins

Sid slash is a symptom of gross negligence
March 24, 2017, 11:12 AM ET [248 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
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Sidney Crosby is back in the spotlight again and it is certainly not for a good reason. Last night against the Ottawa Senators he attempted to make a defensive play using his stick and the results were not pretty. Crosby slashed Senators defenseman Marc Methot on the hands and it caught the tip of Methot’s finger. The result was gory and unfortunate. The tip of his finger was absolutely mangled.

Here is the play



I’m going to make something clear right off the bat. I despise these slashing plays in hockey. There are no need for them and yet they happen on a nightly basis. And let’s not kid ourselves the Crosby slash happens every single night in the NHL, if not every single game. It doesn’t result in somebody’s fingertip spontaneously combusting, but the possibility of that happening is always on the table. Last night was the night it happened.




Why does it happen? The officials never call it. The incident with Crosby and Methot did not result in a penalty. There should not be any surprise about that. That is par for the course.

If you don’t believe me here is further evidence from this season documenting 21 slashing incidents that went uncalled against Johnny Gaudreau of the Calgary Flames in a single game against Minnesota.



Gaudreau missed weeks of action because of a broken finger. His teammate Troy Brouwer basically gave the shrugged shoulder emoji about the incident


“It’s an unfortunate circumstance,” said Brouwer, who has made a living out of administering the same sort of abuse to every star player he’s ever faced.

“I know in my game I give a lot of top players good whacks and stuff. You obviously don’t want to let it be happening to your team, but star players are going to be keyed on. It’s no different than what we do (to the opposition).”


There is no bias towards stars or grinders. The league’s ineptitude doesn’t have any agenda other than its existence. They have fostered a culture where players like Sidney Crosby and Troy Brouwer just accept this kind of stuff as “part of the game”.

Even the coaches who lose their star players to this behavior are indifferent to it

“We’re not new to the game – we’ve seen this for years,” said Gulutzan, who accepts it as part of the game.

“We’ve had conversations about other stars around the league and no one wants to lose a player like that. But these things happen. Everybody has to go through this stuff. It’s just the way it is.”


Is Sidney Crosby going to escape punishment because he is Sidney Crosby? No, he’s going to escape punishment because nobody is ever punished for these slashes. Would this be punished if it was Sidney Crosby? No, players are going to escape punishment because nobody is ever punished for these slashes. Fun fact, Sidney Crosby has been suspended the same amount of time for missing the All Star Game as he's drawn from players hitting or slashing him, one.

The slashes that happen nightly aren’t unlike the crosschecks to the lower back you see all NHL defenseman take part in. Most of those crosschecks don’t result in major injury. That is until somebody loses an edge and slams awkward into the boards. The crosschecks aren't the topic du jour, but make no mistake at some point we are going to have another bad injury because of the uncalled crosschecks and we'll be having the same exact discussion as the one today. The players do it because there is nothing forcing them to stop doing it. NHL officials are complacent and are the driving force behind these players having that cavalier attitude. The parade of slashes and crosschecks will continue to flow.

People can call out Crosby for the play from last night and I would encourage it. However, be prepared to call out the majority of NHL players every night there are games being played. The Crosby slash is just a symptom of the league’s gross negligence. That play is an accepted part of hockey based on the standard set forth by the officials. This wasn’t always the case. Way back during the magical 2005-06 season the league would call these infractions.

source: imgur.com

Unfortunately, the dinosaurs who run the league love the “let them play” mantra. They couldn't tolerate a cleaner and more fun league because it isn't what they grew up with. This is what the “let them play” attitude gets you. It leads to indifference by the players while only caring about each other after something bad happens. You can’t expect the players to care if the league doesn’t.

Did Sidney Crosby mean to destroy Methot’s finger? No. Does that matter? Of course not. The script is similar after these incidents. The attacking player will say how they did not mean to cause injury and their teammates will talk about what an “honest player” they are. This scenario is on an endless loop. It may involve different players with different infractions and different injuries, but the script is the same. Negligence is breeding the conditions where these players are comfortable enough to keep engaging in the behavior which leads to the injuries like last night. The league fails to understand the basic concept that if you punish the act and not the result you will drastically lower the chances of injuries like last night. The NHL is a reactionary league. They aren’t proactive with a single thing that has to do with player safety. Last night it was Marc Methot who suffered as a result and in the next week (if not tonight) it will be somebody else.

You can vilify Sidney Crosby for his actions last night if you want. I didn’t like the play. However, pretending that it was a unique circumstance would make you just as ignorant and negligent as the NHL officials who allow this behavior to continue unpunished on nightly basis.