The concussion lawsuit brought against the NHL by former players is a massive headache for the league, which seems weirdly poetic. That headache got a bit bigger when the judge presiding over the lawsuit made public nearly 300 documents from the case, including multiple emails between NHL executives and reporters.
The Globe and Mail did us all a great service by making those documents searchable, giving fans, bloggers, and reporters a treasure trove of material to peruse.
There are all sorts of takeaways from these documents but the guy who comes out looking the worst is Colin Campbell. From victim blaming Marc Savard for the hit that ended his career to seemingly taking advice from both Darren Dreger and Bob McKenzie on suspensions, this is not a good look.
The emails between Campbell and McKenzie are particularly enlightening. The two talk like old friends, discussing their kids’ hockey careers (Campbell consistently refers to his son as “Gregory”; never “Greg”), and whatever other hockey topics cross their minds. Or rather, whatever hockey topics on which McKenzie wants the inside scoop. Their buddy-buddy relationship certainly casts a different light on how McKenzie went to bat for Campbell during his last email scandal.
Perhaps the most interesting topic covered by Campbell and McKenzie is fighting. Campbell apparently isn’t a big fan.
That wasn’t the case in 2007, when emails with Brian Burke and NBC suggest he wasn’t opposed to fighting at that time. He tells Burke, “I love fighting...If anything this debate ‘cleanses’ our game and provides us with the defense that we did ‘ask the question’.”
This suggests that the only reason the NHL talked about fighting was to show that they were talking about fighting.
To NBC, in regards to comments made by Brett Hull, Campbell goes off:
At least, at least have him talk to me before he says I and Gary want to get rid of fighting. Not the case at all. He can't assume. I like the fact he has the balls (or is nuts) to say what he feels but UNLIKE Charles Barkley, he does not do his homework or is just plain dumb.
But something changes in 2008 in correspondence with McKenzie. When 21-year-old senior hockey player Don Sanderson tragically fell during a fight, hitting his head, falling into a coma, and eventually dying from his injuries, McKenzie and Campbell exchanged some sober emails.
Well, sort of sober. Campbell immediately thought of his son and references a fight against then-Canuck Shane O’Brien where his helmet came off:
“Gregory had to fight that idiot O'Brian (sic) last night and Gregory's helmet came off. (Kesler was being a dick with Gregory and some Panthers so when Gregory went back at him OBrian (sic) came yapping. Gregory used to get into it with him when he was with Tampa). This scares me with the Helmets coming off.”
Campbell then said, “I guess if I had real balls I would go public and go hard but I won’t.”
In other words, he’s afraid. He recognizes the dangers of fighting but won’t do anything to protect the players—even when one of those players is his own son.
A month later, again in an email to McKenzie, Campbell went even further: “I am thinking of coming out and saying it’s time...to get rid of fighting...or at least take major steps to reduce it.”
Can you imagine if Campbell, the Senior Vice President and of the NHL and Director of Hockey Operations, responsible for the safety of players, had come out in early 2009 and said that the NHL needed to get rid of fighting? It would have been bold, brave, and potentially revolutionary.
Campbell wasn’t that bold: “I will need my bosse’s (sic) ok but thinking strongly of it.” Apparently Gary Bettman didn't give the "ok", if Campbell ever asked for it.
He goes on to say that his own experience fighting as a player didn’t mean he enjoyed it: “I hated fighting...had to do it though...particularly in the 70’s but it is stupid.”
“Get rid of fighting,” he says. “It is stupid,” he says. But how much has really changed?
The NHL eventually did put into place a minor penalty for players removing their helmets before a fight. In 2013. It took didn’t take long for the players to make a mockery of the new rule. Krys Barch and Brett Gallant helpfully removed each other’s helmets before a fight. Aaron Volpatti and Kevan Miller did the same and each got extra two-minute minors. A few days later, Mark Fraser and Travis Moen mutually agreed to doff their helmets so they would both receive off-setting penalties. Now, nobody seems to care if a helmet comes off in a fight.
To be fair to Campbell, fighting has dropped since 2009, though it’s unclear whether it’s a result of rule changes or it happening organically as teams gradually recognize the need to have 18 skaters who can legitimately play the game. But even though he had the opportunity to take the lead in speaking out against fighting and didn’t take it, he also had the opportunity to follow someone else: Brendan Shanahan.
Shanahan comes out looking best from these emails, showing a progressive approach to the game and an actual desire to make changes rather than just show the appearance of wanting to maybe, possibly consider making changes.
In September, 2011, Shanahan boldly suggests a game misconduct for fighting:
We all know that we've talked about a time where we impose stiffer penalties for fighting so I wouldn't see this so much as reactionary but more opportunistic that the timing is right to get the support to finally say enough.
...
Fighting (like slashing) is NOT legal. There is a penalty. Unlike fighting however, teams don't employ "slashers" for that simple role. We could work out the details but maybe it's time to propose increases the penalty for fighting. If you fight, you get kicked out.
"It's only a matter of time before the CHL and other feeder leagues do it. Let's be first. I believe it's the right thing to do.
While we don’t see Campbell’s or Bettman’s response to this, we do see what Campbell has to say when Shanahan brings it up again in February, 2012. Shanahan says, “I believe that fighting as a tool or strategy is leaving the game of hockey and we can either lead or follow.”
Campbell pushes back: “Not so sure how drastic we take that lead if that is what your (sic) suggesting.”
Colin Campbell in 2007/08: If I had real balls, I’d get rid of fighting.
Colin Campbell in 2012: Let’s not get too hasty about getting rid of fighting!
Colin Campbell is a coward.
