After being convicted last Friday of assault with a
weapon for striking Canucks LW Donald Brashear in the head
with his stick last season, former Bruins D Marty McSorley
told the Toronto Sun and Vancouver Province that he
"sacrificed himself for the good of the game" during the
trial. McSorley: "I absolutely refused to put the game of
hockey on trial. I could have had coaches, general
managers, Hall of Famers testify. I could have showed hours
of videos which would have showed ugly incidents of what
really happens in the NHL. I didn't feel that was
necessary." McSorley: "Many people wanted this to be a
trial about violence in hockey and I did my best to steer
away from that" (TORONTO SUN, 10/8). Meanwhile, NHL
Commissioner Gary Bettman said despite the guilty verdict,
"This was not a trial of the game or the N.H.L." (N.Y.
TIMES, 10/7). Bettman said the league dealt with McSorley's
case "swiftly, sternly, appropriately" last season (ESPN,
10/6). In San Jose, Victor Chi wrote, "The NHL was quick --
and justified -- to exhale in relief. ... The result ... was
a sentence they [NHL] could live with" (MERCURY NEWS, 10/8).
POINT, COUNTERPOINT: After the verdict, the Newark
STAR-LEDGER's Rich Chere asked, "Is it truly a dead issue or
has the door been opened for hockey players to be prosecuted
in other Canadian cities and throughout the United States?
(Newark STAR-LEDGER, 10/8). NEWSDAY's Steve Zipay: "The
case raised troubling questions for all sports. Do leagues
have the right to police themselves without judicial
intervention?" (NEWSDAY, 10/8). In Vancouver, Gary Mason:
"Is the league and its many unwritten codes of conduct
ultimately responsible for Friday's guilty verdict?"
(VANCOUVER SUN, 10/7). Rangers President Glen Sather said
that the ruling "could set a precedent." Sather: "You could
interpret it that way that courts have decided to get
involved in pro sports" (NEWSDAY, 10/8).
ALL TOGETHER NOW: The CP's Greg Joyce: "The hockey
community has circled the wagons and steadfastly reiterated
that the NHL should be able to look after itself without the
courts" (CP, 10/9). Stars C Mike Modano: "Everybody is under
a microscope now. It's kind of put a black cloud over the
start of the season" (USA TODAY, 10/9). Bruins D Don
Sweeney: "The [NHL] came down extremely hard on Marty
McSorley and justifiably so. But maybe that's where it
should have been left" (CALGARY SUN, 10/7). In Toronto,
David Shoalts: "No one in the [NHL] welcomed Marty
McSorley's assault conviction, but at least some of the
players, scouts and executives in the game hope it will stop
a persistent and dangerous trend in recent years" (GLOBE &
MAIL, 10/8). In L.A., Helene Elliott: "In a sense, this was
a trial of the NHL and its system of imposing supplementary
discipline was found wanting" (L.A. TIMES, 10/7). In N.Y.,
Larry Brooks wrote that the verdict "serves as a warning
that victims, even ones who wear uniforms, have rights, too"
(N.Y. POST, 10/8). Also in N.Y., Sherry Ross wrote that
NHL had already treated the McSorley case with the "grave
attention the incident merited" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/8).
