When Stars right wing Grant Marshall slammed the butt end of his
stick into the face of Oilers captain Kelly Buchberger in Game 1
of the Dallas-Edmonton second-round playoff series last
Thursday, he caused Buchberger's right eye to swell and become
grossly discolored—the latest black eye on a league that is
plagued by gratuitous violence.
Brian Burke, the NHL's chief disciplinarian, pored over tapes of
the incident before ruling that Marshall would be fined $1,000
(the highest amount allowed under the league's collective
bargaining agreement) but would not be suspended. Burke said he
felt that Marshall hadn't intentionally hit Buchberger in the
eye and that Marshall's gloved hand may have cushioned the blow.
Marshall should have gotten at least a one-game ban. Several
players have rightfully been suspended for lesser offenses this
season, but Burke says he evaluates each incident on its own
demerits. Yet his leniency in the Marshall case raises questions
of what unstated factors—the importance of the games being
played? the personnel of the teams involved?—are taken into
account in the league's arbitrary system of discipline. The NHL
needs to levy stiff punishment consistently and should not
accept black eyes without sitting someone down.
Issue date: May 18, 1998
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