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'He got what he deserved' Mixed reaction to McSorley punishment
Posted: Wednesday February 23, 2000 07:05 PM
BOSTON (AP) -- As goalie for the Boston Latin High School hockey team, John Balaconis knows that fights and angry defensemen are part of the game, whether non-hockey fans like it or not. But he said the swinging blow to the temple Marty McSorley delivered with his stick to Donald Brashear was such a cheap shot it left him stunned. The season-long suspension imposed by the NHL Wednesday was just punishment, he said. "It's inexcusable," Balaconis said. "He got what he deserved." Most Boston-area hockey fans interviewed Wednesday agreed with Balaconis, with several saying the NHL was too lenient with the Bruin McSorley. But others cited Brashear's tangle with Bruins goalie Byron Dafoe earlier in the game, which left Dafoe injured, and said Brashear had it coming. "[Brashear] deserved what he got," said John Martin, 21, of South Boston. "Everybody has to protect their goalie." The blindside blow by the 36-year-old Bruins defenseman came in the closing seconds of the Vancouver Canucks' 5-2 win over Boston Monday. Brashear fell backward onto the ice, where he lay unconscious and bleeding for several minutes. He was later diagnosed with a concussion, and is expected to be out of action for three weeks. McSorley's season-long suspension is the harshest punishment in NHL history for an on-ice attack. McSorley and Brashear fought earlier in the game, with Brashear getting the best of the Bruins enforcer. Brashear also got mixed up with Dafoe at the goal mouth, and Dafoe injured his knee. Meredith Danberg-Ficarelli, 14, who plays for Dana Hall School in Wellesley, said McSorley's retaliation against Brashear is part of hockey. "It's a tough game," she said. "You have to deal with what happens." Martin called the punishment "much too harsh," as Brashear wasn't permanently injured, and said Brashear will think twice about going near the goalie again. "He'll learn from this, I'd say," he said. But John Hatch, assistant hockey coach at Saugus High School, said there was no justification for McSorley's action. "If you look at what he did and put that to anyone on the street, they'd be looking at jail time," he said. Hatch said the suspension wasn't nearly tough enough, and is another example of pro athletes being held to lax standards. "This means they can do what they want," he said. "They play by a different rule book." Thomas Keenan, 70, heard about McSorley's punishment while hanging out at Murphy Memorial Rink in Boston, and called the suspension "soft." "It should have went at least until next year," he said. "If you saw the play it was really a rotten thing that he did. ... I kind of winced when I saw it." Jim McNiff, 41, of South Boston, has a son in youth hockey, and said the suspension isn't long enough to send a message to young players. "I want to say I think his career should be over," he said.
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