How would you fix the DOPS?

[WatchfulElm]

I think they need to stop considering injury as part of the equation. I see multiple hits in the year that get nothing because the guy pops right back up and plays on. A dangerous hit is just that, we shouldn't have to wait until someone ends up in a wheelchair before the league does something.

This is obvious. But we're talking about the same Mickey Mouse league that bases the severity of its high stick penalties on whether there is blood or not.

Maybe in a few decades, they will arrive in the 2000's, but in the short term, the best we can hope if for these dinosaurs to escape the caves they live in.

 

[Karl Eriksson]

How often do you beat your spouse?

False premise

 

[kaiser matias]

Anyone blaming Parros needs to read this.



It's not Parros. He literally does nothing.

Yeah, Parros is not solely to blame here. It's been a problem under him, Brendan Shanahan, Colin Campbell, and Brian Burke, so clearly transcends the person on top.

 

[1dreamof1cup]

Dops is fine, u guys are just softttt

 

[StrangeVision]

Third-party, independent panel. Never gonna happen.

 

[Got One Cup]

Perhaps it is time for the DoPS to be under the umbrella of the NHLPA. That way they are policing themselves.

You want a union to be in charge of punishing its members? Yeah that’s not gonna work.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

BTW, I'm listening to sports radio right now and the ones defending Wilson are lowest common denominator. Why is the league trying to appeal themselves to a bunch of uneducated old men? The NBA is really lame in how it's trying to be a "hip young guy" league, but guess what that's a much better route to go if you can pull it off than "angry uneducated old man" league. What are they f***ing doing? Do they want to be an afterthought forever?

 

[Cricket Green]

Like all things with humanity, it'll be reactionary. If TW's next bad decision ends with someone else/himself maimed/dead, only THEN will we hear mea culpas to the end of the Earth, a laughably large financial settlement with family of the victim and "sweeping" safety reform in the sport. It's the tragedy of the human condition. We are simultaneously the most intelligent and dumbest creatures on this planet. We know what's good for us but....f*** it.

 

[The Expert]

hire a panel of people to make decisions that includes a sports physician, maybe 1-2 players, and then former referees or something similar. Having a random former player as the head of the dept is the issue. These guys are not qualified to be in the position they're in

Fire Parros because he is ****ing terrible and makes me miss Campbell which is insane, then this.

I’d also have someone on the panel who didn’t play in the NHL but is involved in the game. Someone like Dubas before he joined the Leafs.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

Ah yes, automated penalization. We sure don't complain about any of that around here.

Spoiler

Puck over the glass.

People who complain about delay of game have garbage in their soul and feces in their heart.

 

[mdog]

Obviously outsource to HFboards.

 

[StreetHawk]

Everyone who has been a part of the DOPS has been more of the initiator type. But, I don't foresee the skilled type players taking this role on. I think that the department could use that perspective in making their decisions.

 

[Ovie's Neighbor]

Hockey culture of the 70s still permeates the NHL. It'll be a joke insignificant league in the US until they take things like player safety seriously. But the culture is that of old men that have more brawn than brains.

Why will it be a joke? NFL is the most popular sport in the US and has been for a couple of decades. MMA is getting more and more popular. Why will it be any more insignificant? I have yet to see a good argument.

 

[ElLeetch]

Perhaps it is time for the DoPS to be under the umbrella of the NHLPA. That way they are policing themselves.

Have you ever met the police?

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

No. None of those incidents have prompted a discussion 3 threads long and calls for change among the DoPS. Tom Wilson prompted these discussions.

Yeah, you're right -- this is the first time people have been upset with the DoPS and it's the first time people have discussed what needs to be done to have more consistency from the DoPS. Carry on.

 

[Spear]

As if that would change a f***ing thing. The NHLPA exists to protect guys like Wilson from retribution for his actions, not to protect the rest of the players from him.

Hell, Tom Wilson is the NHLPA rep for the Caps, so fat chance that organization would even give him a slap on the wrist for anything he does.

Seriously, Wilson is their player rep? What a f***ing joke. Players get what they deserve.

 

[Ol' Jase]

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Why will it be a joke? NFL is the most popular sport in the US and has been for a couple of decades. MMA is getting more and more popular. Why will it be any more insignificant? I have yet to see a good argument.

Because no league will have this type of response to dirty tactics like Wilson's. It's bush league. It's not a serious league until it takes this type of shit seriously.

 

[Tweaky]

I like the idea of a committee of 5 people. Two players" A goon type like we are used to, but not Parros; and someone that played clean...say a former Lady Byng finalist or similar. And three others: a former referee, a sports physician, and a lawyer. The lawyer is there to help with interpreting the rule book, the CBA, and relevent legislation. The doctor is there to help evaluate the danger on a given play (regardless of actual injury incurred). The ref should know how to call the game and aid in rules interpretation as well as identifying when the on ice officials could have done more (this also leads into ongoing training for refs). And the players from either side of the "Code."

 

[SpinningEdge]

Never going to "fix" the DOPs because you cant "fix" fandom and bias.....

Caps fans are going, nothing there, Ranger fans are going OMG he should be charged for attempted murder.

Plus, you need to get the NHLPA onboard with any type of discipline etc, good luck with that.

That’s the right answer. The union may budge on more suspensions if they allow it to be paid. That’s only way.
If you want to suspend players without pay... then union will fight back very hard.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

Yeah, Parros is not solely to blame here. It's been a problem under him, Brendan Shanahan, Colin Campbell, and Brian Burke, so clearly transcends the person on top.

Fire Parros because he is ****ing terrible and makes me miss Campbell which is insane, then this.

I’d also have someone on the panel who didn’t play in the NHL but is involved in the game. Someone like Dubas before he joined the Leafs.

Colin Campbell is the Director of Hockey Ops to whom Stewart is referring. The reason it transcends Shanahan and Burke is because it's always been Colin Campbell. We're viewing the product he wants to curate.

They created the figure heads after he was caught admonishing refs for calling penalties against his son.

 

[boredem]

Why will it be a joke? NFL is the most popular sport in the US and has been for a couple of decades. MMA is getting more and more popular. Why will it be any more insignificant? I have yet to see a good argument.

Look what the NFL has done to protect it's QB's (their star players), you can barely touch them, they figured it out. Your star players draw in fans.

 

[MikeK]

Get rid of everyone currently who holds a position within the DoPS. The issue is this "Old Boys Club" mentality. It should be controlled by impartial and independent personnel. Not by people hired by the NHL with invested interests.

 

[joestevens29]

Starts with the league mandating DOPS better

 

[Svechhammer]

Seriously, Wilson is their player rep? What a f***ing joke. Players get what they deserve.

Wears the A and is their NHLPA rep.

And people wanted to act like that misstep on twitter last night was some intern saying something dumb. This is also the same organization that hung Dale Hunter's number in the rafters, employed the likes of Chris Simon, Scott Stevens, Matt Cooke, Nick Kyprios, and Craig Berube. And then gives Tom Wilson the A and anoints him their NHLPA rep.

Like, nah man. This is exactly what that organization wants.