You've really got to wonder what goes on in the head of NHL disciplinary whatever Colin Campbell. He dishes out huge suspensions at the beginning of the season to set the tone, and then completely disregards that precedent when other stupid crap happens.
In the wake of Scott Walker's headbutt to the mouth of Mike Fisher, costing Fisher a tooth and a crown on another tooth, he received a 1-game suspension after a telephone call with Campbell. It's hardly even worth the call.
People might remember that at the start of the season, Philadelphia's Jesse Boulerice was given a 25-game suspension for cross-checking Vancouver's Ryan Kesler in the face. That was a good length, and certainly warranted. By handing only one game to Walker, Campbell is essentially saying that it is 25 worse to cross-check someone to the face than it is to head-butt them. How is that, exactly?
Some people (not Campbell) said that Fish deserved it, because he didn't remove his helmet and visor when the fight started. That's a ludicrous statement. First of all, nothing justifies a head-butt. Second of all, Fisher started shoving Walker after he ran over Martin Gerber; once Fisher shoved him, Walker dropped the gloves and started the fight. I guess Fisher should have allowed himself to take a few extra punches while removing his helmet before starting to throw his own haymakers? Give me a break.
What made it even worse is that the headbutt was with the fight ended and the linesmen had started to separate the two. And as if a head-butt wasn't enough, Walker threw an extra left for good measure. He was just pissed because he got smoked and wasn't expecting to have to pay the price for running a Senators' goaltender. Although it might seem an arbitrary number, he should have gotten at least five games, if not more.
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