from David Shoalts of the Globe and Mail,

... Bettman conveniently overlooked another league bylaw, 28.1, which says, in part, “the Commissioner may, at his discretion, investigate any incident that occurs in connection with any [game] and may assess additional fines and/or suspensions …”

That is just one of several NHL bylaws that give Bettman all sorts of unilateral power in all sorts of matters on and off the ice. However, too often when the commissioner or any other NHL executive says “it’s something we’ll continue to discuss,” it really means “we’ll keep tap dancing until you fools are distracted by something else and forget about it.”

The state of fighting in the NHL is such that Bettman needs to show he is serious when he said it is something the league will “focus on, particularly with the general managers.” And it needs to go beyond rushing in a rule change at the GMs’ next meeting, Nov. 12, that makes goaltenders, like Emery, who assault unwilling combatants subject to suspensions.

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