Is the NHL’s lack of suspension for Ray Emery a calculated marketing move?

The NHL has always struggled to compete for fans with leagues like MLB, the NFL, and the NBA and even the NCAA and last year’s lockout did not help. Frustrated fans turned to other sports for entertainment and have had difficulty getting back into the hockey spirit causing ticket prices to fall dramatically.

But one thing that the NHL has something that separates it above all other leagues: its allowance of fights.

Friday’s line brawl between the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals was an extreme example but guarantees that there will be grudges held and mitts ready to be dropped when the teams meet again on December 15^th and two days later, December 17^th.

Typically, the league attempts to avoid player injuries and huge line brawls in order to at least somewhat maintain the integrity of the game but after Ray Emery’s “bout” with Capital’s goaltender Braden Holtby, the league has not suspended the Flyer’s net minder. Emery made his way down the length of the ice and continuously sucker punched Holtby despite Holtby’s unwillingness to drop the gloves.

While Ray Emery did not start the line brawl, Holtby blatantly did not want to fight. Ray Emery’s comment was "I basically told him to protect himself. I gave him a chance to protect himself."So understanding that Holtby did not want to fight, Emery still went after him. A lack of suspension leaves players "between a rock and a hard place"; either get a retaliation penalty or get the ever-living $H!7 beat out of you.

The NHL cited that fighting can only be penalized during the game by the referees based on the league’s rule.

The utter beat down is currently the talk of the hockey world and made ESPN’s premier show, SportsCenter, despite the show’s aversion to hockey highlights compared to football, basketball, and baseball.

In fact, a simple Google search of “Flyers”, loaded an article and video of the fight.

The fight even got the Capitals’ Twitter page going. “Only one thing to say after all of that. #Scoreboard. #CapsFlyers”; the Capitals made reference to the 7 to 0 scoreboard in favor of D.C.’s team even without Star Player Alexander Ovechkin.
The fight is definitely making its rounds through the World Wide Web, and sport fans that may pass by a hockey game on TV, may be more tempted to stick around to see a fight or two. It will be interesting to see the next few meetings between these two clubs and the viewership numbers that go along with them. They are sure to be hostile.