From My Mom's Basement: Colin Campbell

The hockey world is abuzz over a string of emails between NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell and several others. The emails were uncovered by Tyler Dellow of mc79Hockey.com, and have been plastered across all of the sites we go to for our entertainment and news. The emails are damning, they are petty, and they are absurd. The question remains, what do they mean?

To be certain, you will be able to find discussion of this topic on many sites today, and likely a great deal of discussion on Twitter. There are already multiple view points, from the extreme of calling for his head, to the "Yawn. Yeah, and?" type reaction. I guarantee you the one group we don't hear from is the one group that needs to step forward and answer the most.

Make the jump and let's discuss the matter, shall we?

First of all, Tyler's site has been completely overwhelmed by the traffic. However, please keep trying to get through and read the full piece. He deserves the traffic, as this is good, solid work. If nothing else, he gave Wild fans something to talk about for a couple off days, and that is always a good thing.

To set up our discussion, we go straight to the meat of the post. In an exchange between Campbell and NHLOA member Steven Wilkom. Keep in mind all of these emails are part of the documentation in a lawsuit regarding the firing of one of the referees by the NHL. The lawsuit has little to nothing to do with the topic at hand, but if you want to read about it, you can do so at Tyler's site. The email exchange is this:

The players involved are deduced by Tyler, not by me, but following the reasoning in his post, it is pretty clear he is correct.

Anyone ever heard of Gregory Campbell? No? That's because the only time he is ever mentioned is when his father does something stupid or passes on making a decision regarding whatever team Greg is playing for at the time. Not to pile on the kid, but he is a relative nobody in the grand scheme of things.

The fact that Campbell is complaining to an NHLOA representative about a call that went against his son is tacky at best, and is abusing his influence at worst. That Campbell is willing to call a player names and question that player's honesty openly to an NHLOA official is completely unprofessional and unacceptable. The fact that any of this occurred is completely and totally unsurprising.

The discussion has spread across the web, with posts from many large NHL sites, a Twitter meme, and some banter back and forth.

From Justin Bourne on Twitter:

In response to that Joe Yerdon of ProHockeyTalk:

From Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy:

I have to say, I agree with Bourne and Yerdon on this. The string of emails shows that he is complaining about calls against his son. The only reason to do that to an NHLOA official is to try to influence if it happens again. Otherwise, the email needed to go to a friend. If he was just venting frustration, it should not have gone to the NHLOA, it should have gone to family. The fact that he chose to email an NHLOA official about shows a complete lack of judgment and is an abuse of his power.

The fact that the email is greeted with seeming joviality is disappointing. Sure, Campbell has a responsibility to offer an opinion on the refereeing in the league. However, it should be done in a professional manner, and it should never, ever, involve calling players names, or trying to influence calls in favor of his son.

A hockey parent in Mites would be lambasted for trying to influence league officials regarding calls on their kid. Why should the head of NHL discipline be exempt? The fact that he offered his "opinion" is unacceptable in the first place. His opinion is not just his opinion. By the weight of his position, it also becomes the league's opinion.

Changes the entire tone and meaning of the emails if you put it in the context of the NHL contacting the NHLOA, doesn't it? It is a clear abuse of power, and shouldn't simply be glossed over as though it isn't a big deal.

Good friend Ms. Conduct had this to say on Twitter:

No, H, you aren't. I promise you that.

Wysh continues his thoughts on the blog at Puck Daddy:

Again, the fact that Campbell is abusing his power and is incapable of sound judgment is not a surprise. The fact that it is documented, and that those documents are now public makes it a big deal. This is the proverbial "smoking gun" that lawyers and politicians are always looking for. Speculation on criticism summed up and proven in less than one page of type.

I can understand the thinking here. I can. Colin Campbell has set himself up in a PR standpoint as a blithering idiot with no ability to do his job, and the NHL has done nothing about it. Lower the bar enough, and no one expects you to do anything. This adds up to an apathy towards the situation that basically comes down to "They had their chance, and never did, so why would they now?"

They should now because of the reason listed above. The proof. Before, the only thing we had was a record of inconsistent discipline that the NHL explained away as being conducted on a "case-by-case" basis, and assumptions by a large number of smart people that Campbell was biased. However, this proves it. When the proof is presented in black and white, it is changes the equation.

Did we need the emails? No. Did the NHL need the emails? Absolutely they did. They cannot be explained away, and they cannot simply be ignored. There is no justification for the things Campbell wrote to the NHLOA. None. An NHL executive cannot be allowed to attempt to sway an NHLOA official into improving the playing conditions for his son, and he cannot be allowed to openly call players names.

Jack Edwards knows Colin Campbell is a joke, the fans know, the players know, and the media knows. Up until today, the NHL has plausible deniability. They no longer have that. I defy the NHL to answer these allegations. Show me anything, anything at all that would justify what Campbell did in this situation. Sure, it was almost four years ago, but if it happened once, it has happened again, and is likely still happening.

Let's wrap this up, shall we? Colin Campbell attempted to cheat. Whether or not that attempt was successful doesn't matter. Campbell has some kind of influence on whether or not the the refs keep their jobs. He is acting not only as a father, but as a powerful representative of the NHL. He attempted to use his sway to make life easier for his son, and to affect the calls the refs are making regarding his son. This is no different than sliding a bag of money across the table and saying "Do the right thing" with a sly wink.

He also completely ignored one of the most dangerous hits the league has ever seen, by a repeat offender, involving a player Campbell has a strong distaste for. A hit that led immediately to rule changes to keep Campbell from ignoring them again. But hey, Savard already got his, right Colie?

Colin Campbell has been called a lot of things in his time with the NHL. Idiot, moron, illogical, inconsistent. These emails show he is also abusive of his power, abusive toward the players he lords over, and they also show that he is a cheater.

Should Campbell be fired for the emails? Absolutely. Will he be? Not a chance in hell. Just like he should have been fired for his years of mismanagement, but never was. However, this should not lead to the fans and media simply brushing this off as just another Colin Campbell moment. He cheated, abused his power, abused the players, and abused the name of the NHL in his attempt to get his way.

The discipline in the league should, indeed, be left to someone without bias and without the multitude of connections in the NHL. Clearly, it should not be left to someone who cannot control his emotion for his son, and who cannot control the emotion of his grudges.

The ball is in your court NHL. I am more than willing to bet we hear absolutely nothing from the league about this. They have no way to spin it, so better to just stick their head in the sand and wait for something to distract our attention. Sickening.