Punishment handed out

Published 9:00 pm Sunday, March 25, 2007

So the WHL came down on the Tips and Chiefs this afternoon for the bench-clearing scrum from Game 2. Spokane’s Judd Blackwater was suspended three games and Mitch Wahl two games. Everett’s Brandon Campos got two games and Kyle Beach one game. Both teams also received $2,500 fines.

I’ve got to think this was a headache for the league office to figure out. On one hand, you can’t have altercations involving all 40 players and the league has to take steps to prevent that. On the other hand, a playoff series can turn into a farce if either of the teams is forced to field its “B” team. And while it was quite the spectacle, it never erupted into the malestrom it could have become. Therefore, I’m not going to criticize the final judgment.

What I will say is it appears the suspensions evened out. Beach is the biggest impact player among those suspended, but he’s also suspended for the shortest time. It’ll be interesting to see how the teams reshuffle their lines to deal with the suspensions.

Another interesting note is that the fine brings Everett’s season total to a whopping $11,250, a number that includes $5,000 for the preseason busgate incident and $2,000 for the ruckus between fans and the Portland bench. That total is more than the rest of the league combined ($8,250).