Belaboring the point

Lots of other people have already said this, but I'm not letting it stop me. Hypocrisy is something I dislike in general, and in sports I dislike it intensely. I think part of the reason is that we have to put up with so much bullshit in school, work and politics that I really don't need it in my entertainment as well. However, a former hockey player named Mario Lemieux, currently owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins, just made himself the frontrunner for this year's Brooks Orpik Hypocrisy Award.

The Pens-Islanders game last Friday got a bit wild, with 14 fighting majors, 21 misconducts and a total of 346 penalty minutes handed out. It was straight-up goonery, and the two Islanders players that got suspended deserved every game of it. The trouble is that after the Isles players got their suspensions, and their team was fined $100,000, the owner of the Penguins waded into the fray himself by releasing a statement. In it, Mario complains that the league isn't cracking down on players attempting to injure their opponents. It's not exactly clear what he wanted the league to do, but there you are: he complained.

It's bad enough that it only bothers Lemieux when it's his team that's on the receiving end. None of the other incidents that took place while he's been owner have really troubled him, at least not to the point of issuing a statement. That's not the worst of it, though. The worst part is that Matt Cooke plays on Lemieux's team.

Earlier this month, Cooke kneed Ovechkin:

It went unpunished, but when he went on to check Fedor Tyutin from behind, he was handed a four-game suspension.

Of course, these days Matt Cooke is mostly notorious for, well, this.

It still makes me feel sick to watch that. Now, most of the time I don't agree with the things Don Cherry says on Hockey Night in Canada, but this time, I can't hope to sum up the kind of player Cooke is better than he did on Coach's Corner.

I mean, hell. This is so serious that Cherry's actually decently dressed.

**

Matt Cooke is the most damning indictment of Lemieux's moral sensibilities, but it's worth remembering who his captain is. I've been meaning to post a couple of videos on that, but this seems like a good time. Here's some examples the class shown by the guy Mike Milbury has called "the perfect face of the NHL"; Mario Lemieux's team captain. I've said before I hate him. Here's why.

He dives, he slashes. To sum up:

Oh, wait, I nearly forgot the single greatest example of the amazing class, grace and leadership that Sidney Crosby brings to the game of hockey. I'm sorry, but I can't forget this one.

Yes. That's Crosby, punching a guy in the junk. While he's being held down by Brooks Orpik.

These guys play for Mario, and he's just fine with them. I'd say this pretty much defines hypocrisy.