Immediately after Nichol crashed into the net and fell behind into the boards, he came up swinging, delivering a solid right on the side of Spacek’s head.

This was much worse than Alexander Ovechklin’s gutless hit from behind a few weeks ago on Daniel Briere. Nichol’s sucker punch knocked Spacek cold to the ice. While Spacek was knocked out unconscious, Nichol continued to pound Spacek’s head until Sabres goalie Marty Biron may have saved his life by grabbing onto Nichol.

Nichol, by the way, is the player who gave Tim Connolly his first concussion a few years ago when he slammed his elbow to Connolly's head. Connolly missed an entire season because of that assault and now is out again because of another shot to his head in the playoffs.

Spacek lay unconscious on the ice for more than 4 minutes before being helped to the dressing room. He is going to have an X-ray to see if his jaw is broken.

Nichol got a 9 game suspension handed to him by Colin Campbell. That is surprising as he didn't even give Alexander Ovechklin a suspension after he deliberately slammed Dany Briere into the boards a couple weeks ago. While Nichol deserved to get at least a 25 game suspension, at least Campbell did give him 9 games. The expectations were for Campbell to look the other way like he did Ovechklin and maybe give him a $2,000 fine, which is spare change to these hockey players.

There have been some that have suggested that Jaroslav Spacek deserved that retaliatory attack by Scott Nichol when he directed Nichol into the goal posts trying to defend Marty Biron in the crease. They make a case that Spacek should have seen it coming and should have been prepared for an all-out Nichol mugging.

Anyone who defends what Nichol did is advocating going back to the dark days of the NHL, back when the Broad Street Bullies ruled the ice. The NHL is trying to attract new fans and old ones who were disillusioned over the violence on the ice that has existed since the game's beginnings. Last season, the NHL tried its hardest to clean up the game and instructed the refs to call more penalties. Those advocating that what Nichol did was in any way defeasible, is opening up Pandora's Box.

I have seen much worse in the way of cheap shots, players being shoved into the goal posts that didn't result in the aggressor being sucker punched in the face. Anyone defending Nichol's assault is advocating such tactics by ANY player in response to almost ANY infraction. Spacek was getting an interference penalty and if Nichol wanted to fight Spacek, at least be a man about it and square up to him face to face so that the Sabres defenseman would have a fair shot of defending himself.

"It was really bad. It was a cheap shot,'' said Sabres forward Jochen Hecht.. "(Spacek) never saw it coming. He just punched him right in the jaw. It was a really bad cheap shot that I've never seen anything like.''

To come up behind a player and sucker punch him is taboo, even in the NHL where they have been letting hits from behind go like Alexander Ovechkin's gutless check from behind on Daniel Briere, smashing him head first into the boards.

To defend Nichol's sucker punch in any way is advocating more of the same for any infraction. Let everyone get away with sucker punching a defenseless player from behind and see the law authorities close the game of hockey down, as it should be. Nichol's sucker punch was almost an exact duplicate of Todd Bertuzzi's sucker punch on Steve Moore that resulted in Moore breaking his neck on the ensuing fall to the ice. Looking at the replays of both come-from-behind brutal attacks shows an almost duplicate punch to the right temple of the victims.

The NBA has decided to crack down on fights in an effort to clean up its image after a huge brawl the took place a couple weeks ago in Madison Square Garden.

NBA Commissioner David Stern had the guts to suspended seven players and exacted $1 million in fines from the Nicks and Nuggets. The biggest surprise was when the league's leading scorer Carmelo Anthony, the Nuggets' star forward, was suspended for 15 games. This was for a punch square on the jaw of the Knicks' Mardy Collins. To hand out the longest suspension in league history to the league's top player certainly is a testament to Stern's commitment to cleaning up the game.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and the man responsible for dealing out suspensions, Colin Campbell, should look at what Stern did and use it as a shining example of how to deliver a message and improve the image of their league. To not give Alexander Ovechkin any suspension and a mere $1,000 fine is a mockery compared to what David Stern did. At least they did give Nichol a 9-game suspension. But if they had used the NBA example and done it right, Nichol would now be serving at least a 25-game suspension.

If the NHL ever wants to get back on ESPN and to get a respectable TV contract from one of the Big 3 US networks, they have to improve their image. To allow thuggery to continue, especially hits from behind, the NHL will fall back into the minor sports category even more.

Friday, Nichol made an apology that was made available to the media through the Predators web site.

"First, I offer my apologies to Jaroslav Spacek and am thankful that he was not hurt," Nichol said. "I have great respect for the game and my fellow players, and in the heat of the moment last night, I lost my cool and reacted emotionally to being fouled. I am not proud of my actions, but I take full responsibility and accept the consequences.

"I also apologize to my teammates, coaches, the organization and Predators fans, and look forward to returning to action and helping my team."

Sabres end two game losing streak

While all the talk has been about the Scott Nichol sucker punch on Spacek, the Sabres did win the game 7-2 over Nashville. The Sabres scored two powerplay goals while Nichol was given a 5 minute major. After the Sabres lost to the Senators and Canadiens at home, they went on the road and won like they have most of the season. The Sabres play in St. Louis to conclude a two-game road trip Saturday night.

     HOME           SEASON'S RESULTS      SABRE TALK MESSAGE BOARD      NEWSROOM      99 PLAYOFFS    
THE PLAYERS      STATISTICS      SCHEDULE      PROSPECTS      LIVE GAME RADIO      HISTORY      TEAM INFO     
PHOTO GALLERY     MULTIMEDIA      SABRES POLL      TROPHY CASE      LINKS      THE STAFF      E-MAIL SABRESWORD

Copyright © 2006 Sabres Central, all rights reserved