Canadian Media: Not So Fast, Pronger

Had it not been Chris Pronger -- Canada's unfavored son -- allegedly "stomping" on the leg of Vancouver's Ryan Kesler on Wednesday night, this story would have died as soon as Colin Campbell and the NHL decided not to pursue any punishment against him yesterday afternoon. But it was Pronger, so TSN has decided to continue prosecuting the case with claims of new, fresh and exciting video footage of the incident. So clear is this new look, TSN columnist Bob McKenzie has reversed course: The original video "was, at best, ambiguous" and the NHL shouldn't have suspended Pronger because of it; the second generation of the video and his sordid past now makes it "difficult, if not impossible, to give him the benefit of doubt."

Are we supposed to assume the NHL didn't take this case because it was going off some grainy YouTube footage? That it didn't apply the same technology it applies to magnify every controversial goal to get a better look at the Pronger/Kesler incident? Seriously? I mean, I've seen the replay booth at the Verizon Center, and there are more TiVos and other electronic equipment in there to put a Best Buy to shame.

But this all goes back to Mike Heika's contention that factors behind these decisions by the League to punish or not punish need to be made public, and my contention that they never will be. What if TSN is correct and the League decided not to punish Pronger because of video quality? That's why you don't overturn a fumble in the NFL; in a hearing, you collect eyewitness accounts and weigh the evidence. In any event, additional video of the Pronger hit can be found on my NHL Closer column on Deadspin, and be sure to check out a story that will be getting more play soon here on FanHouse: The News and Observer's analysis of suspensions, where it found one-third of the suspensions handed out were for crimes against Canadian teams. Wonder if media outcry has anything to do with it?

UPDATE: KuklasKorner reports that NHL Live reports that Pronger is going to have a hearing today. Congrats, TSN -- what are you going to do for an encore? Burn his kid's crib?