Summary
Senior Vice President Mike Murphy, the dean of discipline for the Stanley Cup final, extended the long arm of NHL law before Game Four by putting his foot down on all finger fighting between the Bruins and Canucks. He told both teams to keep their fingers to themselves or risk getting the thumb.
It was a classic case of the NHL using selective enforcement and making up the rules as it goes along. There's nothing in the rule book about illegal use of finger -- other than the obvious one -- for insertion into another player's mouth. The penalty falls under the general guidelines for unsportsmanlike conduct, defined by Murphy as "the garbage that is going on."See the full content of this document
Extract
Real Hockey Pushes Sideshows Aside
Not very clear but clearly both teams understood. The series was on the verge of becoming a joke. And the joke is over.
Anyone using their fingers in an unsportsmanlike manner (see: fish hooking, eye gouging, poking or taun...See the full content of this document
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