Hotlanta Needs to Cool Off

Maybe Atlanta Thrashers head coach Bob Hartley didn't get the league memo.

The "new and improved" NHL wants to be as unlike the old NHL as possible. In addition to stricter rules on obstruction, a shootout to end tie games and the trapezoid, the NHL toughened its stance on reckless physical play.

Remember the Todd Bertuzzi attack on Steve Moore in the extinct version of the league? Well it seems Hartley doesn't.

On Thursday night, Thrashers left winger Eric Boulton delivered an elbow to the skull of Tampa Bay Lightning rookie Paul Ranger. The hit happened late in the game with Atlanta trailing 6-0, in what many would consider "garbage time." There was no reason to be overly aggressive in a game that for all intents and purposes was over.

The incident is a bitter aftertaste to last week's game between the Thrashers and the Toronto Maple Leafs. In that game, Boulton's hit on concussion-prone Eric Lindros sparked a blow to the head by Thrasher Andy Sutton on Toronto's Darcy Tucker. Tucker left the game with blood dripping from his head and a wound that required 20 stitches.

Players, coaches and the media have pieced two and two together and wonder just what Hartley is instructing his players to do out on the ice. According to a report, Leafs coach Pat Quinn charged that Hartley promotes a head-hunting mentality on the bench.

There is no doubt that the Thrashers are frustrated: the team is off to a 2-5 start and sitting at the bottom of the Southeast Division standings. Atlanta has been without the services of its top two goalies and were outscored 28 goals to 17.

It's understandable that in the heat of the moment a frustration can lead to a wild punch. But following one of the darkest moments in NHL history and the unfortunate legacy Bertuzzi must carry with him for the rest of his life, there is no longer tolerance for the reckless behavior recently exhibited by Thrashers' players. At a time when the new NHL is struggling to promote its image and product, the last thing it needs is another black eye or one of its rising young stars to be injured because of a foolish act by a hockey goon.

In the new NHL, a player's conduct doesn't just impact his team but the league as a whole. Bad press cannot be tolerated when the NHL's survival is on the line. Expect fines and suspensions to be severe and swift. And maybe that starts with the man standing behind the bench.

- Associated Press photo