Justice Served? I Think Not!

Hello fellow Jackalope fans!  It's been a while since I last posted due to me being swamped with school work, and a lot has happened when it comes to the Jacks over the last few days.  On the eve of opening day in the CHL, we have learned the punishments handed out by the CHL after the MacMillan/Van Drunen incident that took place in the Jacks second exhibition game against the Colorado Eagles.

  Before I give my opinion on the ruling of Duane Lewis, lets first talk about what exactly happened at the BEC this past Saturday night in Loveland, Colorado.  In the third period of the Jacks/Eagles exhibition game between the Jacks and Eagles (which the Jacks were leading by a score of 3-1) seven "fights" broke out in less than a two minute span.  After all of this crap happened, Brad MacMillan of the Colorado Eagles (who had apparently been trying to instigate fights all night) decided to take it upon himself to sucker punch an unsuspecting Dave Van Drunen who crumpled to the ice in a pool of his own blood.  A line brawl ensued immediately after this "incident" with several non-fighter Jackalopes on the ice against the Colorado Eagle goons.  In my mind, there is no denying that this was premeditated due to the circumstances being too "perfect" for the Eagles to carry out these actions.  Needless to say, Eagle player George Bradley was literally on top of a slumped over Kenny Bernard on the ice delivering vicious uppercuts to a defenseless Bernard and even (at one point) drove a nasty elbow right in the middle of Bernard's back.

  Apparently Jackalope owner Rick Gasser had decided he had seen enough and instructed his team to leave the ice and head to the locker room.  Both Gasser and Gillis should be commended for getting their team the hell out of that place considering it was pretty evident what the Eagle's intentions were.  The Jacks forfeited the exhibition game, even though the Jacks still won in my book, and Van Drunen ended up having to stay in Colorado to have surgery on his severely injured face.  Van Drunen, because of MacMillan's vicious, deliberate sucker punch suffered from a broken nose, several facial lacerations, and a broken jaw.  He had to have several plates as well as eighteen screws inserted in his face to "fix the damage," so to speak.  Come to find out Van Drunen (the best defensive defenseman in the entire CHL) will miss at least two months due to the actions of the coward known as Brad MacMillan.  Anyway, fans from both teams have waited for a few days now, wondering what punishments would be dealt by CHL Commissioner Duane Lewis when it came to this incident.  By the way, on a bit of a side note, this incident was so severe that it actually made the national news.  To get back to my point, though, about Duane Lewis' ruling, we finally found out today what punishments were handed out to the Jackalopes and Eagles.

  Odessa coach Paul Gillis was suspended for three games due to the forfeiture of the game as well as supposed public comments made.  I was very shocked to see Gillis suspended at all, considering I felt he should have been commended for protecting his players from the violent acts of the Colorado Eagles during a meaningless game.  I guess I was wrong.  The Jacks were also fined an undisclosed amount of money. 

 Now lets move on to what the Eagles received, shall we?  Many unbiased fans, as well as Jackalope fans and Jackalope owner Rick Gasser were hoping that MacMillan would be banned from the CHL for good.  Boy were we wrong.  MacMillan received a 22 game suspension, and while that may seem like a hefty penalty to some, I would argue that it's not fair that MacMillan will be able to come back and play very shortly after Van Drunen is physically able to.  The coward should have been banned from the CHL, plain and simple.  Now lets move on to the other Eagle punishments.  They were also fined an undisclosed amount of money, but the aforementioned George Bradley received a five game suspension.  I won't complain too much about that suspension, because I was actually a little surprised to see that the CHL actually had the balls to do anything to Bradley.  However, Mario Joly (a former Jackalope and now a Colorado Eagle) was the first (and only) player from either bench to leave the bench during this altercation.  According to the CHL rule book, Mario Joly should have been automatically suspended for a minimum six games.  But, when Duane Lewis revealed his ruling this afternoon, it turns out that Joly only received a four game suspension.  Are you kidding me?  If this isn't blatantly bending the rules, then I don't know what is.

 Finally, Eagles assistant coach (who was the acting head coach during the exhibition games) only received a three game suspension, which was the same that Gillis received.  I couldn't disagree with this more.  Not only that, but while Gillis has to serve his three game suspension during the first three regular season games, Greg Pankewicz will serve his three game suspension when the Eagle come to the ECC to play the Jacks in our barn.  What is the CHL doing here?  It seems to me that the CHL is once again trying to protect a member of their "crown jewel" from being verbally assaulted by the great Jackalope fans.  Oh well, maybe this bullshit ruling by Duane Lewis (as well as the cheap shot by MacMillan) will be the much needed spark to finally aid the Jacks in bringing the President's Cup to the Permian Basin.

  Was justice served?  I think not.  Feel free to comment on what you think about this incident as comments are always welcomed and encouraged.  With all of this said, the Jacks take on the Missouri Mavericks tomorrow night in Independence, Missouri where I'm predicting a 6-2 Jackalopes win.  I'm going to go ahead and wrap things up here, but check The Enforcer in the coming days to see how the Jacks did this weekend, as well as anything else pertaining to the Jacks as well as Van Drunen's condition.


Until next time Jackalope fans all I have to say is GO JACKS GO!!! and shame on you Duane Lewis!