Labberecke » home win, Juventus matched the Serie A record set b

Many have asked: why on earth is it taking so long to announce Shawn Thorntons suspension? On December 7, Thornton pulled Brooks Orpik to the ice from behind and punched him a few times in the face for good measure. Orpik was taken off on a stretcher, and having suffered a concussion, hasnt played since the incident. The scene was reminiscent of Tie Domi on Ulf Samuelsson, and to a lesser extent Marty McSorley and Todd Bertuzzi. Thorntons hearing will be Friday, almost a full week after the incident. Its not a surprise this one is taking time. The weight of the NFL concussion lawsuits, the recently filed NHL concussion class action and the Boogaard lawsuit are likely weighing heavily on the decision making process. The league may be looking at this one very carefully to ensure they send the right message, not only to players, parents and fans, but also to potential jurors. And that message is this: we are taking all reasonable steps to ensure the safety of our players. The league will want to be seen as being proactive when it comes to protecting the brains of players, and that means firmly addressing unnecessary risk on the ice. Hockey is an inherently dangerous sport and that will never change. Still, contact that is not part of the game will be scrutinized. It seems unlikely that NHL vice-president of player safety Brendan Shanahan will be working alone on this suspension. This will be a group effort with lawyers intimately involved. This incident raises complex legal issues and will be considered with care. Ultimately, the suspension is less a hockey decision and more a legal decision. So whatever the ruling by the NHL, the assumption needs to be that the league will actively consider the legal angles before making its decision. This is an important time for the league. The discussion about violence in sports has been rising over the past few years as the public becomes more aware of the potential long-term impact of headshots. Indeed, there seems to be a trend emerging: concerns over violence in sports have become part of the narrative of the game of hockey and they dont seem to be going away anytime soon. And, in part, those concerns are now being expressed in lawsuits. A Crime? One more question that is raised: were Thorntons actions a crime? The answer lies in the issue of consent, which is your starting point when assessing whether a hit on the ice is elevated to a crime. In hockey, when a player steps on the ice, he is agreeing to some form of bodily contact and the risk of injury that flows from that contact. Hockey is understood to be an inherently violent game and injuries happen. At law, this principle of consent is called voluntary assumption of risk. Players assume risk when playing and cant turn around and sue for the harm that comes from that type of fair and expected contact. However, a distinction should be made. Players are only consenting incidental contact (or contact that is part of the game like body checks). Players are not consenting to acts that are outside the scope of what is acceptable in the game. When that happens, you start asking if a crime has occurred. We did that in cases like Bertuzzi on Moore, McSorley on Brashear and Alex Perezhogin on Garrett Stafford. And we are doing that with Thornton on Orpik. Its tough to argue that Thorntons actions constitute incidental contact. Pulling Orpik to the ice from behind and punching him repeatedly in the face is not contact that is accepted as part of the game. So to characterize the incident as an assault is not unreasonable. And just because it happened on the ice doesnt change anything. Assault is assault is assault. That being said, the incident wasnt bad enough to warrant charges and thats why we didnt see any materialize. Finally, as far as length of the suspension, my best guess is 12 to 15 games. Anything north of 15 games will signal an acknowledgement that times have changed. Allen Iverson Jersey . The 29-year-old Mills started three games for Oakland this season, posting a 1-1 record with a 4.41 earned-run average. He opened the season appearing in 14 games and making 12 starts for the Milwaukee Brewers triple-A affiliate in Nashville, posting a 4-2 record with a 1. Joe Dumars Pistons Jersey . The All-Pro left tackle agreed to a five-year contract with the Eagles on Wednesday. Peters was signed for 2014, and his new deal adds four years through 2018. https://www.pistonsrookiesshop.com/Zaza-Pachulia-City-Edition-Jersey/ . After losing a shutout bid in the dying seconds of Sundays win over the Colorado Avalanche, Luongo would not be denied against the punchless Oilers and is now just one back of Patrick Roy for 14th on the all-time list. Caron Butler Pistons Jersey . -- Green Bay wide receiver Greg Jennings will be on the sideline as the Packers make their push for a perfect regular season. Andre Drummond Jersey .Fiji striker Roy Krishna scored in the 14th minute to give Wellington its fourth win, along with a draw, from its past five matches, putting the Phoenix fourth but only a point behind third-placed Adelaide.ROME -- Fernando Llorente scored twice in the space of three minutes and Juventus restored its eight-point lead atop Serie A with a 2-0 win over relegation-threatened Livorno on Monday. Also, AC Milan won 2-1 at Genoa for its third straight victory with goals from wingers Adel Taarabt and Keisuke Honda, who scored for the first time in the Italian league. At the Juventus Stadium, Llorente struck first 32 minutes in, holding off a defender before launching in a difficult shot from an angle. His second came on a header following a corner from Andrea Pirlo, which Livornos 22-year-old goalkeeper Francesco Bardi got his hands on but couldnt stop. It was a much-needed boost for Juventus to maintain its advantage over second-place Roma, which has won six straight and hosts Juventus in the penultimate round. "The title-race is still open -- wide open," Juventus manager Antonio Conte said. "We have a challenger that is not giving up a centimetre and in our heads we need to think that Roma could win all six matches that remain, including the match against us. So weve got to stay focused and pay full attention." With its 116th straight home win, Juventus matched the Serie A record set by city rival Torino in 1947-48.dddddddddddd With six games remaining, Livorno remained third from bottom, two points behind Chievo Verona and Bologna, with the bottom three to be relegated. Milan, which has earned 10 points in its last four matches, moved level with Torino in 10th. Taarabt, the Morocco midfielder who is on loan from Queens Park Rangers, scored with a bouncing shot in the 20th from beyond the area. Then Honda finished off a counterattack by chipping in a shot over charging Genoa goalkeeper Mattia Perin. Honda, a key member of Japans World Cup squad, joined Milan from CSKA Moscow in January. He has also scored one goal in the Italian Cup. Marco Motta pulled one back for Genoa in the 73rd with a difficult shot and the hosts then pressed for an equalizer. Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati preserved the lead with a diving save on a shot from Stefano Sturaro in the 75th and defender Philippe Mexes cleared a shot off the line with a header seconds later. Nursing a cold, Mario Balotelli played only the final 16 minutes. Genoa remained 13th. ' ' '