Montreal Canadiens: The serious hypocrisy behind the Claude Julien fine

The league chose to fine Montreal Canadiens head coach Claude Julien for his comments on officiating, but it’s merely another example of inconsistency from the NHL.

Hockey Twitter came together Monday morning. Whether you were a Montreal Canadiens fan or a fan of another team, everyone disagreed with the NHL’s decision to fine Claude Julien.

It wasn’t the first time the league chose to fine someone and instead completely ignore the context of the initial complaint. John Tortorella had his battle with officiating earlier in the season, and according to Darren Dreger, the NHL is considering fining Evander Kane for his tirade on Twitter after he was handed a three-game suspension.

The suspension is a suspension. Kane did make contact to the head when elbowing Winnipeg Jets defenceman Neal Pionk. What he made a note of was the inconsistency in suspensions; how some hits to the head are allowed while others are called.

Which leads us to the Julien fining. The Habs head coach was fined $10,000, half the amount Zdeno Chara was fined for after crosschecking Brendan Gallagher in the throat. To add more perspective to the argument, Garnet Hathaway was suspended three games for spitting on Erik Gudbranson during a game between the Washington Capitals and Anaheim Ducks.

So spitting on someone isn’t as bad as a crosscheck to the throat? Julien, Tortorella, and Kane all have the same argument. There is no consistency in the NHL when it comes to officiating and the Department and Player Safety.

But here’s another piece of the pie to add to this dinner. The NHL deemed Julien’s comments inappropriate and felt that he needed to face some kind of consequence for it. To summarize, the Habs coach said the game was poorly managed, embarrassing, and that it felt the Montreal Canadiens were playing against two teams.

Rewind the clock back to February 11th. The Toronto Maple Leafs are taking on the Arizona Coyotes at home, and the game is in overtime. Jakob Chychrun scores what is thought to be the OT winner, but it’s called back due to goaltender interference from some contact on goaltender Jack Campbell via Brad Richardson. With the game back in action, the Kasperi Kapanen wins it on the breakaway, and the Coyotes go from adding two points to only one.

Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet was asked about the call after the game, and he had this to say:

"I always thought it had to be egregious … you can ask 10 people right now and I don’t know what you’re going to get … it’s Toronto’s call in Toronto, right, so it’s their call so they made the call. It is what it is …"

Tocchet’s comments weren’t’ as firey as Julien or Tortorella’s, but he does imply bias or some kind of leniency towards the Leafs getting the call by saying, “It’s Toronto’s call in Toronto.” Wouldn’t that be questioning the integrity of the NHL? Wouldn’t that be something Colin Campbell takes action on? Or is it because Tocchet was more subtle in his criticism?

So what was Claude Julien penalized for exactly? Was it for criticizing officiating or for how he criticized officiating?

Again, there is no consistency in any decision the NHL does. Every single time something happens, it leaves hockey minds and hockey fans guessing on what’s going to happen next.

The Montreal Canadiens aren’t the first to be hit by this, and they won’t be the last until things are revised and administered properly. The NHL needs a win in some way, shape or form. There is a constant pull to improve the on-ice product while everything else is crumbling in the foreground. Is that real progress? You be the judge.