Crime and punishment - on the rink

Marty McSorley loves collecting glass unicorns and colorful friendship bracelets. He enjoys reading the Saturday Evening Post and Reader's Digest. McSorley religiously watches "Friends" because he thinks it's a hoot.\nMcSorley likes a good, hearty laugh and never forgets to take his medication.\nWell actually, now that you've mentioned it, the former Boston Bruin is currently on trial for criminal assault. A 17-year NHL veteran, McSorley is a roughneck enforcer. He's charged with the task of preventing teammates like center Joe Thornton and left wing Sergei Samsonov from being intimidated, so they can do their jobs.\nExacting and taking physical punishment in a game as fast-paced as hockey isn't a walk in the park. And yes, occasionally tempers will flare and fists will fly. \nMcSorley's downfall got rolling when he tried to pick a fight. Live by the bloodied knuckles, die by the bloodied knuckles.\nThe Vancouver Canuck's Donald Brashear is a tough cookie and muscleman himself, a bloke who had pounded McSorley to a bloody pulp in January. So, McSorley had more than a little animosity when he went to strike him on the shoulder with the intent of provoking a fight. Yeah, that's fair to say. Only three seconds were left in the game. \nAt any rate, what occurred on that fateful Feb. 21 is now well-known, played again and again from several different angles on the nightly news. McSorley landed his stick squarely across Brashear's skull, knocking him out. Brashear suffered a concussion, but in a few weeks, he was back on the rink again to dish it out.\nBut McSorley wasn't so lucky. Like the hand of God, the NHL handed down a 23-game suspension, the longest in NHL history, for inappropriate physical contact. McSorley is 37, and given the severity of the violence, he probably should have been suspended for the upcoming regular season as well -- it would have been the kiss of death for his career.\nNo general manager, looking to put "a little punch back to the roster," would pick up this aging public relations nightmare among public relations nightmares as a free agent. \nBut Vancouver authorities have pressed criminal charges, which makes little sense. McSorley -- clearly a threat to the good people of British Columbia -- could face up to a year and half in prison for what he did on the ice.\nWhat happens on a playing field cannot be held to society's standards for acceptable behavior. Plain and simple, it's a matter of internal discipline. Dallas authorities can't charge New Jersey Devils center Patrik Elias with assault for sending off a slapshot at Stars goalie Ed Belfour. \nUnder any other circumstances, launching a high-speed rubber projectile at another person would be highly illegal, but we're talking about an athletic event. When maneuvering to get into the men's room, I'm sure McSorley doesn't check and elbow. The general populace does not need protection from a high stick.\nAnyway, this whole affair has me perplexed. It's the "National" Hockey League, yet it's played in both Canada and the United States?