What is the 'code'? You know the one that apparently exists in the NHL but is not written down anywhere but must be adhered to by players, teams and media. It's clearly a complex and very divisive form of rules, one that must be passed down from player to player, generation to generation in the form of oratory history much like Homer did in ancient Greece.
I'm not sure who is right or wrong in the Lucic vs Weise case of handshake etiquette, that would subsection 4 of the 'Smack talking' section. I did have a lot of fun with the #whatdidLucicsaytoWeise hashtag last night so I appreciate the nature of the confrontation for purely entertainment reasons. However I'm not sure what all the uproar is about. People like Wyshinski referring to Weise as a 'rat' may be too much but what I know is too much, at least for me, is saying that handshake lineup up is covered under the 'code'.
Baloney
Is it time to define the 'code' and actually write it down and include it in the official NHL rule book? Imagine for a minute, this actually happening, and the rule book changed, what would fans see?
Fighting- a player designated a thug enforcing face-puncher shall not fight another player who does not share the same designation.
Etiquette- players shall not reveal anything from their direct contact during games that could be deemed unsavoury or damaging to the reputation of said player(s).
Complaining- don't do it. You have to suck up the variables that happen with officiating and gamesmanship.
It can go on and on based on what some one thinks is in the 'code' or not. I've cited three examples here of where the 'code' is most often used and spoken, one long standing view, a common one said about certain players, and last night's new one. The problem here is the 'code' is not really a code it's a guideline to enforce out-of-date and certainly out-of-touch behaviours and actions.
Frankly the 'code' is more about holding players to some notion of what it means to be a 'man'. It's like the whole British 'stuff upper lip' approach or never letting one see you cry.
What caught me off guard by the whole mess is that Lucic made a threat towards another person in the form of suggesting Weise would have his life ended by him. Heat of the moment, metaphorical, whatever he still made a threat by saying "I'm going to f-ing kill you next year," when he shook hands. What is there to justify about that? What is there to defend? Why are people coming down on Weise for revealing it. I don't recall Lucic saying 'keep your mouth shut because I'm...'.
Remember this is the person who indicted the entire city of Vancouver for a select group of fans who confronted him in a Vancouver bar. Why was that not kept silent? Would it not be reasonable for the 'code' to suggest that a high profile athlete turn the other cheek in public and keep silent? If some are to suggest the 'code' protects the interaction in a handshake post game would it not hold those same players to a higher standard in public?
Where was this 'code' when Patrick Kane did his public nuisances, or the so-called 'tip-gate' issue with the other famous NHL Kane, Evander? The point here is fans can't have it both ways. If you the fan want access, all the info and details from the games, lockers rooms and restaurant or cabs you can't randomly say one aspect is against the 'code'.
The first I read of the incident was a tweet from Bruce Arthur and it's funny that no one seemed to jump on him for bringing it up. It's also funny how Jason Botchford took so much heat for breaking some unknowing part of the 'code' when he revealed Thornton's stroke joke. Is there no code for players to see that journalists have a job to do too or is that asking too much?
It's time to ditch the 'code' excuse. In fact it's long overdue as it's only some mythical proverb that forbids any kind of reasonable accountability by players and more. It's not evenly applied and randomly interpreted on case by case situations. Heck it's pretty much the equivalent of the Colin Campbell 'NHL Wheel of Justice' and how frustrating was that?
So Lucic uttered a threat, Weise mentioned it but the whistleblower takes the heat. I guess hockey fans are getting sports mimicking life now because that's almost exactly how the world works. Cough Snowden cough.
If I'm Weise I may do the same thing, if a guy is going to be a total delta bravo (DB) don't fans deserve to know? That all depends on how you interpret the 'code' I guess.