In a rare turn of events, the well-regarded sports web site The Heckler has sued the NHL, the San Jose Sharks, and commissioner Gary Bettman because of a stretch of games last week in which Sharks coach Todd McLellan had to sit out for a concussion.
In a statement, The Heckler said, “It is generally our practice to take a sports news event and tweak it a bit so as to make the reader pause for a moment in disbelief. In light of recent events in San Jose, there was no tweaking for us to do. The Heckler’s NHL writers were silenced for one week because nothing they could write would top an actual story from the NHL. We are disappointed that a league on the verge of making into the mainstream would stoop so low.”
The Heckler is seeking a variety of damages, including requiring Gary Bettman to give three televised news conferences a week for the remainder of the season so its writers can make up for lost time.
