Jim Benning has paid the price for verbally crossing the line.
The Vancouver Canucks have been fined $50,000 for tampering after Benning went on radio and openly discussed courting multiple players, which is a big no-no before free agency starts.
Canucks have been fined $50,000 for tampering.
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) June 28, 2016
Benning said that he was trying to be candid about free agency, but opened his mouth too far.
“I was trying to be candid with our fans and media… but said too much about players on other teams.”
Benning shouldn’t have made the comments to begin with as an NHL general manager should know the rules of tampering. The $50,000 might not be a huge penalty for the organization, but it’s another public fumble by Benning as he’s becoming the whipping boy among NHL general managers with his bizarre trades and shocking candidness.
The comments did have one positive. When confronted about the Stamkos remarks during the NHL draft by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Benning gave one of the most “I’ve been punished by my parents” responses in NHL history. Watch in its full glory as admits the league was reviewing his comments.
https://twitter.com/thejustinfisher/status/746473508524462081
Woof.
If I’m a Canucks fan I’m worried that Benning is running my franchise. I doubt he’s a bad guy, but man, he doesn’t exactly inspire confidence that he’s the right person for the job.
Benning did something stupid and got punished. Next time, he should scale back his excitedness about free agency – but this is Jim Benning, so who knows.
