Meditation on the ice: Devon Levi had to bow to the NHL

Since the start of the season, the National Hockey League has been making some rather peculiar and, I might add, ridiculous decisions.

I’m talking here, of course, about the various bans the NHL has put in place on specific items or simply on a piece of a player’s equipment.

What’s especially ridiculous is that the NHL bans trivial things, and doesn’t even apply sanctions to respect their decision and their threats.

We all remember that the NHL banned players from wearing rainbow-colored ribbon in support of the LGBTQ+ community, but then reversed course after Travis Dermott wore it on his stick.

The NHL also banned Logan Thompson from wearing a cancer ribbon while he was the backup goalie for his game.

Finally, more recently, the NHL threatened to sanction Marc-André Fleury and even the Minnesota Wild if Fleury decided to wear his helmet in honor of his wife’s heritage.

Fleury finally defied the NHL by wearing his mask, regardless, and the NHL did nothing (no fine and no sanction).

These are all situations that make the NHL look pretty bad.

Why am I telling you all this?

Well, because we’re currently dealing with another such situation, this time involving the Buffalo Sabres’ Montreal goaltender Devon Levi.

Two days ago, the NHL banned Levi from continuing to meditate on the ice during commercial breaks.

Devon Levi will no longer be allowed to meditate on NHL rinks https://t.co/YFGsCiaCVJ

– Toutsurlehockey.com (@Toutsurlehockey) December 8, 2023

Levi had taken to kneeling in the enclave in front of his goal during television breaks during his games.

However, the NHL asked Levi to stop doing this to allow the staff to properly scrape the ice. The NHL could have simply asked Levi to squat down when the staff passed by, but no, they preferred to ask him to completely move and change his routine.

So Levi had to adjust, which he did yesterday, performing his meditation routine on one of the face-off circles near his net rather than in the slot.

Devon Levi at the face-off dot to the left of his semi-circle for his meditation break pic.twitter.com/QxKK6GHJR8

– Guillaume Lefrançois (@glefrancoisLP) December 10, 2023

Levi has complied with the NHL by moving his routine, but when you think about it, it’s completely ridiculous.

The personnel in charge of scraping snow during commercial breaks spend as much time in the enclave as they do on the face-off circles.

So what’s the difference now?

It doesn’t “harm” the staff any less.

Will the NHL ask Levi to move his routine again?

Let’s see, the NHL is really covering itself in ridicule once again for a trivial reason.

It’s an issue that remains to be seen.

In a gust

– Let’s see.

Houle on Xhekaj: “It’s just a matter of time before he returns to the NHL. His attitude is very good and he’s integrated quickly into the group.” #GoHabsgo #GoRocket

– Jessika Lemay (@LemayJessika) December 10, 2023

– To be continued.

And all this with a short game that stressed so many in Montreal