This is a guest post written by a very good friend of mine, Allison. If you like her writing, you can follow her here.
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The most hated man in the NHL can change on a daily basis. It could be a player, referee, or coach on any given night. When he failed to make the right call with Shea Weber’s WWE move on Henrik Zetterberg, Brendan Shanahan officially because the most despised man in the league. Tonight’s decisions and Raffi Torres’s monstrously horrendous hit on Marian Hossa cemented this status.
Our memories of the regular season are basically wiped clean once the playoffs start. Records, seedings, and games won/lost go out the window because, as we all know, anything can happen in the post season. What I’m coming to discover is that Brendan Shanahan’s work during the regular season flew out the window, too. Shanny was thoroughly consistent with doling out punishment during the regular season. There were enough suspensions and fines for punishable offenses that it seemed the new Department of Player Safety had gained control of the discipline issues in the league. We all expected it to carry over into the playoffs. Why change what isn’t broken? We were wrong.
I have never seen the entire National Hockey League fanbase unite like this before. We are all appalled at the complete and total inconsistency of Mr. Shanahan’s rulings. It doesn’t matter which team you cheer for or which team you want to eat dirt during these playoffs. The fact that player discipline is being smeared when it should be tighter is incredibly baffling.
Let’s go through exactly what has happened during these playoffs. It all started with Shea Weber. Shanahan failed to suspend Weber for what was a hilariously illegal and dangerous move. When the commissioner of the WWE is complimenting slamming another player’s face into the glass TWO TIMES you know you’ve gone too far. Weber merely received a $2500 fine. This set off alarm bells in everyone’s head, wondering what was going through Shanny’s head. Next, Byron Bitz receives 2 games for boarding Kyle Clifford and Carl Hagelin receives 3 games for elbowing Daniel Alfredsson. Both appropriate suspensions. Seems fair for the offense.
After that it gets dicey enough for me to want to apply for Shanahan’s job. Matt Carkner gets 1 game for punching a defenseless Brian Boyle about 3 times in the back of the head. ONE. GAME. That would be about 4-5 games during the regular season. Andrew Shaw gets 3 games for charging Mike Smith in the trapezoid.
Then the Flyers-Penguins game. Holy. Mother. The wounds are still fresh from these suspensions and as a Flyers fan I’m a little biased. But for now I’ll just state the suspensions. Craig Adams gets 1 game for a game misconduct in the final 5 minutes of the game. James Neal gets 1 game for charging Claude Giroux. I’m really trying to hold back right now… Arron Asham gets 4 games for crosschecking Brayden Schenn. Finally, Nicklas Backstrom gets 1 game for his game misconduct in the final 5 minutes of the Capitals-Bruins game on Monday.
Where do I begin? Honestly, I’m so worked up right now that I probably shouldn’t be blogging or writing anything on the topic period. But it’s not stopping me. I am just beyond livid that Craig Adams and Nicklas Backstrom are receiving the same amount of games for an automatic suspension as James Neal. Not only did James Neal have 2 (TWO) conferences with Shanahan today for his hit on Couturier and his charging Giroux, but he only came out with ONE GAME. James Neal had intent to injure on his plays and it’s evident by him leaving his feet to give a blindside hit on Couturier and then seconds later going head hunting for Giroux. However, that’s not what he told Shanny. He told him and the media that he had no intent to injure, just cutting through the neutral zone. Shanahan didn’t believe him thank the hockey gods. But he left his feet on the play and with INTENT TO INJURE. Yet he still only gets 1 game?! There was no injury on the play. BULL-FREAKING-SHIT. Inconsistency, I can’t say it enough.
Shanahan is also punishing based on who is the offender and who is the victim. Carl Hagelin, who has never even had a major penalty in his NHL career, received 3 games for his elbow on Daniel Alfredsson. Byron Bitz is suspended for a play that is just as dangerous and receives a game less than Hagelin. The victim of that play? Kyle Clifford, a much less recognizable name. James Neal only receives 1 game and Shea Weber didn’t even miss a minute. I’m not sure if it’s intentional or what, but Shanahan is punishing based on one’s clout in the league. It’s not right. Whether you’re Sidney Crosby or Raffi Torres, you should be receiving the same punishment. There are very mixed messages being sent and Shanahan is being forced to do a lot of back-pedaling.
Suspending to the injury isn’t an effective system at all. It’s hard to judge intent and a player is certainly not going to own up to wishing harm on another players. But when it is so blatantly obvious like in James Neal’s case, Shanahan cannot just sit by and say that 1 game is sufficient to get the message through.
I am as frustrated as I’ve ever been with the NHL, yes, but I’m more appalled at the seeming lack of respect between the players. Bobby Clarke and Bill Clement of the Broad Street Bullies have both come out and said that what is happening right now would never happen when they were playing. Clement said there would never be hits like Torres’ or Neal’s during their heyday. There just isn’t enough mutual respect between players on the ice anymore. There needs to be an overhaul in the culture starting with the players. When they learn to treat each other better there will be less of a need for these suspensions.
Matt Cooke changed because he was told if he didn’t he would never play in the NHL again. Why isn’t seeing Marian Hossa lying motionless on ice enough? Why isn’t seeing Nathan Horton with his arm reaching to the ceiling, struggling for breath enough? The day is going to come when a player is going to be lying lifeless on the ice. Will that be the end all, be all? It shouldn’t have to come to that. Suspensions can only go so far. It’s the players that need to take responsibility.
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