It seems like every year we get one of these blown suspensions dished out that cause an uproar. But this one bites in a whole different way.Carl Hagelin of the New York Rangers was suspended today after his hearing with the Department of Player Safety after he elbowed Daniel Alfredsson in the head, causing him to leave Game 2. This happened just days after Nashville Predators star Shea Weber drove Red Wing Henrik Zetterbergs head into the glass at the end of their game and got away with a paltry fine. Is this the return of the Wheel of Justice?
I don't really know what to say about this one. I do think that Hagelin was handled a bit harshly for his first offense, and with the light of Shea Weber's non-suspension, it sucks even more. I'm going to try to dissect this thing the best I can without bias or personal feelings, so bear with me if you're at all interested.
Lets go back to Shea Weber's hit. Shea Weber isn't a dirty player, but that was a dirty play. At most, he should have been the one getting three games. Now let's go to Carl Hagelin's hit. Hagelin isn't dirty either, but the play was also dirty. He deserved at least one or two games, depending on whether or not Alfredsson is severely injured.
The question I want to pose to Rangers fans is this: If Shea Weber would have gotten three games for his play, would there be as much uproar over Hagelin's suspension? This blogger doesn't think so.
This is without question a blown call by first-year disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan. It sucks, but it's not going to change, and I don't think it should, and here's why.
No matter what, the entire NHL fanbase as a whole is NEVER going to be happy with whoever comes up with suspensions. And until they make a computer that can analyze every dirty play and spit out a number of how many games they should be suspended, there are going to be hiccups like this every year. It sucks, but that's the nature of the beast.
Therefore, I don't think Brendan Shanahan will get fired, nor do I think he deserves it. He deserves all the heat that he's going to get for this mistake, but that's about all he deserves. What is the NHL suppose to do? Fire him, then let the new guy come in and do his thing until something like this comes along and fire him, too? Why don't we bring back Colin Campbell, his random Russian-roulette style of suspending people was fun, wasn't it?
Let's look at this realistically, this is probably the first blemish on Shanahan's record all year that went unfixed. I know there shouldn't be blemishes ever, but there always will be. I think Shanahan did a fairly good job introducing his techniques to the game this year, and it is unfortunate that this had to happen now after a pretty decent run all year. But no amount of fan-bitching is going to change this. We just have to grin and bear it, and hope this doesn't lead to another Campbell-esque debacle.
Unfortunately, it's very difficult in these situations. Fans will almost always be biased in favor of their players. It was very encouraging that Raffi Torres is suspended indefinitely, even though he did not cause an injury. He is suspended for the intent. If they want to control the head hits, they have to suspend, no matter who the perpetrator or victim is. I remember a Malkin elbow in a past playoff game, but the league, up to now, has never had the guts to suspend an elite player for a dirty hit.
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