Giroux suspension too harsh (UPDATED)
Giroux suspension too harsh
Giroux suspension too harsh (UPDATED)
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
Well, the Flyers have their rallying cry.
NHL dean of discipline Brendan Shanahan has done it. He has suspended the Flyers’ Claude Giroux for one game for a hit to the head of the Devils’ Dainius Zubrus in Game 4 of their playoff series Sunday night. Shanahan has suspended a superstar player with no discipline history, for a hit that did not cause an injury, for a game in which his team can be eliminated.
Brave new world.
I didn’t think the hit was worth a suspension -- because Giroux did not have a history, and because Zubrus did not sustain a significant injury, and because the 6-foot-5 Zubrus was kind of leaning over already -- it was the only way the 5-foot-11 Giroux could have contacted Zubrus’ face with his shoulder. There was all of that, which made it a close call -- and there was Giroux’s status on his team and the precariousness of his team’s current circumstances, trailing three games to one in the series.
It didn’t matter. It was going to be close, and Shanahan has made a clear statement here. His willingness to suspend a star without a rap sheet, on a hit without an injury, at such a crucial moment in a playoff series, will send shockwaves around the NHL -- make no mistake. If this is the way it is going to be, we really have crossed a threshold.
Shanahan typically releases a video explanation after such a decision, and it was comprehensive in its analysis. He placed a lot of emphasis on the entirety of Giroux's shift, which was fraught with obvious frustration about a call that the officials did not make after Devils goaltender Marty Brodeur played the puck outside of the designated area. And, make no mistake: Giroux did hit Zubrus in the head, and that is against the rules, and he was properly penalized and the situation was properly reviewed by the NHL.
But we have broken new ground here. The clean history did not matter. The injury situation did not matter. What have sometimes been considered as mitigating factors were not enough to mitigate things for Giroux in an undeniably crucial situation for his team.
In my mind, the decision was too harsh. It was close, but given everything -- and, yes, for better or worse, that does include the fact it is an elimination game -- it seemed to suggest a fine and and a warning, not a suspension.
But, no. And now the Flyers will undoubtedly attempt to summon up whatever emotion they can as they try to overcome the loss of their best player. And the rest of the league will attempt to recalibrate their expectations for discipline the next time.
Brave new world.
MORE: Here are some additional thoughts, after a couple of hours of thinking about it.
It was after Game 5 of the Flyers-Penguins series. It was, you might remember, the night was the Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin was completing his second straight game of searching and destroying and pretty obviously trying to hurt an array of Flyers players.
In Game 4, there was the sneaky elbow that gave Flyers defenseman Nicklas Grossmann a concussion. In Game 5, there were two incidents: an unnecessary late hit on Brayden Schenn and an assault on Sean Couturier that, if it wasn’t a head shot, was within millimeters of being one. The Grossmann play went unseen by officials. Both of the Game 5 hits were penalized. And afterward, in the corridors below Consol Energy Center, I sought out Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren.
There was a time when it was the general manager’s job to work the officials between games of a playoff series. I was wondering if Holmgren wanted to play on the subject of Malkin. I asked the question, and he thought for a second, and then he shook his head and said, “No.”
Some of that is the man’s personality, not given to histrionics. Some of it, too, was his notion of what it is to be a good citizen in the NHL in 2012, and what it is to respect Brendan Shanahan and the whole discipline process. But there also was the sense, although he never said it, that Holmgren also was operating under the mental rules that have been a part of hockey forever.
That is: that the Penguins were on the edge of elimination, and Malkin is a star player, and those three unspoken words:
It’s the playoffs.
It is why I did not think Giroux would be suspended for his hit on Zubrus. I get that Giroux hit him in the head. But he has no history, and Zubrus was not hurt, and so many other prominent players appeared to receive the benefit of the doubt from Shanahan. Malkin did, a couple of times. The Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin did when he hit the Rangers’ Dan Girardi. The Penguins’ James Neal did when he leveled Couturier.
So why not Giroux? Why did he not receive the benefit of the doubt? Is he not a star, too? Is his team not in a desperate elimination situation, too, just as Malkin was when he spent two games wreaking havoc in the land?
The answer, apparently, is that Giroux’s was such a clear head shot that the league could not overlook it, and that the others were more body checks that involved incidental contact to the head. It is a difference without a distinction when you are the one laid out on the ice, but it is a crucial difference for the NHL.
You watch Shanahan on the video reviews and you almost never disagree with anything he says as he analyzes the pictures. Yes, Giroux was outwardly frustrated. Yes, he hit Zubrus in the head -- even if Zubrus was kind of bent over. It isn’t the analysis, but the conclusion.
If not Ovechkin, and if not Malkin, why Giroux? Because it is not as if any of them were innocent. That's the point.
Maybe this is the the turnin point in the series? Its hard enough to come back from 3-1 and without their best player, but maybe this is the wakeup call for the other guys. This will be the true test of character. Flyers in 7!— Fabulous- Finally... A story Line for the series
GIROUX SUSPENDED ONE GAME WITH FLYERS EMINENT ELIMINATION
It took an outside influence to provide a shakeup... Get some fire in the belly fellas. Lavi, don't rest on your laurels and provide the team with energy. Bring in Zac and Harry. If Mesz can play it will be an added bonus. Use the home crowds energy and put a seed of doubt into NJ going into game 6.— Jiggs700 - It's tough for this team to respond when your defensemen are Frodo, Pippin and Bilbo Baggins.....But I suddenly like their chances for tomorrow night (not sure why )
- Rich, you wrote an article yesterday about how you wouldn't be surprised if he is suspended. Now less than 24 hours later, you think it's an outrage. Wow, way to earn that salary. — theeutmost
- A test of character you say? If you ever worked for a Corporation, knew some dirty details from that work and to protect the public from that activity, had to spill the beans, you are a "WHISTLEBLOWER", and there are both Federal and State Statutes to protect you from retaliatory action. Well, I have been a not so mute witness to the Grand Larceny of the NHL, and even commented on all this YESTERDAY. As long as you wear our famous logo on your shirt, you are a TARGET of harassment from referees, watch non-call after non-call, and have to laugh at the PATHETIC logic of fans across the Country who keep sounding like drones with no personal knowledge, trotting out "BROAD STREET BULLIES" , even though the calendar says that was THIRTY-SEVEN years ago and counting. When I mentioned whistleblower, there is a MUZZLE over the mouths of all interested parties from Snider to Laviolette to Giroux, lest they suffer some huge fine. I say call out this DOUBLE STANDARD ONCE AND FOR ALL!! Enough! This is 2012, not 1975. The Flyers were, as usual, the most penalized team in the NHL this year. Threaten to start your own league. But remaining quiet is no longer an option, unless you want to be a doormat and stepped on as long as you have a hockey franchise sporting a "P". The Flyers were outplayed last night, but what toll does it take when you compare the PENALTIES called and not called? We only lost by one ( not counting the empty net goal ). Momentum is one thing, but calling penalty after marginal penalty, ruining TWO periods, is the referee deciding the game, not the players. Please someone call out the NHL, okay? Even Hoffman and the paper dance around what any real fan already knows.... this league still hasn't forgiven the Flyers for their two Cups. ENOUGH!!!! — PhillyboyinNYC
- If his name is Malkin, he plays tomorrow night.— ACBaughman
- Or Ovechkin... I guess the reality of it all is some are more equal than others... His hit on Girardi in Sat's game was way worse and it wasn't even reviewed. As usual, he took 2 or 3 strides, launched himself and then hit the head with a high elbow.
— Stoudt - I love G an the Flyers, but he deserved this suspension. If this were Giroux on the receiving end of the hit, I imagine you'd be calling for a suspension.
— stonelamb - Pathetic homerism, Rich. Why not say Zubrus should have been suspended because he almost hurt Giroux's shoulder with his head? Phlyer phans do not represent philly. Nor does Rich. Can't wait till this pathetic exhibition sport's season ends.— thingfish
- Why? So dog torturing, killing maiming Michael Vick can entertain you ? — pveedee
- I agree 100%. Clearly the NHL has no rhyme or reason for their decisions. Neal makes two hits 45 seconds apart, both deliberate headshots, he gets one game. Weber is allowed to slam a guy's head into the glass, no penalty. The NHL is going to lose fans again and they will lose more ground than they gained. This league is rapidly becoming frustrating to watch--certain teams and players get special treatment while others get penalized for either their playstyle or their history. I hope this fires up the Flyers to go out and pound the Devils without mercy. Brodeur is awfully free with his stick--perhaps we should be a little looser with ours too.— ena1977
Comment removed.- Former official Kerry Fraser was mentioned in an article from Round One as saying the officiating in this year's playoffs was the worst he'd ever seen, with missed calls, wrong calls, etc.
— icarus - You guys talk about Sid whining! Sounds like Malkin envy. 1975!— paulp57
