For Shanahan, another head-scratching decision
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
For Shanahan, another head-scratching decision
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
Brendan Shanahan, the NHL’s dean of discipline, should be featured on Saturday Night Live.
His videos are a laugh riot.
Shanahan on Tuesday night suspended Pittsburgh’s Arron Asham for four games and teammate James Neal for one game because of incidents in the Penguins’ 8-4 loss to the Flyers on Sunday.
On the same shift, Neal took runs at Sean Couturier and then Claude Giroux.
In his video, Shanahan explained that Neal, a 40-goal scorer in the regular season whose presence will be missed, was suspended for charging at Giroux and “once again launching prior to making contact.”
Fair enough.
But his failure to penalize Neal for leaving his feet for a dirty hit on Couturier was laughable.
Shanahan said the NHL was “willing to accept Neal’s assertion” that he jumped at Couturier “to brace himself for an unintended collision.”
Shanahan’s decision is supposed to be based on WHAT HAPPENED, not on what the player DIDN’T INTEND TO HAPPEN. It should also be noted that Neal was fined once this season and received two warnings for incidents _ and that he was suspended three years ago for a check from behind.
From here, the run at Couturier was much worse than the one at Giroux.
From here, if Shanahan used a dart board, his decisions would make as much sense.
His most grievous post-season error was not suspending Nashville’s Shea Weber for slamming the head of Detroit’s Henrik Zetterberg’s into the glass.
He slapped the all-star defenseman on the wrist with a $2,500 fine.
The decision on Neal just re-affirmed this: Shanahan is a master at inconsistent rulings.
Follow Sam Carchidi on Twitter @BroadStBull.
Whats the problem? Neal got a game suspension. Do you want him suspended for 20 games?— ArtieLange- Yes, actually, I would like to see him sit in the beginning of next years season too. That is the problem. — silpugs
- Appointing Shanahan this job was a bad decisions by the NHL. If they really wanted to clean up hockey they wouldn't have made someone who is #22 on the all time PIMs list the person in charge. Neal got taken out earlier in the game by Courturier and targeted him after the game was lost. The run at Giroux on the same shift only proves his was out there trying to hurt people...Shanahan's decision not to suspend Weber was a complete joke.— what?
- Let's just get this over with! Go Flyers!
- Shanahan is a clown and so is the NHL. They have been saying all along that the importance is on players safety yet their actions speak otherwise. I do not care if it is the playoffs, if someone goes out and intentionally tries to hurt another player with a cheap head shot, then they deserve a max suspension. IF the NHL was serious about getting this stuff out of the game, Neal would have been given a 5-7 game suspension, not a slap on the wrist. What do you think the suspension would have been if Rinaldo went after Crosby and Malkin the way that Neal did on our players? He might have been banned from playing forever. In the NHL it is not what you do, but who you are that determines the length of the suspension!!!!!— yescadog
- The NHL is turning into the WWF but unlike wrestling this head shot mayhem is not fake. Does a player have to end up in the morgue before clear, consistent action is taken to stop this nonsense?— Phillykidinboston
- This stinks.— macd41144
- If Neal's only hit was on Couturier, then maybe you can buy his excuse. But after a stoppage in play, scrums and time to cool off, Neal immediately headhunts Giroux (then beelines to the bench, by the way). That should throw doubt into his alibi for the hit on Couturier.— venus4
- If I'm not mistaken, Shanahan's appointment to the position was at the behest of the player's union so that they have someone on "their" side in these matters, not just some bozo like Colin Campbell deciding what happens.
Unfortunately, as politics (and tv contracts) dictate, he's being told, "you can't do this and you can't do that" to various players in each instance. Hence, no conceiveable logic or consistency to his decisons. I agree Sam, his videos and explanations are ridiculous. He talks about Neal having received previous warnings on 2 occasions and having been previously suspended (and at this point I thought he was going to throw the book at him) only to then say he only deserved a 1 game suspension for the hit on G!!!!! Just too funny! It's going to take the player's union or a lawsuit to make the NHL take these matters seriously. No favorites, no cowtowing to the media or sponsors, no basing your decisioon on whether the infraction is in the regular season vs. playoffs and no saying, "well the player wasn't injured, therefore I'm letting him off." Intent is intent, whether anyone gets hurt or not is irrevelant.
The punishment should be for the "act". The punishment should be much worse if the act results in an "injury". You take a gun and commit a robbery you do time whether you shoot someone or not. If you end up hurting someone with a bullet you do even MORE time. Simple as that.— Mark1npt - It's all about who the player is. Weber is too important to his team and only gets the fine. Hagelin gets 3 games for a hit that was less than what Neal did. Asham is a nobody and gets 4 games. Neal is a 40 goal scorer, so only gets 1 game.— P Even
- Rulings......a joke!...just like NHL referees! Great game tarnished by bias/common-senseless human beings.— Romus
- shanahan is a joke as is this sport; it's why it will always be a minor league sideshow! He stated that he took into account that neither of Neal's hits injured anyone seriously; are you kidding me? What does the outcome have to do with the act? If I attempt to injure someone intentionally but I'm bad at it and don't injure them seriously, that's ok? What a joke Shanahan and the NHL are! You look at the action; not the outcome; both Neal's actions were to inflict injury; whether he did or not is not the question.— JBinPA
- Call (212)789-2000...complain about the rulings.— Romus
- The NHL had a chance to send a clear and strong message that those kinds of actions are unacceptable and embarrassing to the sport. It failed. We, as a league, must do a better job of protecting the integrity of the game and the safety of our players. We must make it clear that those kinds of actions will not be tolerated and will be met with meaningful disciplinary action.— 1twofour1
- What a hipocrite Shanahan is. He suspends Chicago's Andrew Shaw, no prior offenses, for 3 games even though Shanahan says he did not think the hit was intentional and then gives Neal ONE GAME! Both of Neal's hits were clearly intentional, and intended to injure. Especially if you watch them in the context of that moment of the game where all *&*^ was breaking loose. What a joke.— tfnj42
