Shanahan Misses Mark With Claude Giroux Suspension
The NHL announced Monday that Philadelphia Flyers star and leading playoff point scorer Claude Giroux will be suspended one game for his hit on New Jersey’s Dainius Zubrus Sunday night. The hit that has the hockey world talking came at the end of a shift in which Claude Giroux appeared very frustrated over a missed [...]
Predators Make a Statement With Game 3 Win
When the Nashville Predators returned home for game three of their best of seven series with the Phoenix Coyotes, they found themselves down two games to none, and in desperate need of a win to avoid being pushed to the brink of elimination by Coyotes. They needed their star players to step up and lead [...]
Raffi Torres Earned Every Moment of His 25-game Suspension
Ever since Brendan Shanahan dropped the hammer on Phoenix Coyotes’ forward Raffi Torres, suspending him for 25 games for a vicious hit on Chicago winger Martin Hossa. The suspension, the longest since Chris Simon was gonged for 30 games for stomping on the ankle of Jarkko Ruutu in December 2007, has many in the sport [...]
New York Rangers on Brink of Elimination
Clinching the Eastern Conference was the first task at hand. Now, the deep playoff run that the New York Rangers wanted to add to their storybook season is in jeopardy tonight. Heading back to Ottawa’s Scotia Bank Place for Game 6 of this turbulent series, the Rangers’ momentum has slumped. But, there is hope in [...]
Raffi Torres Suspended for 25 Games: What Does It Mean For the NHL?
Jim Neveau, Managing Editor Lost in all the wonderful drama that has been occurring so far in these NHL playoffs has been an undercurrent of disdain among fans and pundits of the game. These ill feelings are mostly directed toward the league itself, and especially Vice President of Player Safety Brendan Shanahan for his handling [...]
Rallying Points: Free Nicky and the Braden Holtby Grand Prix
Almost every team in these playoffs has had a martyr. For Ottawa it was Daniel Alfredsson, who was taken out of the series by an elbow to the head. In Chicago it was Marian Hossa who left the game on a stretcher after a jarring hit by repeat offender Raffi Torres. In Washington they have [...]
Rangers Set for Series Smackdown in Game 5
The New York Rangers and the Ottawa Senators have created a smackdown of a series with taunts, brawls and misconduct that has not been so favorable. While the playoffs raise emotions to high levels, the antics become distracting and dangerous. Coming in as a tough No. 8 seed, the Senators have not backed down despite [...]
Dear Brendan Shanahan……
Dear Brendan Shanahan, You have an extremely difficult job. I would not want to be in your shoes. As head of the NHL Department of Player Safety, you have the authority to suspend NHL players for a variety of reasons with few guidelines to rely upon when making such decisions. Last night, leading into Game [...]
James Neal Handed 1-game Suspension
In what has become a postseason dominated by disciplinary actions, hockey fans, writers, and analysts alike spent yet another day anticipating Brendan Shanahan’s verdicts today. This time for Penguins forwards Arron Asham and James Neal. With each player’s respective hearing reportedly over for hours, Shanahan and the Department of Player Safety deliberated over the Pittsburgh [...]
Playoff Ratings Are Up, But So Is The Goonery
The 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs are being broadcast nationally in their entirety for the first time ever. That’s great. Early returns show that ratings are up significantly when compared to TV playoff numbers from the past couple of decades. That’s even better. But before the NHL puts that little feather in their cap, they [...]
2012 NHL Playoffs: It’s Not Old-Time Hockey, It’s Dirty Hockey
As in any sport, the time of the year that is the most anticipated by fans across the world is the start of the playoffs. In the NHL, this holds true even more because of the way that every aspect of the game is intensified. Even though they are already the world’s toughest athletes, the [...]
Suspending To The Injury Is A Recipe For Disaster
Brendan Shanahan, the NHL’s head disciplinarian, has become the most controversial figure of the 2012 playoffs. Several puzzling decisions regarding supplementary discipline have left a bad taste in the mouths of hockey fans everywhere. In an attempt to explain his decisions further, Shanahan took to the airwaves Monday. In his interview with WFAN NY, Shanahan [...]
Despite Hagelin’s Suspension, Rangers Focus On Task at Hand
Good, bad, or indifferent, the fact remains: Carl Hagelin is suspended for Games 3, 4, and 5 of the New York Rangers’ first round series with the Ottawa Senators. Another fact that also remains is that the Rangers, after winning the Atlantic Division and finishing with the most points in the Eastern Conference, have lost [...]
Hot Topic: Evaluating the NHL’s Discipline of the Phoenix Coyotes
Jim Neveau, Managing Editor/Coyotes Correspondent Glendale, Arizona – Hockey isn’t something that one expects to find in the deserts of Arizona this time of year. The Phoenix Coyotes have never been beyond the first round of the playoffs in their organization’s history, but this year, things seem to be different. After dispatching the Chicago Blackhawks [...]
May 16, 2012Read More