Brendan Shanahan is Busy Man in Preseason

NHL VP of Player Safety Brendan Shanahan has been a busy man so far this preseason. He has handed down several suspensions for illegal hits to the head. I believe he is sending a message to every player and every team that hits to the head will not be tolerated. No one is exempt from suspension, from Detroit soon-to-be-minor league player Brendan Smith to recently-suspended Clarke MacArthur. When a controversial hit is sent to his desk for review and suspensions are handed down, it won’t be a matter if someone will be suspended but rather how many games.

“NHL Rule 48.1 Illegal Check to the Head – A lateral or blind side hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principal point of contact is not permitted”

I like this because he’s taking a no-nonsense approach to cleaning up the beautiful game. With what happened over this year with Sidney Crosby, the league has to take a proactive approach to maintain the intensity needed to play the game but without the head shots and checks from behind that has plagued the game since men have been lacing up the skates.

Below are a couple of video clips as well as my opinion on the hit. I’ve also included Shanahan’s punishment if he has made a ruling on the incident.

Brendan Smith (Red Wings) on Ben Smith (Blackhawks)

A play that was outright dirty, Brendan Smith deserved a multi-game suspension. He was about to get beat on the 1-on-1 by Ben Smith when Brendan lounged his shoulder clearly into the head of Ben. Seeing a few Red Wings preseason games, Brendan isn’t NHL-ready. He looked like a fish out of water with bad passing and failing to keep his head up when he got hit. He’ll learn how to properly hit someone in the American Hockey League and should be more prepared next season.

Shanahan Sentence: Three preseason and five regular season games.

Next up: Clarke MacArthur (Maple Leafs) on Justin Abdelkader (Red Wings)

The first clip was a hit by a Detroit Red Wing. The clip above was a hit on a Detroit Red Wing. Two days after Smith’s hit, Abdelkader was the victim of a hit to the head. Shanny even decided to clearly explain the rules and why it was called. While MacArthur didn’t intend to hit Abdelkader to the head, it was wreck-less. To help my point, look at the time of the incident. It happened with a few seconds left in the game and it was headed to overtime. It wasn’t like MacArthur tried to stop a scoring opportunity (potentially giving Abdelkader a breakaway). Not to mention, the official should have called interference on MacArthur because the puck was no where near Abdelkader and he was trying to turn up the ice to play the puck. What helped in MacArthur’s case is that this was his first incident and any other time he violates this rule, he will be considered a repeat offender.

Shanahan sentence: Remainder of the preseason as well as two regular season games.

In the end, Shanny is going to use the following guidelines when reviewing cases:

• Illegal check to the head
• Head position doesn’t change
• No discipline history
• No injury

Check back Behind the Bench periodically throughout the season for my take when ever a controversial play or ruling is made on the ice, in the Toronto War Room, or behind Shanahan’s desk.