Shanahan backtracking from hot start?

Last week, I was planning on writing a post on what a good job Brendan Shanahan was doing as the new chief disciplinarian and head of player safety with the NHL. I enjoyed that he would put out detailed videos explaining the infraction and the factors that contributed to the length of the suspensions. The fact that he was suspending players more frequently and for longer periods of time made it seem like the NHL was serious about ridding the game of dirty play.

The four suspensions that caught my eye were Shelley, Letourneau-Leblond, Wisniewski, and Jacques. I was surprised at the length of the Shelley and Wisniewski suspensions and that Jacques and Letourneau-Leblond were suspended at all. In the past, the league has not taking a strong stance against late game retribution and chippyness. The had introduced a one game suspension for instigating a fight in the final five minutes but the refs seemed afraid to call an instigator penalty in these situations. Case in point, are the two videos below between the Habs and Bruins where fights were started by one side, but no instigator was called.

McQuaid attack Pacioretty without a fight or instigator being called

 Thorton fighting Hamrlik, Campbell fighting Pyatt, Boychuck fighting Spacek

 

Jacques jumping Duco - a play similar to the fights above

However, by suspending Shelley and Wisniewski, and Jacques the league signalled that they would discipline players rather than have the discipline happen on the ice - the norm in the NHL for that past number of years. The Jacques suspension, in particular, is an act that we have become accustom to seeing regularly at the end of games in recent years. I was extremely happy that Jacques was suspended because this is the type of thuggery and bullying that doesn't belong in a professional sport. As for the Letourneau-Leblond suspension, normally the NHL has not suspended a player for boarding if the player receiving the check is not seriously hurt and/or the player does not hit the boards in an awkward manner. In all the suspensions, the common denominator was that the suspended player targeted the head of an opponent and attempted to injure them.

The first sign of backtracking from this new mandate was the Sestito hit on Devaux. It would have been very easy to suspend Sestito, a player who was not expected to be in the NHL this year and is a goon, for a long time because he targeted the head of an opponent and charged across the ice to deliver the blow to them. However, Sestito was only suspended for the rest of the preseason and 2 regular season games. He was even put on waivers, with the intention of being assigned to the minor league club, before the suspension was handed down.

Malone on Campoli

This brings us to the Malone hit on Campoli. Both after seeing the hit at full speed and after the replay, this was a dirty hit that warranted a suspension under the NHL guidelines. Malone hit Campoli directly in the head. In Shanahan's statement, he said that Campoli had bent over just prior to being hit and after Malone had engaged in the check. While I agree that Campoli did bend over prior to being hit, he did so with enough time for Malone to minimize the amount of damage that he inflicted on a defenseless player, a consideration that is used on the boarding suspensions. the other major factor against Malone was the fact that he did not hit Campoli's body, which had not changed course as his head changed position, instead Malone drove through Campoli's head in a reckless manner. This hit should have been a suspension if the NHL is serious about shifting some of the responsibility to the hitting player, as Campoli never had a chance to defend himself.

From the response of the media and some players, it seems like fans are not the only ones left scratching their heads about Shanahan's decision.