When Brendan Shanahan was brought in to be the league disciplinarian, he was mandated by the league, and its owners to "clean up the game" for lack of a better description. In a league where even the term discipline was laughable under the reign of Colin Campbell (who takes all the blame for something that wasn't all his fault, but that's a topic for another day), whose reputation for integrity was a clean as a Sean Avery tirade, there simply HAD to be a change in the way the league looked at maintaining its rules and punishing those who break them.
In the preseason we saw that Mr. Shanahan was taking his role very seriously. He was ensuring that the rules mandated by the league were enforced, and was punishing those who stepped over the line in a fashion that would hopefully be a deterrent to others and to finally give the league's disciplinary office some teeth that it had lacked for so long which many felt was hurting the game.
And then the rumblings of whining started. He's trying to take hitting out of the league some said. He's changing the basic nature of the game some opined. GM's were worried that he was going to far and media chimed in with their fears about the "state" of the game...
GARBAGE!
You're all whining about exactly what you asked for! For the entire reign of Colin Campbell the media mocked his decision-making by comparing it to a game-show. Spin the wheel of justice they'd laugh, and then look bemused as the "cough" discipline "cough" was announced. The same people who are ranting about the "over the top" harsh 2 game suspensions are the same ones who complained every time Chris Pronger was given a slap on the wrist that the integrity of the game was dead and that it was "just a matter of time" until someone got killed on the ice.
You sensationalist bastards.
I can understand how owners, who due to financial concerns need to worry about keeping their stars on the ice, might have an issue with equal punishment for equal crime across the board. They will claim that their bottom line requires that the best players are in the lineup every game, and that harsh suspensions deprive their team and their fans of the people whom they've paid good money to see.
Regardless of whether you buy that argument, at least it can be made. The league, however, NEEDS to look after the best interests of its game and its players and the truth is that the culture that has led to so many fundamental changes in the way contact is made needs to be changed and only through meaningful punishment can it be forced into moving in the right direction.
Look at old games. Players didn't use to "target" the head the way they do today. Elbows were down and in, not up and out. Contact was initiated with the shoulder, not the forearm, and the arms weren't automatically coming up as contact was made to ensure the greatest chance of knocking an opponent down and leading to injury. It simply wasn't acceptable at one time to hit the way players do now.
Of course the league brought in a new "rule". Just like obstruction was a "new" rule when it was brought in despite the fact that all it really did was magnify and focus attention on what was historically called interference, the new "head-shot" rule simply brings focus to what used to be called "roughing". Both are simply slapping a new coat of paint on the old rule-book to try to show the fans, media, and players, that this is the league's current target. One might say that a defining of the rules can't hurt, but I've always been frustrated by the fact that they parade these alterations around like they're some kind of epiphany just realized by the "powers that be" that will revolutionize the game as we know it, but I digress...
Hitting is an integral part of the game. One of the classic ways to remove an opponent from the puck and despite what the doomsday fear mongers might tell you, it will never be taken from the game. That being said, just like interference went too far and the league had to change the "culture" of the game that deemed it to be ok to impede your opponent at every turn, the league has had to step in and remind everyone that contact isn't simply a vehicle to allow you to see if you can concuss your opponent and possibly end his career.
You can't have it both ways people... And by the way, the same goes for Flames fans/media who were up in arms about Karlsson starting game #2 after complaining for years that Miikka was overburdened with his workload and more needed to be done to play his backup.
Have a great day!
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