Popular Searches:

  1. UFC 106
  2. Tito Ortiz
  3. FIFA
  4. NFL Preview
  5. Allen Iverson

Puck Daddy - NHL

Puck Daddy

Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:10 pm EDT

NHL makes example of Brashear, suspends for six games

By Greg Wyshynski

So much for the prevailing wisdom today around the hockey world that Donald Brashear of the Washington Capitals would get roughly a one-gamer for his actions in Game 6 against the New York Rangers.

The NHL dropped the hammer today:

Washington Capitals forward Donald Brashear has been suspended for a total of six games as a result of two separate incidents -- one prior to and one during Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Quarter-Final series Sunday against the New York Rangers.

Brashear was suspended one game for initiating contact with Rangers forward Colton Orr during the pre-game warm-up. Brashear was suspended for five additional games for a blind-side hit on New York forward Blair Betts at 9:54 of the first period.

"Brashear delivered a shoulder hit to an unsuspecting player," said NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell.  "It is also my opinion that the hit was delivered late and targeted the head of his opponent, causing significant injury."  

Brashear's suspension will be served beginning tomorrow night when the Capitals meet the Rangers in Game Seven of the series. The suspension will extend through the Capitals' next five 2009 playoff games, the 2009-10 regular season, or both, as circumstances warrant.

The play in question, if you haven't seen it. (Video)

The League is using Brashear as an example here, and its six-game suspension is clearly meant to be a deterrent. No more nickel and dime discipline from Colin Campbell and Co. Six playoff games, for any player, is like a 20-gamer in the regular season -- it can be an entire series in the playoffs. Consider that Chris Pronger has never been suspended longer than one playoff game despite being a repeat repeat offender.

As Campbell indicated, the player on the other end of this violent hit and the extent of his injuries factors into it: Center Blair Betts, arguably the Rangers' best penalty killer, is out indefinitely with a broken orbital bone. If you're one that believes the magnitude of the damage inflicted should primarily influence the length of a suspension, then the League got it right.

Still ... six playoff games, with carryover to the regular season. This is the NHL disciplinary equivalent of beating up the biggest guy in the prison yard so no one else steps out of line.

Related: Stanley Cup Playoffs, Goons and Pugilism, Gary Bettman, Commissioner for Life

digg delicious
more

602 Comments

Post a Comment
  1. Capital Punishment
    1. Posted by Capital Punishment Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:16 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Bull[getzky]
    How is Sean Avery still playing?
  2. LJ
    2. Posted by LJ Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:18 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    I don't have a problem with 6 games, Brashear is a goon. But I won't credit the league for having balls until they give this kind of suspension to someone like Pronger or Cammalleri. That would send a real message.
  3. section_117
    3. Posted by section_117 Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:19 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    So did The Donald not demonstrate remorse during his disciplinary hearing? Didn't go through boxes of Kleenexes or send enough flowers to Betts' hospital room?
    The NHL Disciplinary Committee - consistently inconsistent.
  4. Rock the Red
    4. Posted by Rock the Red Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:23 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    ok, lets get this stright..
    Avery, punch to goalie (nothing)
    Avery, Punch/buttend to defencemen (nothing)
    Avery, Hitting defencemen in head with stick (nothing)
    See a pattren here?
    Brash (late SHOULDER check (5 games)
    Am I missing something here???
  5. Sean Patrick
    5. Posted by Sean Patrick Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:25 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    The NHL has failed in its delivery of equal justice across the board.
    That said, I couldn't think of a nicer guy to have this long suspension to than Brashear - especially when he takes out a class character and hard worker like Blair Betts.
  6. R C
    6. Posted by R C Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:28 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    That sucks for the Rangers and who ever the Caps face in their next 5 games. Brashear is without a doubt the worst hockey player in the NHL. Tough as nails, but can't play worth a lick. Heck, Laraque looks like Bobby Orr compared to this guy.
  7. keef
    7. Posted by keef Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:29 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Utter crap that five games is the decision (removing the single game for the warm-up fiasco). Between the stunts Avery's pulled, the clotheslining of Semin at the end of Game 5 and the other hits seen around the league during the first round, this in no way warranted a 5 game punishment.
  8. AlexisB
    8. Posted by AlexisB Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:30 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    why wouldn't avery be playing. so far only sticks, stones, and shoulders break bones, not words. avery is guilty of not much other than having a big mouth.
  9. Josh
    9. Posted by Josh Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:31 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Late shoulder check. From behind. That seriously injured a player. Yeah, maybe you missed one or two things.
  10. JohnB
    10. Posted by JohnB Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:33 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Honestly, other then the inconsistency of the NHL supplementry discipline commitee, I don't mind this call. What Brashear did was dangerous and cheap. No place in hockey for that. Washington fans do have the right to be outraged that Avery hasn't gotten anything though.
  11. dj
    11. Posted by dj Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:34 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    the refs should get bounced too for missing a 5 min major.nhl wants ove to stay in the playoffs.
  12. ranndino
    12. Posted by ranndino Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:35 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Wysh, I don't get it. In the original article about this incident you wrote that Brashear should be suspended. The article prior to this one is about a play from the IIHF World Championship that is very much the same, yet you defended Upshall who laid out a poor Hungarian kid in a game Canada was trouncing them in. Make up your mind, please.
  13. Josh
    13. Posted by Josh Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:35 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Degree of injury should have no credence in determining punishment for a hit; that standard is simply too subjective to be consistant. Even the league says it was a SHOULDER check, yet somehow the two equally tall men met shoulder-to-head? That doesn't make a lot of sense, unless Betts' head was down to no fault of Brashear. Clearly a late hit, but the idea he was headhunting is pretty silly. No big loss for the Caps though, at a big loss for the Rangers...we still see who won this transaction.
  14. Wilf
    14. Posted by Wilf Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:36 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    If I'm Sweaty Teddy I'm not sitting Brashear in the press box. I'm getting him the seat right behind the Ranger bench.
  15. moo cow
    15. Posted by moo cow Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:37 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    #9: Avery's work thus far: stick to the face, spinning back fist to the face, butt end to the face, punch to the head, and stick to the throat.
  16. Sombrero Guy
    16. Posted by Sombrero Guy Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:38 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    A legal shoulder check = 5 games eh?
    What a joke. Give Dubinsky a suspension for the blatant attempt to injure on the Green boarding call. Give Voros a suspension for trying to take Semin's head off. Give Avery a suspension for attempted wild elbow/butt end of stick to the face. Why is it that a legal check (no penalty was called) warrants a suspension but dirty and dangerous plays get a pass simply because the opponent didn't suffer serious injury?
  17. Shaun
    17. Posted by Shaun Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:39 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    If this was 1972, Brashear would've gotten a 2 minute minor at the most.
  18. Wyshynski
    18. Posted by Wyshynski Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:41 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    @ ranndino --
    There's a slight difference between Brashear's hit on Betts and Upshall's hit on the Hungarian dude ...
    ... it's called "a puck."
  19. JohnB
    19. Posted by JohnB Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:42 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    ranndino, the plays are not similar at all. The hungarian player had the puck and was skating up ice. Betts had clearly already gotten rid of the puck and was turning to head back to the bench. Completly different plays.
  20. NHL_SharksFinatic
    20. Posted by NHL_SharksFinatic Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:42 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Well here's the thing. I understand and completely agree why the suspend him. The pre-game incident - funny, 1 game. The hit - stupid, more than 1 game. But 6 games!?!?!? i understand why the Caps fans are upset. The NHL is making a mockery of this "discipline" system. Avery has been allowed to punch Varlamov in the head and has taken a stick to Thomas as well.. no games. If this incident creates 6 games, then clearly there are plenty of other players in the league who deserve to be suspended for a couple of games.. but go about unpenalized. Stupid refs...
  21. Ryan C.
    21. Posted by Ryan C. Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:43 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    I'm a caps fan since 1975, and the suspension to brashear in my opinion was the right call. Torts got one game for something stupid he did, now Brashear gets what he deserves. The sad thing about it is that it was not Avery that Brashear laid out flat. I still think punching a goalie in the face toward the end of the deserves a one game suspension also.
  22. Mandingo
    22. Posted by Mandingo Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:43 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    @RoboLuke
    Bingo.
    Brashear deserves 6-games, but make no mistake about it: If this was Chris Pronger, there is absolutely no way in hell it's more than a one game suspension.
  23. Jon A
    23. Posted by Jon A Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:44 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Six games...At's about what I'd have dished out. Although I do agree that this only continues to highlight the inconsistency of the NHL's disciplinary policy.
  24. Dave W
    24. Posted by Dave W Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:45 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    yes Brashear defenders, you are missing the fact that the dude broke the orbital bone of an unsuspecting player. Yes Avery is an annoying pest but he's not a goon. Brashear should have been banned from hockey years ago.
  25. Svipal
    25. Posted by Svipal Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:46 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    ...... and yet, no penalty called on the play. To say that was the turning point of game 6 is an understatement.
    Rangers played horrible after that, but Brashear shouldn't have even been in the lineup if the NHL followed it's own rules of barring a player from playing if he is involved in a pre-game incident.
    I wonder if they will do anything in response of Morrisonn biting Dubinsky.

Puck Daddy

Add to My Yahoo! RSS

Greg Wyshynski

Puck Daddy is an NHL blog edited by Greg Wyshynski. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.

Contributors:
Sean Leahy, Ross McKeon, Matt Romig, Dmitry Chesnokov, Ryan Lambert, Dobber, Scott Pianowski,

Teams

Customize to follow news and rumors on your favorite teams. [ Sign in ]

Related Photo Gallery

More NHL Photos »

Y! Sports Blogs

Puck Daddy Recent Readers

(provided by MyBlogLog)

Watch Live Hockey Online with GameCenter Live™