The NHL Wheel of Justice is working in overdrive to start the season.
Fresh off handing Patrick Kaleta a 10-game suspension for an illegal hit to the head on Jack Johnson, NHL Director of Player Safet,y Brendan Shanahan might have another multi-game ban to dish out. Max Lapierre sent Dan Boyle out of Tuesday night’s game on a stretcher after driving him into the dasher from behind.
Both Lapierre and Kaleta have rap sheets; Kaleta has been fined or suspended six times in the last four seasons, something Shanahan made note of while explaining the suspension. Lapierre has only been suspended once before, but a YouTube search suggests it could have been more.
It’s clear basic suspensions aren’t much of a deterrent.
Even major suspensions have done little to curb dangerous play. Raffi Torres earned himself a 25-game suspension (reduced to 21 after appeal) for a horrific headshot on Marian Hossia in 2012, but was suspended again a year later after delivering another head shot, this time to Jarret Stoll.
Matt Cooke was suspended four times prior to being sent home for the remainder of the 2011 season (17 games, including playoffs) for a nasty elbow to Ryan McDonagh’s head. He has since changed his game, but only in the face of essential banishment from the league.
That’s why the league needs to get creative with their suspensions. Huge suspensions don’t really get to the root of the problem: those who play a dirty game are still viewed as valuable assets to coaches and GMs around the league. Guys that play on the edge, sometimes crossing it with a dirty hit here or there, have a roster spot on almost every team in the league.
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The players can’t police themselves, so if the league truly wants to get rid of the dirty hits that plague the game, getting rid of the pests is essential. Making it too risky to play these guys is the only way to do it. If a team loses Max Lapierre or Patrick Kaleta for 10 games, they aren’t missing much. It isn’t hard to find someone to play 8-9 minutes a night and chip in a goal every 20 games or so. A suspension only hurts the player’s wallet, not his team. Instead, a suspension should mean teams are forced to play a short roster for the duration of the suspension. If Kaleta is gone for 10 games that means the Sabres must dress 11 forwards instead of 12, playing with a short bench. All of a sudden having a player who plays recklessly isn’t so valuable.
Suspensions barely work to change a player’s game, but maybe punishing the entire team more directly will force front offices to make the change themselves. With the dangers of head shots real, and a new star being taken out by a pest every few months, the NHL can’t afford to be soft on crime.
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