Gauging all the NHL's suspensions

Bobby Roy

The National Hockey League's (NHL) newest disciplinarian, Brendan Shanahan, has been busy for the latter part of September, handing out eight suspensions in eight days.

The question is: Has the NHL's new whip-cracker, Shanahan, been handing out too many suspensions on some questionable calls this preseason?

Having seen all of the hits and video of the players who have received the suspensions, they are warranted for sure, but eight suspensions in eight days?

I hope this is not a sign of things to come in the regular season, which is less than a week away.

Of the eight players who have received suspensions, only James Wisneiwski and Jody Shelley are repeat offenders, which may be a good sign players are starting to learn what is a legal hit and what hits have gone too far.

The difference between the preseason and the regular season are the amount of different players teams put out on the ice in each game. Some of these players aren't going to be top line players, who are counted on to score or provide highlight passes game in and game out.

The players who don't have a guaranteed spot on an NHL team's roster are looking to make their mark. And what better way to show the coaching staff they can play at the NHL level than making a big hit and playing with their heart on their sleeve.

Unfortunately, as we've seen in some of the hits resulting is suspensions already, these players looking to make their mark went a little too far. It's tough to fully blame them, because some of these players aren't used to the NHL game speed and they get caught up in the emotion of the game.

What they will learn from these suspensions is the NHL and Shanahan are going to suspend players for a lengthy period for any kind of hit to the head. And that's a good thing.

But it also seems like some players aren't playing the game like they were in the past. A lot of the time players are turning into the boards before a hit or they're not keeping their heads up as they glide across centre ice.

Hockey is a physical game and players are taught to finish checks and punish those for watching their beautiful pass.

I'm not saying players should be looking to destroy each other with a hit to the head, but players should be more aware as they skate through the middle of the ice or near the boards. They should be prepared to get hit and that seemed more apparent back in old days when padding wasn't as near protective as it nowadays.

Be more aware is all I'm saying. Turning into the boards may turn into a powerplay chance, but it also may result in an injury, or even worse, paralysis.

When the regular season begins, there probably won't be as many suspensions in such a short period of time (hopefully), but only time will tell.

The one thing that is for sure is that Shanahan is doing a great job trying to get as many of these cheap hits to the head out of the game as possible.

The short video explanation on each suspension is also great for the NHL and its fans too. More information the better.

Last season proved to be a new era for the amount of suspensions handed out for head shots in the league, so it will be interesting to see if this season follows suit.

Hopefully it doesn't mean suspension after suspension will be handed out this year, resulting in players not playing like they usually would.

Players, fans, coaches and anyone else connected to hockey shouldn't see NHL stand for the No Hitting League.