Part of me feels like this is Shanahan saying “We won’t fight your battles for you Sabres.”
It was a dirty hit. Borderline intent to injure. He should have gotten something

by Philaster on Nov 14, 2011 1:24 PM PST

After reading Philaster's comment, I was thinking about it all during the game.

And, my thinking is this:  if that's the way Shanahan feels, fine, but . . .

In recent history, has the league EVER "fought a battle" for the Sabres?

Consider:

- Kaleta head butts Jacob Voracek, who stays in the game, and gets a four game suspension . . . and yet . . . last season, CHI's Niklas Hjalmarsson nails Pominville from behind, giving him a concussion and having him taken off the ice on a stretcher -- and he only gets two games {which was two too many according to Blackhawks fans on Yahoo, who said it was just a "hip check"}

- Alex Ovechkin got a suspension for a knee-to-knee hit on Jeff Carter -- but only a five minute major and ejection for a hit on Kaleta that gave him a concussion

- Scott Gomez {then with NYR} "lost his balance" and collided with Ryan Miller in February 2009, ending Miller's season and the Sabres playoff hopes . . . then {as now, with Lucic} there was no on-ice retaliation . . . then {as now, with Lucic} Ruff was irate . . . and then {as now, with Lucic} Gomez got no discipline

- In the 2010 playoff series against BOS, Gary Bettman suspended Zdeno Chara for game seven for his hit on the already injured Vanek in game 6 -- then changed his mind 24 hours later

If the league wants to send the message to the Sabres that they'll have to exact their own discipline, that's OK by me. As evidenced by their non-responses to Lucic's and Gomez's hits on Miller, that's a message Sabres players have needed to get for some time.

By this line of reasoning, the next time Tim Thomas comes out of his crease to play the puck, or when/if Sidney Crosby comes back, the Sabres should be free to both take a run at Thomas and knock Crosby into another concussion . . . am I right?