Shanahan picking numbers out of mid-air.

by CaptSkubba on Dec 20, 2011 5:46 AM EST

Can someone explain how Shanahan can justify how many games he's suspending players for?

I don't get it. I thought they seemed slightly random before but the latest two takes the biscuit.

Bourque gets a boarding call on Seabrook. He gets a major and a misconduct in the game. Seabrook left the game but is apparently not injured. Bourque has not been disciplined before. 2 game suspension.

Lucic gets a boarding call on Rinaldo. He gets a major and a misconduct in the game. Rinaldo was not injured. Lucic has been warned, fined and suspended before. 1 game suspension.

Both decisions handed out on the same day.

How does that make any sense?

The message he's sending is that Leino's accidental elbow on Read is as bad an offense as blatantly boarding a player if you're Lucic, but not if you're Bourque? Also ignoring the fact Leino and Bourque haven't been disciplined while Lucic has?

This is a fanpost written by a member of the community, it doesn't necessarily express the views or opinions of Die by the Blade

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It makes sense only if Shanahan really isn’t in control of suspensions and he is still getting direction from Colin Campbell.

"I could have conquered Europe, all of it, but I had women in my life." - King Henry II of England

by Calvert on Dec 20, 2011 7:59 AM EST reply actions

Agreed

The double standards still continue.

Smile.. tomorrow will be worse.

by Calvin on Dec 20, 2011 8:34 AM EST up reply actions

That’s the only way I can see it making “sense”. I may well be biased against Lucic after the Miller hit, but the juxtaposition of Bourque’s suspension for pretty much the EXACT same hit receiving a longer suspension when in actuality he should have got the shorter of the two shows that something just isn’t right.

What a joke.

by CaptSkubba on Dec 20, 2011 9:42 AM EST up reply actions

Mouth puppet! I’ve been saying it the last 2 months.

by Katemc on Dec 20, 2011 2:30 PM EST up reply actions

Yeah, I agree. I saw a link for a one game suspension and I immediately was ready to make an angry fanpost. I think Shanny was told to tone it down a bit. There was a bluster to start the season, but since the Miller hit, he seems gun shy. Once you decide not to suspend for a hit, its a slippery slope.

Also, Lucic probably only got one game b/c he told Shanny was really sorry and really didn’t mean it this time. Shanahan probably remembers what you learned in school when you were little. Milan Lucic gets called into Brendan Shanahan’s office and says “I cannot tell a lie.” Wait….that wasn’t Lucic was it? Hmmmm…then I don’t freaking know.

Thank you thank you thank you thank you sireric for bringing the furious punching cat back into my life. - poz

by bluecollarbuffalo on Dec 20, 2011 8:09 AM EST reply actions

Toning down still gives no justification in different suspensions for Bourque and Lucic. He summarizes the key points in each of the videos. That makes it even MORE obvious that Lucic should have gotten at least the same number of games if not more.

3 recent boarding suspensions are:

Letang – Fined once for a similar hit – 2 games
Bourque – No prior supplementary discipline – 2 games
Lucic – “history of similar infractions, warnings and a fine” including 1 game suspension in the 2009 playoffs and a fine 12 months ago – 1 game

Is he trying to insult our intelligence?

by CaptSkubba on Dec 20, 2011 9:50 AM EST up reply actions 3 recs

Thank you for laying the info out like that.

It makes it abundantly clear there is at the very least inconsistency in the rulings.

Save Jenrry Mejia!
2012 Amazin' Avenue Offseason Plan: 2nd place

by Ogre39666 on Dec 20, 2011 1:32 PM EST up reply actions

Thanks. I felt like I was repeating things over and over but you’ve confirmed that laying them out shows the ridiculousness of the situation.

Is there anyway I can contact the NHL to ask for a public explanation? I would phone the Bettman radio show but I live in the UK so that’s not as easy as it sounds.

by CaptSkubba on Dec 20, 2011 5:27 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

All I can figure for the extra game is Seabrook’s concussion history. I’m not saying it’s right or it makes sense, but that’s the only variable that would merit more games for Bourque than Lucic. (Also that Seabs is the #2 Dman for a large & vocal Original 6 fan base and Zach Rinaldo is Zach Rinaldo.)

by Katemc on Dec 20, 2011 2:33 PM EST up reply actions

On roughly the same idea I thought that while Seabrook missed the rest of the game, Rinaldo did not.

How can that be a deciding factor? If you’re trying to eliminate a particular action in today’s game, then the action itself should have the most weight on the decision, rather than the outcome.

by CaptSkubba on Dec 20, 2011 5:30 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

Also Rinaldo came out and said he thought Lucic shouldn’t be suspended at all…Might have had something to do with it too..

"Thank you very much fans and let’s go for the next game together!"

— Lubomir Visnovsky

I rec’d that shit.

by Steven Hida on Dec 21, 2011 1:34 AM EST up reply actions

I’m not disagreeing with you, just trying to explain the change in Shanny from his earlier bluster.

Thank you thank you thank you thank you sireric for bringing the furious punching cat back into my life. - poz

by bluecollarbuffalo on Dec 21, 2011 11:38 AM EST up reply actions

its all about marketing

All they care about is keeping the game of hockey relevant to the main stream. Lucic is to much of a fan fav and draw. Same is true with all the other big names. If you arent a big name….here comes the book

Buffalo/ Rochester 2011! Thanks TP!

by thenewhockeytown on Dec 20, 2011 10:19 AM EST reply actions

Spin the wheel

Video explanations to placate the masses, but in the end, it’s the same old wheel

by lassathrax on Dec 20, 2011 10:58 AM EST reply actions 1 recs

I was with you up until you brought Leino into it.

That was clearly a bad play whether or not he intended to throw an eblow (and it didn’t look too accidental to me). He deserved it what he got.

Save Jenrry Mejia!
2012 Amazin' Avenue Offseason Plan: 2nd place

by Ogre39666 on Dec 20, 2011 1:30 PM EST reply actions

Agree

That was a dirty play – not accidental at all.

by Katemc on Dec 20, 2011 2:31 PM EST up reply actions

I’ll Amit I was wrong to bring in Leino. However how many suspensions has Shanahan dishes out for only 1 game? The only two I can think of (I’m on my phone so can’t confirm) is Boyes and Leino. Both are players that have no history of supplemental discipline.

I’m not denying Leino deserved a suspension. But to give Lucic the same for a much more blatant penalty is mind-boggling.

The majority of fans (I hope not just Buffalo fans) think he missed the point by not suspending him for the Miller hit. Despite what you think if that hit, this only furthers the idea that there is some sort of leniency being shown towards either the Bruins or Lucic.

by CaptSkubba on Dec 20, 2011 5:18 PM EST via mobile up reply actions