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Paging Mr. Shanahan: Kronwall gets Kronwall’d

Jaroslav Halak, Chris Stewart

St. Louis Blues goalie Jaroslav Halak, of Slovakia, and teammate Chris Stewart, right, celebrate after the Blues’ 3-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

AP

There was an ugly scene in St. Louis tonight as Blues forward Chris Stewart shoved Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall into the boards in the middle of the first period. It was one of those hits that Stewart could have called from the locker room and just said something like, “Hi Brendan, take a look at your schedule and let me know when we should schedule my hearing.”

The bodycheck was one of those hits that seemingly covered everything that the league is trying to get out of the league. It was a shove from directly behind when Kronwall was in a vulnerable place on the ice. The defenseman lost his balance after the shove, went head-first into the boards, and lay motionless on the ice as his teammates went after Stewart for the hit. After the Wings’ medical staff attended to Kronwall on the ice, they had to help him off the playing surface and into the locker room.

Meanwhile, Stewart was given a five-minute major for checking from behind and a game misconduct. If we were betting men here at PHT (no comment), we’d say the in-game penalties are the least of Stewart’s worries.

Take a look at the shot and let us know what you think? There’s no question that it’s a dirty hit in a dangerous place on the ice—is it suspension worthy? If you were wielding the Shanahammer, how many games would you give Stewart?