Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Shanahan meets with Preds, presumably gets an earful

Brendan Shanahan

We linked to this story in the Morning Skate, so you’ve probably already read it because nobody misses the Morning Skate. But just in case, league disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan was in Nashville yesterday to talk to the Predators about player safety as well as get their feedback on the job he’s done cutting down on dangerous play.

Shanahan’s punished the Preds twice this season, fining Shea Weber for boarding and suspending Jordin Tootoo two games for running a certain Buffalo goalie.

The Tootoo suspension was especially contentious, and Shanahan undoubtedly heard a few dissenting opinions during the meeting. Which in fact was sort of the point.

“One of the things I want to be the hallmark of our department is transparency and a willingness to answer hard questions at hard times,” Shanahan told The Tennessean.

It’s never a bad idea to keep the lines of communication open. Sometimes people just like getting things off their chest. The alternative is to let bad feelings fester. Next thing you know there’s anarchy of biblical proportions.

OK, so Shanahan and Tootoo probably didn’t end up hugging it out – Tootoo’s suspension cost him $13,513, and that’s a new Ford Fiesta right there – but like Preds GM David Poile said, “Though they may not agree with each other, at least they’ve had the conversation to understand his thinking and reasoning to understand why he did what he did.”

Shanahan’s visit to Nashville wasn’t just a one-off. He’s touring the league to make presentations and talk to each team. No truth to the rumor his meeting in Boston will consist entirely of high-fiving with the Bruins.