Comments on: Duncan Keith suspended five games for elbowing Daniel Sedin

By: interiorfan

interiorfan — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:31:55 +0000

Sedin din not elbow Keith in the head…perhaps you should watch it again and if Keith has a relatively clean history (in the fact that he has not been previously suspended), then Daniel Sedin has a squeaky clean history. Sorry, it was a dirty, dangerous hit no matter how you spin it.

By: drewsylvania

drewsylvania — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 16:05:37 +0000

It’s almost like Shanny has no power and has to change his own rules to suit the owners.

This is definitely happening.

By: drewsylvania

drewsylvania — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 16:04:25 +0000

You’re getting downthumbed just for the handle.

By: gallyhatch

gallyhatch — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 16:04:14 +0000

Nail on the head crusty14, but it’s easier to hate the refs & Marchand & blame Colin Campbell & come up with a million other excuses than to admit that they got beat by a better team, or just flat out blew it.

By: crusty14

crusty14 — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 14:32:50 +0000

I think the point all you Canuck fans are missing is that Sedin should have done something , rather than stand there and take several punches on the head! Sheesh! Even a moron would at least take cover after two or three!

By: modellforprez

modellforprez — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 05:22:47 +0000

too light way too light he should have gotten life in maximum state penn. its grim there is no room for this in the game of sticks and pucks shanny dropped the puck on this

By: davebabychreturns

davebabychreturns — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 04:23:04 +0000

I think the objection is to the fact that Sedin got 10 for getting punched in the face.

By: craigmaitland

craigmaitland — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 03:34:28 +0000

2nd rate league. Bourque hits a guy with the puck in a somewhat hockey play and he gets 5 games. Keith assaults a former scoring champ without the puck Ina blatant attempt to injure. And he gets the same suspension. … Not to mention the refs missing it.

By: kcprof926

kcprof926 — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 01:57:01 +0000

Man we are making this sound like Keith hit the sister over the head with a stick. If Sedin is back on the ice in two weeks it was never a concussion and just a reason to rest him and watch the Hawks get punished.

By: scottybcboy

scottybcboy — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 01:17:29 +0000

I felt the same way after the Marchand clipping suspension….not a good time to set a new standard but if that is the way it will be from now on, fine. Unfortunately that wasn’t the new standard, just a one off spin of the ‘justice wheel’. Other players have committed the same act and got nothing, not even a hearing….welcome to the inconsistency of supplemental discipline!

By: johnnyru131

johnnyru131 — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 01:03:23 +0000

The 5 game suspension is WELL WORTH it knowing that at least he knocked out the Girly Sedin for trying to take his head off. Go Hawks and F the Canucks, you cry baby hair pulling can’t win a Stanley Cup losers!!!!!

By: vanchuk

vanchuk — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 00:52:57 +0000

Mmmmmm chicken wings

By: vanchuk

vanchuk — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 00:51:40 +0000

5 games is consistent with most of the previous suspensions…but they’re ALL too lenient! When Aaron Rome got 4 SCF games for interference, I was upset that they decided to usher in a new era of supplemental discipline in the finals, but if they were to keep that up, then I was fine with it… only, they haven’t. If that punishment were carried over, Keith would probably be missing the rest of the regular season and maybe 4-7 first round games. That would be a message that players would take note of, this? I don’t think so. 5 games is exactly what I expected him to get and it makes sense, seeing as what previous suspensions have been. But I think they need it to seriously revisit supplemental discipline standard with the new CBA

By: scottybcboy

scottybcboy — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 00:33:34 +0000

I’m surprised he got 5 games. Shanny should have given him more, IMO, but I expected less considering the last few rulings. All in all a pretty fair ruling…for once.

By: scottybcboy

scottybcboy — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 00:29:33 +0000

Marchand got 12 PIMs for speed bagging Sedin….yeah O’Halloran is biased against the ‘Nucks….12 minutes, what do you want? His head on a platter?

By: iamanidiotfan

iamanidiotfan — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 23:51:05 +0000

The five game mark seems to be consistent with a chicken-wing elbow and Keith’s lack of a track record.

What I’m curious about is what impact the non-call will have on the referees. Pretty clear now that Keith should have gotten a major and a game misconduct for his elbow in the game in addition to his suspension.

By: odj810

odj810 — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 23:46:02 +0000

absolutely. You can tell how much people disagree just in conversation about suspensions. Sure he could do a better job but lets just be realistic and say his job is anything but easy

By: hockinj25

hockinj25 — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 23:38:25 +0000

Totally agree. No matter what he does, people disagree.

By: wethog66

wethog66 — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 23:37:15 +0000

Bourque’s Jan. 3rd elbow on Backstrom was way more blatant, and Nicky hasn’t played since. Bourque only got 5 games so Shanaban is at least consistent with giving 5 to Keith.

By: haterzgonahate

haterzgonahate — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 23:32:02 +0000

really? didn’t know Sedin’s elbows were attached to his shoulders…it was a clean but slightly late hit for christ sakes!!

By: 1943mrmojorisin1971

1943mrmojorisin1971 — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 23:31:25 +0000

Who cares about his history? He was retaliating and delivered an absolutely vicious hit to Sedin’s head. If the NHL was serious about getting these types of hits out of the game they would have ignored everything except the hit and the intent and then punished him accordingly. Sit him for the rest of the season, maybe even a playoff game, and he along with most players would probably think twice about throwing this kin dof reckless hit.

By: phillyphever

phillyphever — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 23:24:23 +0000

And lets face it guys, it’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t kind of situation for Shanny. Suspend him for a long time: people complain. Suspend him for a short time: people complain. Heck, Goodell’s taking some heat for suspending Payton for a full year from Bountygate (mostly Saints fans, but still). No matter what decision he makes, someone’s gonna have a complaint about it (in this case, Nucks fans).

By: elvispocomo

elvispocomo — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 23:23:40 +0000

Shanahan did comment during the Marchand suspension video about the previous play where the same hit happened but the players went shoulder to shoulder and were fine. He noted Marchand pursued Salo (not necessarily anything specific about punches IIRC), and that was why it was predatory.

With Daniel’s hit having been 6 minutes prior, I can see how they don’t want to use it to draw a correlation. Unless they have direct evidence that was why Keith did what he did, or it immediately preceded the elbow, it’s hard to have that play a major role in the suspension.

The elbow on it’s own was certainly bad enough to warrant more games than what Doan, a repeat offender, got for his. They recognized Keith knew what he was doing and punished him as a result. I already mentioned it could have been more (Domi out for the rest of the playoffs!) but this is Shanahan’s measuring stick, which is different even from last year’s and he’s trying to get it right.

People have mentioned it though, that even a hit like Weisnewski’s was longer, as were others at the beginning of the season, and it’s gotten less, but I’ll give him leeway for that as he’s trying to find the right balance. The GMs certainly are having their say, but that’s going to affect all teams, not be biased against one or another.

By: wheelinbeauties21

wheelinbeauties21 — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 23:22:47 +0000

5 games is a pretty solid message… especially when you consider the fact Sedin elbowed him in the head 6 minutes prior which was missed by the officials. Not to mention Keith has a relatively clean history.

Don’t get me wrong though because I agree this kind of behavior doesn’t belong in the game but I feel the suspension is quite fair. However it is unfair to compare them but if you start comparing the recent and past suspensions then yes it is very unfair.

By: phillyphever

phillyphever — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 23:19:38 +0000

Fair punishment.

By: elvispocomo

elvispocomo — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 23:15:23 +0000

Nevermind the Bourque hit, Keith should have seen the Doan elbow from just one night before and known it wasn’t going to fly. Combine that with Benn having the puck but Daniel never touching it, minus for Doan’s ‘repeat offender’ status, and 5 games is what I thought he’d max at. I would have been surprised if he’d gotten 6, 7 or more – not because of whether or not it warranted it, but because of what we’ve seen for suspensions on similar plays.

It’s a far cry from the Domi suspension after his elbow to Niedermeyer back in 2001 though:
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/08/sports/hockey-devil-says-domi-vowed-revenge.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/05/sports/hockey-maple-leafs-domi-draws-suspension-for-rest-of-playoffs.html

By: tru2joelu4eva

tru2joelu4eva — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 23:14:54 +0000

wow, that was just as spineless as everyone should’ve known it was going to be. we’ve officially reached nba-level dignity.

By: adiosron

adiosron — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 23:13:16 +0000

Just curious – why did the broadcasters feel compelled to look up in the game videos of anything Daniel Sedin did that might have caused Duncan Keith to hit him so recklessly? Of all the illegal hits, have you EVER seen them do something like this?

This reminds me of the exclusion of information used to defend Todd Marchand’s “lowbridge” hit on Sami Salo in January. Marchand says he was defending himself, yet in the game footage, Marchand can be seen hitting Salo not once, but twice in the head just before the lowbridge. Why wasn’t that footage shown to show Marchand’s predatory behaviour?

Interesting how the Canucks are treated differently in the media…and it was the same referee O’Halleron who infamously watched Marchand punch Sedin in the face 6 times in the Finals before calling Sedin for unsportsmanlike conduct for GETTING punched 6 times.

Wake up NHL. Your sense of justice and fair play is on shaky ground if not gone already.

By: salmon90

salmon90 — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 22:58:26 +0000

You wonder if it was Alex Burrows who made the hit on say…Patrick Sharp. Burrows obviously has a reputation around the league but it’s largely for agitating as he’s never been suspended for any cheap shots. As previous suspensions are factored into the equation what do you think he would get?

By: gallyhatch

gallyhatch — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 22:52:09 +0000

I agree. While I didn’t think suspending Keith for the playoffs would be fair for a guy with no history of suspensions, I think Shannahan missed a major issue here by neglecting the predatory nature of this hit. Keith clearly lined Sedin up and blasted him. Like lepetertk said, if he’s going to consider that with Wisniewski & Marchand, why ignore it with Keith? The lack of consistency = a lack of credibility for the NHL and that sucks for the people who love this game.

And the injury thing bothers me alot. The offense is the hit, not the result. Why should the result have any bearing on the punishment? Would that hit would be okay if Sedin got up & kept skating? Or it would have only been half as bad if Sedin missed a period? It doesn’t make sense to me.