Andrei Kostitsyn and Shea Weber Mock Zetterberg Head Smash

Andrei Kostitsyn and Shea Weber Mock Zetterberg Head SmashA day after receiving a meager $2,500 fine for a rage-filled intent to injure play on Henrik Zetterberg, Shea Weber was joking about the play and took part in mocking it with teammate Andrei Kostitsyn. The jokes amused their Predator teammates, and clearly there is no remorse for a play that doesn’t belong in hockey – playoffs or not.

The embarrassment falls not only on the NHL, but strongly on their disciplinarian Brendon Shanahan. “We felt this was a reckless and reactionary play on which Weber threw a glancing punch and then shoved Zetterberg’s head into the glass,” Shanahan said. “We reached out to Detroit following the game and were informed that Zetterberg did not suffer an apparent injury and should be in the lineup for Game 2.”

What this is telling fans and players is that reckless behavior such as Weber’s will be tolerated, so long as the player isn’t hurt. So, would the scenario have been different if Zetterberg were injured? Thanks to his Warrior Krown 360 helmet, which was cracked in multiple places from the incident, Zetterberg suffered no serious injury. But let’s say the play results in a concussion, and one of Detroit’s best and hardest working players is out for the rest of the playoffs. Does Shea Weber get suspended then? Where do you draw the line?

Simply imposing a one game suspension for Weber would have looked better for Shanahan and the league. This tells fans and players that reckless plays will not be allowed, under any circumstances, and any future incidents will result in further punishment.

Instead of seeing growth and respect of the NHL, we have players such as Kostitsyn willing to mock the incident entirely. In fact, there are strong rumors that are suggesting that Weber’s teammates were even taking up a collection in order to help him pay the absurb maximum fine of $2,500. At $7.5 million per season, I’m fairly confident that Weber can handle his own punishment without a problem.

Unfortunately for the Red Wings, this will be all of the punishment that Weber receives. Lacking a true enforcer on the roster, Nashville’s star defenseman will more than likely skate away with no more ill effects than a team paid $2,500 fine.

8 Comments

  1. Reminds me of Vancouver’s infamous bite last year, and the mockery there after. Shanny messed up just as last year Campbell messed up. Really sad as these antics should be removed. Heck, Kessler’s recent dive I think should be a suspension as it looks poorly on the game.

  2. So the Krown cracked just from that? I hope it’s a little tougher then that, I’ve been holding off replacing my 9900 to see how it is.

  3. Someone explain to me how this picture proves that the Predators were “making fun” of what happened? Who was at the practice listening in on the conversation? Don’t be so quick to believe everything online.

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