If there is anyone that is a supporter of Judge Brendan Shanahan and his disciplinary actions for players who commit severe penalties it’s me. The game needs to be cleaned up and he’s doing the best job he can. If everyone played the game hard and clean, we wouldn’t need his help on suspensions as often as he’s needed. One example of a careless hit occurred down the set from NHL headquarters in New York City when Buffalo’s Patrick Kaleta received a five-game suspension for boarding New York’s Brad Richards when he was going after the puck Sunday evening.
The five-game ban is the maximum allowable suspension after a telephone hearing, and Kaleta will forfeit $76,219.25 in salary to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund. Some hockey fans may hate Shanahan and his dictatorship but I believe the game has been cleaner with fewer cheap shots like the one seen below since he’s been working in the Department of Hockey Operations. Richards was shaken up on the head-first hit to the boards but he did return to the game.
Check out the MSG feed of the hit below, as well as Shanahan’s explanation of the incident here.
kaleta should not recieve this five game penalty due to the fact that rickards when to the bench, and durring the next shift, he was perfectly fine and went back to play. if anything, kaleta only deserves a 1-2 game penalty w/o the fine