After blowing a bunch of calls against the Minnesota Wild since November 30th, 2011, but that's another story, Brendan Shanahan the NHL Senior Vice President of Player Safety and Hockey Operations has finally made the right call again. This suspension was a no-brainer and Cole had to suspended or Shannahan would have lost all of his credibility. The Blues General Managers didn't think the hit was a reckless hit.
Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said he respected the NHL's decision, but he disputed the notion that Cole's play was reckless.Here is the suspension video.
"I don't think it was a reckless play...I think it was a hockey play that was legal 12 months ago that's not legal today," he said. "I understand the sensitivity on hits to the head and we respect that, but I support Ian in the sense that it was a play that (Abdelkader) coming across the middle has to be aware, and unfortunately he wasn't. [stltoday.com]
