So I wonder if there are still any conspiracy theorists out there that think that the Boston Bruins get all of the breaks because Colin Campbell's son Greg Campbell plays for the Boston Bruins. I think we can say that ship has sailed. This suspension should quite down those people who wrongly feel this way. We all knew that the NHL was going to suspend Brad Marchand, however, NHL Senior VP Player Safety - Brendan Shanahan has been very inconsistent with his rulings so far this year.
I have no problem per se, with Shanahan suspending Brad Marchand but in the matter of 13 days earlier in the season, Shanahan let very dangerous hits against the Minnesota Wild go unpunished, if you have forgotten already, Lennart Petrell's drove Marek Zidlicky into the boards, Zach Bogosian planted Pierre-Marc Bouchard into the board, followed up by ignoring Colorado Avalanche's talentless hack Cody McLeod try to put Wild Defenseman Jared Spurgeon through the end boards. Two of three Wild players on the receiving end of these dangers hits missed time after being slammed into the boards.
I still think if you're going to suspend one you have to suspend the others. Brendan Shanahan is no better than Colin Campbell's "Wheel of Justice" and if someone like Steve Ott had done this to one of the Wild players I wonder if we would be looking at the same punishment.
Apparently Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli is less than impressed with the suspension handed down from the NHL. Chiarelli said, “While we respect the process that the Department of Player Safety took to reach their decision regarding Brad’s hit on Sami Salo, we are very disappointed by their ruling."
NEW YORK -- Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand has been suspended for five games and will forfeit $152,439.02 for clipping Vancouver Canucks defenseman Sami Salo during NHL Game #598 in Boston on Saturday, Jan. 7, the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety announced today.
Marchand, who received a two-game suspension in March 2011, is classified as a repeat offender under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Accordingly, he forfeits his salary based on the number of games in the season (82), rather than the number of days (185). The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
The incident occurred at 18:47 of the second period. Marchand received a major penalty for clipping and a game misconduct.
Marchand will miss games Jan. 10 vs. Winnipeg, Jan. 12 vs. Montreal, Jan. 14 at Carolina, Jan. 16 at Florida and Jan. 17 at Tampa Bay. He will be eligible to return Jan. 19 at New Jersey.
