Duncan Keith match penalty against Coyle UPDATE: Suspended 6 games

[KootenayFlamesFan]

I can't stand the argument that playoff games are worth 'x' amount of regular season games. If he deserved 10 games then he should sit 10 games. If players don't want to sit out during the playoffs maybe they shouldn't do something stupid near the end of the regular season?

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Two things. One, it's a disappointingly short suspension because it is short given his history. Two, the NHL does suspend based on how meaningful the games are. It's why playoff suspensions are so short compared to the regular season for similar actions. So yeah, if they were in a tough race 6 games might seem like enough because it could end their season if they missed. Since they are in and he may have rested anyway, it ends up being a 1 game suspension and that's a ####ing joke.

The NHL cannot hand out suspensions based on the circumstances the team is in, nor should they do it based on the time of year. For that reason alone, they have to stop treating playoff games as 4 times as valuable as regular season games. If it's a 10 game suspension, you do hand it out no matter when it happens. If the guy misses the entire playoffs and his team leaves early, that's the price you pay.

Maybe then guys will learn to be more respectful of each other and less reckless with their sticks.

[Enoch Root]

The NHL has always treated playoff games differently.

And personally, I don't have a problem with it. Two playoff games is huge - it can be enough to tilt a series in the other direction.

To say that isn't worth more than 2 games in January is pretty unrealistic IMO.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

The NHL has always treated playoff games differently.

And personally, I don't have a problem with it. Two playoff games is huge - it can be enough to tilt a series in the other direction.

To say that isn't worth more than 2 games in January is pretty unrealistic IMO.

A hooking penalty should be a hooking penalty whether it happens in October or April.

A 10 game suspension should be a 10 game suspension whether it happens in October or April.

This is more of the same 'game management' by the NHL where they get to pretend like they are a respectable pro-league when in actuality it's a group lacking professionalism from a bygone era colluding behind the scenes to metre out punishment on a case by case basis that best suits the short term goals of the league at any given time.

The NHL is a joke.

If you don't want to blow your team's chances of a long playoff run, dont' do something ######ed with 5 games left in the season. For a second time.

[Bandwagon In Flames]

I would of been happier with 2-3 playoff games, but 1 home game is almost like 1.5 games in itself. With how tight games are in the playoffs, home ice advantage is HUGE so you need to win them. Being without your best defenseman who bleeds playoff success is going to hurt them. Would also be a momentum builder for the opposition.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

A hooking penalty should be a hooking penalty whether it happens in October or April.

A 10 game suspension should be a 10 game suspension whether it happens in October or April.

This is more of the same 'game management' by the NHL where they get to pretend like they are a respectable pro-league when in actuality it's a group lacking professionalism from a bygone era colluding behind the scenes to metre out punishment on a case by case basis that best suits the short term goals of the league at any given time.

The NHL is a joke.

If you don't want to blow your team's chances of a long playoff run, dont' do something ######ed with 5 games left in the season. For a second time.

I could not agree more with the bold.

However, when it comes to missing entire games due to suspension, games in May are worth more than games in January.

[mikephoen]

Do you guys think Duncan Keith takes less cheap shots or even legit body checks because other players in the league know that he might retaliate with a vicious slash? Keith has missed very few games in his career, despite many long and demanding playoff runs. Could it have anything to do with other players not wanting to suffer the results of pissing him off?

Is this a viable strategy for other star players in the league? Every few years, just take a savage chop on some other guy to serve notice that you won't be abused. Take the pathetic NHL suspension, and then suffer far less abuse from the opposition in the future.

Thoughts?

[CroFlames]

I'm appalled how lenient the suspension is.

In my mind, that should have been 25 games MINIMUM.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

The NHL cannot hand out suspensions based on the circumstances the team is in, nor should they do it based on the time of year. For that reason alone, they have to stop treating playoff games as 4 times as valuable as regular season games. If it's a 10 game suspension, you do hand it out no matter when it happens. If the guy misses the entire playoffs and his team leaves early, that's the price you pay.

Maybe then guys will learn to be more respectful of each other and less reckless with their sticks.

Well unfortunately they can and they do. It's dumb but let's just add it to the laundry list of bush league crap the league is constantly doing.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

I could not agree more with the bold.

However, when it comes to missing entire games due to suspension, games in May are worth more than games in January.

Then don't swing your stick at someone else's face.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

I could not agree more with the bold.

However, when it comes to missing entire games due to suspension, games in May are worth more than games in January.

I agree with this. I totally see where Flash is coming from, but there is a difference between the actual rules of the game changing from one time of year to another, and the amount of punishment necessary to act as a deterrent being different because games in the playoffs are just more important.

The purpose of supplemental discipline is to punish a guy for what he did and hopefully stop him or others from doing similar things. Obviously, the degree to which that's effective is going to depend on whether the games he misses are regular season or playoffs.

[drewtastic]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

I'm appalled how lenient the suspension is.

In my mind, that should have been 25 games MINIMUM.

Accidentally thanked instead of quoted. Agree with the sentiment though--6 games not enough.

[Regorium]

Pathetic ruling.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

I can't stand the argument that playoff games are worth 'x' amount of regular season games. If he deserved 10 games then he should sit 10 games. If players don't want to sit out during the playoffs maybe they shouldn't do something stupid near the end of the regular season?

Even if you want to count playoff games as being worth more, they have traditionally been held to be equivalent of two regular season games. So where did 5:1 come from all of a sudden? The logical answer is the fact that Keith is a star player, so the league changed its unwritten rule for his benefit.

[Gaudfather]

Gotta love the inconsistency of the NHL when it comes to administering suspensions. Keith should have received 10 games minimum, especially being a repeat offender.

[CliffFletcher]

Can the people calling for 10+ games points to some comparables? From what I've seen, suspensions that length are reserved for hits from behind and/or hits to the head that can cause concussions. Slashing in the face and head area is usually a 3-4 game suspension. And that's what a player with no history of that kind of play would have got.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Can the people calling for 10+ games points to some comparables? From what I've seen, suspensions that length are reserved for hits from behind and/or hits to the head that can cause concussions. Slashing in the face and head area is usually a 3-4 game suspension. And that's what a player with no history of that kind of play would have got.

Do you have any comparables?

IMO, this is the worst stick swinging since McSorley.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Can the people calling for 10+ games points to some comparables? From what I've seen, suspensions that length are reserved for hits from behind and/or hits to the head that can cause concussions. Slashing in the face and head area is usually a 3-4 game suspension. And that's what a player with no history of that kind of play would have got.

The slashes in the face you are referring to are hockey plays gone wrong. Not cases of waiting, thinking, and then deliberately slashing an opponent in the face as revenge for his knocking you down.

Six games might be tolerable if Keith was a first-time offender. But this wasn't his first time being suspended for using his stick as a weapon to attack someone's face. Likewise, his elbow to Sedin was egregious.

Duncan Keith is a player who should be getting up to the point of Raffe Torres/Chris Simon levels of suspension as he has ha habit of going out of his way to deliberately injure opponents. Except that he's a star player, so he's getting special treatment.

[powderjunkie]

How do playoff game suspensions work in terms of money? Even if they want to use the ratio of importance to do fewer playoff games, they should do the inverse for the money the player loses...

[calumniate]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

How do playoff game suspensions work in terms of money? Even if they want to use the ratio of importance to do fewer playoff games, they should do the inverse for the money the player loses...

I think it was Matt Cooke that kneed Tyson Barrie in the playoffs and got suspended for a few games. Don Cherry was livid that it didn't cost Cooke a dime.