Shane O’Brien strikes again.  He’s hot-tempered and I think he gets into more penalty trouble than he should and this is no exception.  The NHL has suspended the Vancouver Canucks defenceman after his stick made contact with New York Rangers player, Sean Avery, while they were both seated on the bench.
A melee had broken out between the teams and it was just one of many scrums that happened as a result but you, obviously, cannot hit someone while you’re on the bench.   O’Brien will miss Thursday’s game at Minnesota but will be eligible to return on Friday at Dallas.
Here’s a …read more

After Anaheim Ducks defenceman James Wisniewski took a forearm to the head of forward Shane Doan over the weekend, the NHL has decided that the action warrants a two-game suspension.

The hit took place during the first period after the Coyotes were left shorthanded for having too many men on the ice.  Wisniewski crossed the Ducks blueline and delivered a hard blow to Doan’s head.
There wasn’t a penalty assessed at the time for the hit but as soon as play stopped, Coyotes d-man, Keith Yandle, decided to send Wisniewski a message.  As a result, he was given a 10-minute game misconduct …read more

The Boston Bruins will take on the Montreal Canadiens tonight but it will be without forward, Milan Lucic.  After an incident during Saturday night’s game, the NHL decided that Lucic would be suspended for one game.  During the game, Lucic slashed Montreal’s, Maxim Lapierre, in the head using his stick in front of the net.  There was less than five minutes left in the game that Boston easily won with a final score of 5-1.
Initially, the scrum began with Lucic and Habs defenceman, Mathieu Schneider, pushing each other in front of the Montreal net.  They were each assessed a penalty …read more

It was an amazing night for the Columbus Blue Jackets who made the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in franchise history after a 4-3 SO win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

It has been almost nine years since the Blue Jackets were added to the NHL and I’m sure this victory was sweet since they were the only active team to have never qualified for the postseason.  They only needed one point to secure the playoff spot.  “To get that one point was huge, to come back after being down 2-0,” Rick Nash said. “To get the win was even …read more

For a repeat offender like Denis Gauthier, I have to admit that I was expecting a longer suspension.  The Los Angeles Kings defenceman came under fire after taking a pretty nasty hit on Montreal Canadiens d-man, Josh Gorges. 
The league has suspended him for five games without pay – he will forfeit $56,451.61 of his salary to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
The Kings can put him back in the lineup on February 14, 2009 for the game against the Edmonton Oilers.
image: TSN

The league handed down a two-game suspension to Jarkko Ruutu (Ottawa Senators) after he bit Andrew Peters (Buffalo Sabres) at exactly 13:13 during the first period. 
The suspension occurred during a telephone call with NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations, Colin Campbell.  Ruutu, who was suspended for the same amount of time earlier this season for elbowing Maxim Lapierre (Montreal Canadiens) to the head, will forfeit $31,707.32 in salary. 
Honestly, I’m inclined to think that biting should warrant more than two games, especially since Ruutu has already been suspended this season.
image: TSN

Anaheim Ducks forward, Corey Perry, took a cheap shot on Claude Giroux (Philadelphia Flyers) by elbowing him in the head during the third period of their game Friday night.  As a result, the NHL has chosen to suspend him for four games and he will forfeit $114,516.12 in salary which will go to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
Watch the video.  Not cool.