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Early in the third period of last night's game between the Boston Bruins and hosting Ottawa Senators -- a foregone conclusion for much of the period -- Ottawa forward Chris Neil showed the world what a devastating (yet clean) hit looks like with a monster blast on B's defensemen Johnny Boychuk. Completely leveling the Boston blue-liner with a forceful check, one that forced No. 55 to leave the game, it took just two minutes for the Sens' Kyle Turris to show us what the polar opposite looks like.
Turris, the third overall pick from the 2007 draft class, is not an overly physical player. Never has been. Boasting 14 hits in 30 games with the Senators this year -- six more than the exported Nikita Filatov -- the 22-year-old Turris came in with what was a clear-cut cheapshot to the head of Boston's Joe Corvo.
Leaving your feet? Check. Leaning with the elbow? Check. Is the principal point of contact the head? Oh, yeah.
But what about a suspension? No? A fine? Nope. Anything? Not a single thing. Just another inconsistency displayed in the Brendan Shanahan system. Prematurely lauded as the fist that the NHL needed when the 21-year pro became the disciplinarian -- replacing the wildly all over the board Colin Campbell -- Shanahan offered some insight as to why Turris dodged a suspension through a statement today.
"Because there was enough head contact on this hit, the Department of Player Safety felt it was necessary to convene a hearing to examine the play further,” Shanahan said. “After reviewing the video extensively as we heard Turris' explanation of how the play developed, we concluded that the head was not targeted intentionally or even recklessly and that the circumstances surrounding the hit contributed significantly to the amount of head contact that resulted."
So, what have we learned? You can target the head, just don't make it look intentional and/or reckless. That's not going to create a gigantic gray area, is it?
Overall, this is the third consecutive incident where the Bruins -- widely considered 'favorites' by league know-nothings -- have found themselves on the crap-end of the stick. Philadelphia's Tom Sestito went unpunished for his late hit on Nathan Horton, who still hasn't played since the hit, and then came another incident in Montreal where Hal Gill hit Rich Peverley with a knee-on-knee collision.
Peverley sprained his MCL on the hit, but didn't get as much as an explanation from Shanahan, who instead opted to tweet about his displeasure with Brad Marchand's hit on Alexei Yemelin from the same game.
Am I suggesting an anti-Bruins bias? No, because I think people that fall back on the famous "The league hates us!" adage are moronic, but I do think the same inconsistencies are still lodged deep within the NHL's offices of Player Safety.
In Boston's own backyard, Adam McQuaid should've been suspended earlier this season for his knee-on-knee hit with Nick Foligno. He wasn't, but a few days later Milan Lucic received a one-game ban for boarding Zac Rinaldo, who admitted that he surprised to see Lucic suspended. Now it wasn't Lucic's suspension that caught most off-guard, but rather Shanahan noting that the lack of injury to Rinaldo along with No. 17's prior infractions factored into their decision-making process.
By this same logic, if Turris isn't fined or suspended, how will he ever be an offender? That's not to suggest that Turris isn't a dirty player, because I definitely don't believe that, but that same consistency that made Shanahan such a "great addition" to the NHL's cabinet has been missing. Something that can be said by fans in any area.
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