After a 2-0 shutout victory in Madison Square Garden, the Ottawa Senators have effectively pushed the New York Rangers to the brink of elimination. An eight seed about to drop the pride of the Eastern Conference in the first-round? Pretty newsworthy. And yet, the lead in the Sunday papers has shifted from the potential upset to a controversial hit by Chris Neil on Brian Boyle, thanks in large part to the genius of John Tortorella.
Tortorella has a genuine ability to rub media and fans the wrong way, but the guy always knows what he's doing. Immediately following his team's loss on Saturday night, Tortorella took to the podium and waxed poetic about Chris Neil's stick of Brian Boyle.
First, Tortorella paralleled Neil's hit to the kill shot laid by Raffi Torres on Marian Hossa, mentioning that there was a "blueprint" in place. Then, he slapped Chris Neil with the erroneous repeat offender tag, all but guaranteeing Neil's supplemental discipline handout on Sunday.
Now, John Tortorella is plenty of things, but uninformed isn't exactly one of them. A Raffi Torres parallel? Even the most staunch Rangers advocate will tell you that was A-Grade theatrics. Tortorella may or may not have known that Chris Neil had never been suspended by the National Hockey League, but that's really not the point. Tortorella's goal was to shift the media's attention away from a paltry performance by his team on home ice, and towards the likes of Senators F Chris Neil.
Mission accomplished.
The NHL reviewed the hit by Chris Neil(video below), and as expected, will not be disciplining the hulking Senators forward for the hit. Neil has an incredibly ability to toe the proverbial line, and although he's managed to let off some seriously punishing hits, he's never missed a game through one of his hits.
Upon review, the NHL confirmed what TSN and CBC opined earlier in the night. The hit was well within reason in regards to timing, coming well before the 0.50 second threshold used as a benchmark by the NHL. They also confirmed what's quite evident through video -- Neil never left his feet prior to the collision.
The only question, really, was whether or not Neil's primary point of contact was Brian Boyle's head. In fairness, this is one element of the hit where there's a bit of a gray area. Some suggest that Neil connected with Boyle's head first. Others suggest Neil went through Boyle's upper body first, and the head contact came subsequent to the initial hit. The NHL agreed with the latter.
Truly, the most unfortunate development of this play is that Brian Boyle is concussed and has already been ruled out for the New York Rangers in game six. Boyle's been leaned upon heavily by John Tortorella, starting just 11.5% of his draws in the offensive zone at even strength. As the team's best man in the dot, he's used as the only tool to act as a deterrent to Ottawa's domination in the face-off circle. Now, they're severely undermanned down the middle.
New York is getting Carl Hagelin back from suspension - a huge lift to their top-six. However, his return may be counter-balanced by the return of an even more talented skater - Daniel Alfredsson of the Ottawa Senators. Alfredsson took reps at practice on Sunday and could be ready to go for Monday's battle.
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I'm not sure if this is quantifiable, but I say with some level of certainty that Brendan Shanahan is quickly becoming the most unpopular face in the National Hockey League.
So, defending the Dean of Discipline isn't exactly an easy task.
Nor is his job.
The backlash directed the way of Brendan Shanahan after his non-rulings on players like Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators and Chris Neil of the Ottawa Senators is expected, but it's largely misdirected.
Look - I don't agree with some of Shanahan's calls, especially the one made on Shea Weber after the Predators defenseman tried to permanently install the boards onto Henrik Zetterberg's face. How a player ended up with a $2,500.00 fine for attempted murder, I'm not really sure.
NHL fan bases have entered into a cyclical routine that always ends in the blaspheming of one singular entity - Brendan Shanahan. He's become an easy scapegoat for supplemental discipline as the acting face of punishment handouts. And it's entirely unfair.
Shanahan's went above and beyond to try and clean up the game, but his work has gone ultimately unnoticed. Tirelessly, Shanahan's tried to define supplemental discipline protocol to the National Hockey League suits in an effort to install some kind of consistency. His goal: To clean up the game by removing the dirty kill shots that are plaguing today's game.
It's not always black and white. There's plenty of instances - Chris Neil's hit above is a perfect example - where the periphery clouds judgment. Was there maliciousness? Was there intent or premeditation? Did the illegal hit injure the player? Could the play have been avoided? Does the player in-review have priors on his record?(Did the hit injure a star player? [Allegedly].
Shanahan meticulously reviews each detail of the hit, then issues his ruling based on precedence and a combination of the above-referenced factors. Almost positively, his review of the hit will win support of one fan base, and earn the rage of others, who cry foul at his inability to consistently hand out supplemental discipline.
I'm not here to argue that the rulings of Brendan Shanahan have been consistent or effective. I'm here to argue that Brendan Shanahan is doing the best job he can under the watchful eye of thirty bosses who dictate the elements of his job every step of the way.
Thirty bosses, you say? At least. You're well aware of the ones I'm referring to, though. Peter Chiarelli, Darcy Regier, Jim Rutherford, Dale Tallon, Lou Lamoriello, Garth Snow, Glen Sather, Bryan Murray, Paul Holmgren, Ray Shero, Steve Yzerman, Brian Burke, George McPhee, Kevin Cheveldayoff, Bob Murray, Jay Feaster, Stan Bowman, Greg Sherman, Scott Howson, Joe Nieuwendyk, Ken Holland, Steve Tambellini, Dean Lombardi, Chuck Fletcher, David Poile, Don Maloney, Doug Wilson, Doug Armstrong, Mike Gillis, and the acting puppet rule in the Montreal Canadiens organization.
See, Brendan Shanahan's position is supposed to be removed from the politics of the National Hockey League, but anyone who is remotely in-touch with - well, reality - can sniff out the bigger issues here. NHL General Managers, as they have for years, dictate policy around the league.
All they've done is turn the NHL Player Safety Office - just one of many branches in the front offices - into a clusterfuck of epic proportions.
With Brendan Shanahan taking all of the misguided fire, the NHL GMs lay back and dictate rule as they see fit. Some want harsher suspensions. Some want lighter suspensions. All drive the 'player safety' angle and pimp their politicking to clean up the game, and in the same regard, blaspheme any instance where Brendan Shanahan makes a stand against a marketable asset in any of their respective organizations.
When Shanahan came into his position, one of his first loud statements was the lengthy suspension of Blue Jackets D James Wisniewski. Wiz received an eight/five suspension in game-length, and twenty-nine fan bases applauded a changing of the guard from the recently-departed Colin Campbell.
You know who didn't applaud the ruling? The above-referenced. Wisniewski's suspension established precedent, one that wouldn't bode well for other high-profile names who could find themselves on the phone with the league office in short order. In turn, the suits came hard after Brendan Shanahan's harsh tactics, and he was forced to curtail the length and severity of each subsequent punishment.
The lesson? Player safety is important, so long as it doesn't interfere with the NHL's bottom line.
Empirical evidence is there, too. Brendan Shanahan went out of his way at the GM meetings in Boca Raton, Florida, and was effectively shot down. Nick Cotsonika of Y! summed it up best:
Forget the general managers, too. Shanahan tried to get ahead of playoff gamesmanship at the GMs’ meetings, using video examples to show the degrees of certain infractions – a minor, a major, a warning, a fine, a suspension. They liked the standard then. But they don't like it when it goes against their teams now, with the Stanley Cup on the line, not to mention jobs. They don't want players serving long suspensions until an opponent does something to their team.
Perhaps that's what makes the twenty-five game suspension of Raffi Torres so laughable, at least to me. Brendan Shanahan and the NHL Player Safety Office knew that Torres' deserved some time off for his run of Marian Hossa, but more importantly, knew that NHL GMs wouldn't interfere. Again, it's Raffi Torres. Not Sidney Crosby, not Alexander Ovechkin -- not any player who puts fans in the seats.
Oh, and it of course helps that the Phoenix Coyotes are owned by the National Hockey League. Don Maloney's issued statement supporting the NHL's (read: his boss) ludicrous suspension re: length of Raffi Torres was the single-most ridiculous thing I've seen from the swinging dicks this season.
Torres, like it or not, was a fall guy. But, don't fool yourself. It's not going to change a thing.
So long as Brendan Shanahan sits in a position of power as a single-man, and so long as his rule is entirely handcuffed by higher-ups who act as a puppet government, the NHL will never be able to clean up its act or install any kind of consistency with their supplemental discipline policy. The league wants to dictate anything and everything that unfolds; they just don't want you to know about it.
In summation, this isn't so much the faults of one man; rather, organization failure from the top down. Brendan Shanahan - much like Raffi Torres of the Phoenix Coyotes - is becoming a fall guy, criticized with regularity because of the public's undying desire to find a face for a scapegoat.
Shanahan's far from infallible, but he's doing the best he can under the circumstances.
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
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