When it comes to officiating and enforcing the rules of hockey, there are three components to consider. First, there's the action by the player. Second, there is the rulebook definition of the legality or illegality of that action, along with a protocol of penalizing that action based on its severity or intent. Lastly, there is the result of that action.
In terms of officiating based on the third component -- result of the play -- it can be something as simple as determining whether a team got a breakaway as a result of a borderline trip or whether a forward being grabbed and released was enough to prevent a scoring chance.
Things get more controversial where reckless hits are involved, and whether they cause injury or the victim is fortunate enough to escape injury. My view is that there should be punishment for such hits even if the victim is fortunate enough to avoid injury.
Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri was a very lucky man to receive only a three-game suspension after the dual incidents in Wednesday's game against the Minnesota Wild. He deserved to get nabbed for both incidents -- a forearm to the head of goaltender Niklas Backstrom and a blatant charge on forward Mikael Granlund -- rather than only the first.
The second one -- for which Kadri received a match penalty, which carries an automatic supplementary discipline review-- was actually even worse than the first. Kadri jumped into the check and it was a flat out bad hit that was extremely dangerous, needless and reckless. He fully deserved the match penalty on the play and this was a case where
Rule 48.5, which is the most severe of the illegal check to the head (Rule 48) penalties was totally justified.
When a player jumps into his check like that, it's an awful hit that is worthy of suspension. Many times in today's hockey, instant replay from multiple angles and ultra-slow motion makes hits look far worse than they actually are. In this case, even at full speed with a single look, it's a match-penalty worthy hit.
As for the first hit on Backstrom, Kadri was initially making a legitimate hockey play, going to the net and deflecting a shot. It was what happened thereafter that got him in trouble.
Kadri made absolutely zero effort to avoid the contact, led with elbow and delivered a pretty good forearm shiver to the goalie's mask. That makes Kadri fully responsible for Backstrom hitting the back of his head on the ice in the crease.
If a match penalty had been called on that first hit, it would have been justified because of the lack of effort to do anything other than steamroll the goalie as he continued crashing the net a full stride after playing the puck.
Here's the standard I would have applied: Let's suppose Kadri was making a play in the defensive zone and was the same distance from his own goaltender. Would he have made a quick little u-turn or at least tried to throw on the brakes to avoid the collision? You better believe he would. There were ways to minimize or avoid the contact. Kadri didn't care.
As a matter of fact, that second hit underscores the callousness of the first hit. That one was a no-brainer of a match penalty. Had Granlund been injured on the second hit, Brendan Shanahan probably would have tacked additional games onto the suspension.
Since Granlund was OK afterward, Kadri got nabbed only on the first hit. The player's incredulous "what did I do?" act even after the second hit would have rankled me even more. He had already injured someone earlier in the game, and had been cut a break to be allowed to stay in the game in the first place.
Tell you something else: I get sick and tired of coaches who say, "Well, he's a good kid and that's out of character for him." Kadri may not have a previous suspension history and I've never met the kid but it's pretty much a moot point.
If I walk into a bank, hold up the teller and then shoot the guard but the bullet only grazes him through sheer luck, does it matter if I had no previous criminal history? Nope. As a matter of fact, I committed two separate crimes and will be held accountable for both.
In this case, Kadri committed two suspension-worthy acts. He should have been suspended for both of them. Well, actually, he should never have been around in the game for the second one, so he's been cut a break twice over here.
This is the old-school hockey enforcer in me talking here: I think part of the reason why Kadri had such a cavalier attitude is that, as a "skill player" in today's game, he doesn't have to fight his own battles or look over his shoulder. Watching the replays of the hits and the way Kadri acted about it, I felt those old instincts kicking in from how I'd have reacted as a teammate of the victims.
Had I been a Minnesota player and something like this happened on my watch during my playing days, honestly, I think emotion and instinct would have taken over. I'd have dived into the penalty box to get at Kadri if I needed to after he injured my goalie. f I had been a Wild player after the jumping hit on Granlund, Mr. Kadri and I might have had a meeting about it after the game under the stands or in the parking lot.
Anyone who knows my personality and how I was as both a player and referee knows that I'm not just blowing smoke here. In fact, there would have been several teammates in line behind me for their own crack at teaching Kadri some respect for the safety of other players.
For example, one time when I was playing in the WHA for Cincinnati in a game against Birmingham in a game in Cincy, Frank Beaton or Gilles Biledeau -- I can't recall at the moment which guy it was -- ran our goalie. I couldn't get at him in our end, because the ref and linesmen were shielding him from our players.
I said "OK guys, watch this!"
Then I skated 150 feet toward their goalie, John Garrett and went after him. Everyone on his side chased me into that end, then we got at it. I never touched Garrett, he was just the chum in the water to get them to come to me. You could ask Cheech about it, because he and I laugh about it when we see each other nowadays. So, yes, I have personal experience with these situations. Anyway, I digress. Back to Kadri.
Just for once -- and I'm talking about you in this case, Randy Carlyle -- I'd like to hear a coach not try to justify what happened. Randy would be the first one to be all up in arms if it was Jonathan Bernier or James van Riemsdyk who got hit the same way by a Minnesota player. There's a phenomenon in hockey that I call the 29-Team Rulebook. Coaches scream for the league to make the game safer for their own players, yet apply a different standard when it's their own guy.
Incidentally, the referee who made the call on the Backstrom hit was working his first game in the NHL. Welcome to the show, Trent Knorr! I wish your first game had been one of all easy calls but it's bound to happen sooner or later.
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Recent Blogs by Paul Stewart
Skate, He Said: Why Today's NHL Refs Get Bad Coaching
Bad Dreams Are Made of This: Some of Them Want to Abuse You
Pat Burns, Anti-Homerism, and the Hall of Fame
A Debt of Gratitude to the Fog
Officiating Teams and Two-Man Ref System
Unsafe at Any Speed: Hockey Equipment and Concussions
Defending Teammates, the Code and the Human Rulebook
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Paul Stewart holds the distinction of being the first U.S.-born citizen to make it to the NHL as both a player and referee. On March 15, 2003, he became the only American-born referee to officiate in 1,000 NHL games.
Today, Stewart is a judicial and league discipline consultant for the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and serves as director of hockey officiating for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC).
The longtime referee heads Officiating by Stewart, a consulting, training and evaluation service for officials, while also maintaining a busy schedule as a public speaker, fund raiser and master-of-ceremonies for a host of private, corporate and public events. As a non-hockey venture, he is the owner of Lest We Forget.
Stewart is currently working with a co-author on an autobiography. 
Blogger •Former NHL Referee • 
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