Game #41: Minnesota Wild vs Vancouver Canucks, Wednesday January 4, 2012 at 9:00pm (CST), Rogers Arena [GAME PREVIEW]

Dear Brendan Shanahan,

As I’m sure you probably know, Minnesota Wild fans are a bit annoyed with you these days.  When you first got your gig as the NHL disciplinarian, fans around the league held their collective breaths.  We had endured years of Colin Campbell and his joke of supplemental discipline for events that happened on the ice during the games.  Campbell was so ridiculous, that a fan created a “flowchart” that showed how Campbell’s decisions were made:

So when you were hired, we felt there just might be some hope for legitimate discipline, but we were still optimistically cautious.  Then you laid down the law early.  Players like Jody Shelley, James Wisniewski and Minnesota’s Brad Staubitz found themselves various combinations of pre-season and regular season games for things like illegal checks, hits from behind, and boarding.  We the fans felt there definitely was a new sheriff in town, and we felt like we were in good hands.  Even better, not only did we get to read about the suspension, you even provided video evidence for the reasoning.

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But then things changed.  For Minnesota fans, that change started with the two-game suspension to Pierre-Marc Bouchard for high sticking incident in the season opener against the Columbus Blue Jackets.  At the time of the incident and consequent suspension, the vast majority of Wild fans agreed with the decisions.  Every fan in the league knows that a player must be responsible for their stick at all times. 

Unfortunately for you Mr. Shanahan, sentiment in Minnesota has changed, and let me just say this, it is not in your favor.  You are quickly becoming persona non grata within the borders of L’Etoile du Nord.  First it was the hit by Zach Bogosian on Bouchard, that ended up breaking his nose.  Then Lennart Petrell on Marek Zidlicky.  The straw that almost broke the camel’s back was the hit by Cody McLeod on Jared Spurgeon which took him out of action for a few games.  You and your cabal of “experts” have reasons for there having been no need for supplemental discipline, but trust me, they fall short.  In the cases of Bouchard and Spurgeon, you claim that Bouchard and Spurgeon turned at the last minute.  Yes, they turned.  However they turned to PLAY THE PUCK.  A player in the offensive zone has a right to play the puck, and should have the right to do so without the fear of a dangerous hit.  In the cases of this hits on Zidlicky and Spurgeon, you actually had the gall to state that the hands on their backs were simply “warnings” to our players to let them know there was someone behind them.  I’m sorry, but if it was merely a warning, the opposing player would have removed their hand before their body took them into the boards.  Your words also seem to place the blame on the injured player as opposed to the one who made the hit, and that is simply wrong. 

Then came your paltry excuse of supplemental discipline.  You decided to suspend Phoenix’s Raffi Torres for two games for a high hit on Bouchard, in which Torres left his feet.  Upon hearing that decision, two things quickly came to mind.  First, you were watching Torres, especially since the league had fined him earlier in the day for another infraction in his previous game.  Secondly, you knew you were on notice by Minnesota fans and our media, especially since it was our Michael Russo who immediately e-mailed you after it became evident that there would be nothing additional happening to McLeod.  Plus, I’m not sure if your statement to Minnesota General Manager Chuck Fletcher played into this: “it doesn’t escape me that this has happened to your club three times.”  Yes, the call on Torres was more of a makeup call, and it is blatantly obvious.

I’m afraid Mr. Shanahan that you’re becoming more like the man who had your job before you than you even realize.  I’m beginning to wonder if it’s going to take a serious, career-ending injury like the one to a Minnesota high-school student just this past weekend.  16-year old sophomore Jack Jablonski of Benilde-St. Margaret’s High School was checked from behind into the boards on Friday night.  That hit took him down to the ice where he laid motionless.  Jablonski now has two broken bones in his lower neck and bruises on his spinal cord.  As of the last report, he cannot move his legs and has only slight, movement and feeling in his fingers.  Are you willing to risk an NHL player ending up as a quadriplegic (or even paraplegic) on your watch?  The hits along the boards need to be taken more seriously, and not just when Wild players are involved.  We’ve simply come out on the injured end three times due to these hits.  I guess our players should consider themselves “lucky” that they didn’t end up like Jack Jablonski. 

What has started out as cautious optimism on your job performance has turned to outright pessimism.  I’m afraid we’re going to see more dangerous hits along the board, and you’re simply going to sit on your hands and essentially blame the player who gets hit.  It’s sad that it takes serious injuries to star players before any professional sports league makes changes to their rules.  I hope you’re prepared to accept the blame and consequences when a player eventually ends up paralyzed.

Sincerely,

The State of Hockey   

Injury Report:

Minnesota:     Jarod Palmer (upper body), Guillaume Latendresse (concussion), Clayton Stoner (groin)

Vancouver:  David Booth (sprained right knee), Aaron Volpatti (shoulder, out for the season), Aaron Rome (broken thumb)    

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