The Brendan Shanahan Era as NHL czar of discipline is starting to give him work him bunches.
Two days after he suspended Philadelphia Flyers forward Jody Shelley five preseason and five regular season games and Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond of the Calgary Flames four games (three preseason, one regular season) after repeat offenses, a pair of incidents Friday night in the Minnesota Wild-Columbus Blue Jackets game have draw the ire of Shanahan.
It was announced on Saturday afternoon that Brad Staubitz of the Wild and James Wisniewski of the Blue Jackets were each suspended indefinitely pending a hearing and review by Shanahan. Staubitz hit Cody Bass from behind and was given a major penalty and game misconduct, while Wisniewski delivered an illegal check to the head to Cal Clutterbuck and was given a minor.
The Wild played the Pittsburgh Penguins in an afternoon game on Saturday, while the Blue Jackets were traveling back home to Columbus, that is why the announcements had to be made before any final suspension decision is handed out.
So far, this new process of handing out discipline has gone over better than expected with the detailed explanation videos of how Shanahan came to his decision. There's no video available of last night's hits, but media and fans are waiting for the first borderline hit to occur and see how that is processed by these new standards. It's been a great start, and fans are hoping the old days of the Wheel of Justice are long gone.
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