It is official. Alexander Ovechkin has been suspended for two games for his second boarding game misconduct of the season. Do I personally have a problem with the suspension as a personal Ovechkin fan? No, I do not. It is his second time doing this; that makes him a repeat offender.
The problem is the inconsistency of accurate and just suspensions in the NHL. Most recently, Matt Cooke's recent brush with the law and not getting a suspension for demolishing Marc Savard and ending Savard's season, for now at least.
Here is the list of all the boarding suspensions from this season:
Francis Lessard: five games for hit on Ryan Donally
Tuomo Ruutu: three games for hit on Darcy Tucker
Patrick Kaleta: two games for hit on Jared Ross (a few days after he was boarded by Alex Ovechkin)
Andy Sutton: two games for hit on Pascal Dupuis
Maxim Lapierre: four games for hit on Scott Nichol
Alex Ovechkin: two games for hit on Brian Campbell
Even if you talk about consistency, we could talk about how Matt Cooke was suspended for a "deliberate hit to the head" earlier this season on Artem Anisimov and was suspended two games for it. Then you have Curtis Glencross w ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Sterling Eby
Lack Of Consistency: The Problem With Suspensions in The NHL
March 15th, 2010 by Sterling Eby Leave a reply »
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