Dan Carcillo, Chicago Blackhawks: A Substantial Suspension on the Way

On Monday, January 2, 2012, Chicago Blackhawks forward Dan Carcillo received a five-minute major and a game misconduct for boarding on Edmonton Oilers defenseman Tom Gilbert near the midway point of the game.  

The hit, which can be found here, has resulted in a hearing with the Department of Player Safety, as reported Tuesday by NHL.com.  

Prior to this season, Brendan Shanahan replaced Colin Campbell as the NHL's Senior Vice President and chief disciplinarian.  While his main focus has been on removing head shots from the game, Shanahan has also been cracking down on repeat offenders.  

As the video shows, the Carcillo hit did not target the head.  That being said, he is a repeat offender, having been suspended multiple times in past years, as well as once earlier this season.  It's also important to note that both Carcillo and Gilbert were injured in the play.  

Carcillo's play this season has shown that he is an incredibly reckless player and has made no step towards cleaning up his play.  

The Department of Player Safety will not tolerate this type of player, and their reaction to the hit on Monday night will likely reflect that.  

So far this season, the longest suspensions have been to Oilers defenseman Andy Sutton, who received an eight-game suspension on December 7, and Columbus defenseman James Wisniewski, who sat for eight regular season games and four preseason games in September.  

Don't be surprised to see Dan Carcillo's suspension reach or surpass this severity in the upcoming days.