NHL Breaking News: Rene Bourque and Daniel Carcillo Suspended by NHL

Daniel Carcillo was suspended seven games today for a boarding incident that occured against the Edmonton Oilers. The above video shows the incident with Tom Gilbert. During the play, Carcillo showed careless agression. 

It looked more like a push than it was a hit, so it only makes the action more heinous. Carcillo is a repeat offender, so the suspension is a bit light given his history.

What is interesting is Carcillo waived the right to a face to face meeting with Brendan Shanahan. This only made his case worse in the eyes of the league.

Carcillo is really skating on thin ice, no pun intended, as he has been suspended before.

In other news, Rene Bourque of the Calgary Flames was suspended for five games due to his vicious elbow. He flagrantly elbowed Washington Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom.

You can see a video of the incident by clicking here.

Bourque is a skilled player who is having a down year, so he may have taken out some frustration on Backstrom here. The fact of the matter is, Bourque was suspended two games in December for checking from behind.

Why was he not further disciplined after committing another dangerous act so shortly after his December suspension?

What should be noted is that Brendan Shanahan has been deliberate and has taken a lot of action so far this year. He is dealing with repeat offenders and is trying to give them chances to learn from their past failures.

However, Shanahan has also caught a lot of flack for not being consistent. In both cases, Shanahan had a chance to really send a message but I feel he failed to make his point.

If either player commits an act that is deemed illegal by the league, chances are the missed game total will be in double digits. 

Did Shanahan get the suspensions right, or should he have been harder or softer on the players he suspended?

Tom Urtz, Jr. is an NHL featured columnist. For NHL news, updates and alerts about players: