NHL Playoffs: How Should Brendan Shanahan Handle Player Safety During Playoffs?

The 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs are only a few weeks away, and with the NHL receiving lots of criticism for its discipline (or lack thereof) on dangerous hits this season, Brendan Shanahan's challenging job as league disciplinarian is about to get a while lot harder.

Shanahan, who many fans and media members feel has been inconsistent in his rulings on player safety matter this season, recently talked about the difference between a regular season game suspension and a playoff game suspension.

Via ESPN's Craig Custance (entire article is behind paywall):

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"The standard of what is illegal or legal doesn't change," Shanahan said. "For the most part, you're looking at things in seven-game clumps. It's a seven-game season each series."

The bottom line is that one playoff game is worth considerably more to a player than one regular-season game, and Shanahan will consider that in his postseason rulings. 

"I can attest to this as a player, if you ask me if I'd rather have a four-game suspension in November than a one-game suspension in the playoffs, I'd take the four-game suspension in November," Shanahan said. "If you think about it, that one game in the finals is the equivalent of a 12-game suspension. … I don't feel we're in the punishment business, we're in the changing player behavior business. You do that by getting a player's attention."

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As ProHockeyTalk points out, by using Shanahan's logic, Canucks defenseman Aaron Rome's four-game suspension during last year's Stanley Cup Final for hitting Bruins forward Nathan Horton late would result in a 48-game suspension. 

Wow, that would be quite a punishment.

The above quotes from Shanahan are a bit concerning. If a hit has to be really bad to earn five games in the regular season, how bad does it have to be to earn just a one-game ban in the postseason?

This year's playoffs could get really interesting if a marquee player either gets hurt by an illegal hit or is the one dishing out the illegal hit.

How is Shanahan going to address the situation? The unfortunate thing for the NHL is that no one knows how Shanahan will rule. His inconsistency has given us no logical pattern to follow when it comes to punishing players for dangerous hits.

I have a bad feeling that a player will deliver a dirty hit, like a vicious elbow or something, and not be suspended because he's playing in the playoffs even though in the regular season it would have been an automatic suspension.

Regardless of what time of the year it is, a dangerous hit is a dangerous hit. Detroit Red Wings forward Tomas Holmstrom doesn't think the playoffs should affect how dangerous hits are ruled on.

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"A check from behind is a check from behind. An elbow to the head is an elbow to the head. How can you see through that?" Holmstrom said. "The games are more important, yeah. … I don't know if it should be any different. I don't think so. You know what you're doing out there on the ice. I don't think it should be any different."

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Shanahan must not treat player discipline any different in the playoffs than he would in the regular season. If players know they can get away with certain hits and not be suspended because it's the playoffs, the game could become much more dangerous.

Send a message to players who make dangerous hits. If someone gets suspended in the playoffs, the rest of the players participating in the postseason will surely take notice and stop themselves from delivering an illegal hit to an opponent.

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