NHL Playoff Suspensions: Violence Won't Stop Until Players Respect Opponents

Many fans and media members have been blaming the NHL and league disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan for poorly handling player discipline throughout the playoffs, but the party most at fault for the excessive violence in the first round is the players.

The players, such as Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby, have been very outspoken over the last few years about head shots and other dangerous plays, but in these playoffs, guys are constantly going over the edge and not caring for the safety and long-term health of their opponents.

St. Louis Blues forward Andy McDonald recently talked to ESPN's Pierre LeBrun about player discipline in the playoffs thus far, saying:

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"It's obvious that there's not a lot of respect out there, and you see it every night on replays. Guys are certainly not respecting each other on the ice," McDonald said.

"I just think you watch a game, and is it really better than it was a year or two years ago?" McDonald told ESPN.com in an interview Tuesday evening at his team's hotel. "Is there less head shots? Certainly the playoffs this year has been a revelation that not much has changed. Guys are still targeting the head and really putting other players in danger and at risk for serious injury."

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McDonald is absolutely right—the players have little respect for each other. Despite the fact that there's so much at stake in the playoffs and even guys who are friends go after each other, there has been a very small level of respect in these playoffs.

It's one thing to hate your opponent and play with a ton of intensity, but to disrespect a fellow player and knock out an opponent with a vicious cheap shot to the head is a real problem.

When Phoenix Coyotes forward Raffi Torres took out Chicago Blackhawks star Marian Hossa with a brutal, late hit to the head that forced Hossa to leave on a stretcher in Game 3 Tuesday night, Torres later defended his actions.

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"First off, I hope he's all right. As far as the hit goes, I just felt like it was a hockey play, just trying to finish my hit out there," said Torres. "The last thing I'll say is a I hope he's all right."

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This is what's wrong about the NHL. You can suspend players all you want, but until their mentality changes, people like Torres will think they are making normal hockey plays when in fact they are potentially ruining the careers of their opponents.

Guys just don't understand the long-term health issues that head shots can create, and as someone who has experienced these difficult problems in his career, McDonald wants the players to come together and decide if this is the path they want to take.

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I don't think the guys delivering the hits—have they missed time, have they experienced six or seven months of headaches? That's the issue that the players need to get educated about and what they're doing to each other. We need to come together as a group and decide, are we going to continue down this road and have health problems still 5-10 years from now? Or are we going to make a concentrated effort to get together and stop this?'

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The players wanted rule changes and they complain about head shots when teammates are victims of them, but that doesn't stop many of them from crossing the line themselves.

And it's not just fourth-line players and goons dishing out cheap shots and attempting to injure guys this postseason, star players are taking runs at guys, too.

Penguins star winger James Neal, a 40-goal scorer in the regular season, went head hunting in Game 3 of his series against the Philadelphia Flyers, and he was suspended for one game. Washington Capitals star center Nicklas Backstrom was suspended for Game 4 of his series against the Boston Bruins for cross-checking an opponent in the face.

The players have been hypocrites in the playoffs thus far. They want guys suspended and certain hits taken out of the game, but they don't practice what they preach on the ice.

Many players have toned down their level of aggression over the years since the new rule changes, such as Rule 48, were implemented to prevent some brutal injuries.

Matt Cooke, who many think shouldn't be in the NHL after his multiple reckless hits highlighted by the Marc Savard injury, has really cleaned up his game this season. As a Bruins fan, it's difficult to praise Cooke, but to his credit, his game has cleaned up quite a bit since last year.

In the Penguins and Flyers series that has captivated the world with it's violence and dirty plays, Cooke has not been part of any menacing plays and possible suspension/fine talk. If players like Cooke really want to be safer on the ice and still be effective hockey players, they can, but it's a choice they have to make.

When you bash Shanahan and his lack of consistency in the rulings, look at the players who are delivering these menacing hits. Sure, Shanahan's performance as league disciplinarian in the playoffs has been poor, but the players are ultimately the one's to blame.

If the violence in the NHL, which is currently out of control, is ever going to lessen at all, it's up to the players to lead the change.

Shanahan can dish out suspensions and send messages with them, but he's not the one launching himself at opponent's heads with an intent to injure. The length of his suspensions doesn't mean anything if guys aren't willing to play less dirty.

If the players want the cheap shots to end, they have to look at themselves in the mirror and respect their opponents. In the end, it's not Shanahan who has to change the culture in the NHL, it's the players. They are the ones who lace up the skates and take unwarranted cheap shots at other players.

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Nicholas Goss is a Boston Bruins Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and has covered the team firsthand throughout the season. He was also the organization's on-site reporter for the 2011 Stanley Cup Final in Boston.