Dallas Stars' Steve Ott Suspended for Three Games

This is indirectly related to the Colorado Avalanche and it bothers me a bit so before I go to bed...Steve Ott just got suspended for 3 games for a hit in which he left his feet slightly.

The hit violated the letter of the rulebook and caused a player to sit out with a head injury. So fair enough, you need to teach the players to be accountable, especially when it comes to head hits.

But what about all the other game where a player leaves his feet to finish a check or drives an elbow into an opponents’ grill? I've seen worse hits this year that ended up being the highlight of the night rather than a suspendable offense.

I'm all for cracking down on head hits, intentional or unintentional; they need to be severely limited.

If unintentional high-sticks are called, then why not unintentional concussion-makers?

The whole "He's 6'7 while he's 5'9" arguments are about all most people can come up with when defending the idea of not implementing new rules to protect players brains. And that's what any new rule targeting head hits would do. It would protect players’ brains. Is there really need to debate whether a rule preventing people's brains from being scrambled is a good idea?

But of course there's the macho-tough, guy-warrior mentality that pervades all sports—and which I have a partial subscription to. I've played plenty of sports with various injuries ranging from torn tendons to twisted ribs and probably a hangnail or two. But if I ever took a wallop to the head, I made damn sure to give my brain ample time to recover. Surgeons can fix almost anything but if you scramble your brain, it's very tough to fix the signal.

So I'm fine with suspending Ott, although three games for a first-timer is a bit excessive. But why can't the NHL implement consistent standards on disciplinary action? It can't be as hard as they make it seem. Is each incident viewed in a vacuum and not as part of a grander picture? Does Campbell really have a rotating dartboard that he blindly tosses darts at to determine suspension length?