Dave Lozo's Bag Skate: Is the NHL Too Lax on Suspensions This Season?

The first puck of 2014-15 was dropped Sept. 21, a preseason game between the Blue Jackets and Hurricanes in Carolina. There have been 181 NHL contests in all played between the exhibition schedule and regular season, and there have been zero suspensions for on-ice infractions handed down by the NHL's Department of Player Safety.

Zero. In 181 games.

It's clear that NHL players have cleaned up their acts to the point where Stephane Quintal can put his dogs up on his desk at the NHL offices, puff on a cigar and say, "Man, I'm blowing away Brendan Shanahan at this job!"

Or maybe he's just not as hard on questionable hits as his predecessor.

It's impossible to say the number of hits that could have resulted in suspensions, but there are three that stand out for me to varying degrees:

1. Radko Gudas Destroys the Skull of Scottie Upshall

I really don't know how Gudas avoided a four-game suspension, never mind zero suspension. Gudas took about two strides and hit a defenseless player in the head, a hit that was completely avoidable. The argument that Upshall had his head down is silly, as players are well within their rights to look down at a bouncing puck while trying to control it.

If the new rule is a player with his head down well before a player decides to deliver a hit has it coming, it's a real game-changer, as that seems to fly in the face of caring about player safety. 

Player Safety offered this screen shot of the hit, saying Gudas was committed to the hit when Upshall lowered his head, thus making a clean body check impossible:

I offered a more honest view of the hit, a screen shot that shows Upshall had his head down on that same plane much earlier:

"

He assumed that posture well before that but OK. Agree to disagree. https://t.co/j2K0qaShDU pic.twitter.com/muWiFgZrYA

— Dave Bridge Collapse (@DaveLozo) October 10, 2014"

It's one thing if a player lowers his head at the last instance. It's another when he's seeking out a puck in his skates like every player in the league will do at some point this season.

Player Safety's tweet got more retweets and faves, so maybe they were right. 

2. Erik Johnson's Flying Elbow on Erik Haula

Johnson got a game misconduct and Haula miraculously avoided injury, so Player Safety didn't feel supplemental discipline was warranted. Just like with Upshall, the victim of an egregiously illegal hit walked away healthy, so a suspension was avoided.

In this case, Johnson had Haula lined up for a hip check, Haula read it and avoided it, and as Haula passed, Johnson stuck out his elbow in desperation. It's especially suspect, as Johnson was suspended two games last season for slashing, so he has a history.

If the goal of Player Safety is to correct bad behavior, not suspending players for incidents like this sends a dubious message from the NHL.

3. Josh Gorges's Hip to Knee on Patrick Maroon

This hit doesn't look as bad as the first two, as the head isn't being targeted and no one is flying through the air. Unfortunately, that doesn't fix the ligaments in Maroon's knee.

Gorges is clearly going for a hip-on-hip hit, but he misses and wrecks the knee of Maroon. There are no bad intentions here, but there is bad form, and that form knocked Maroon out of the lineup for a month. There was no penalty and a significant injury, so this seems to be where Player Safety could enter the scene with some of that sweet, sweet supplemental discipline.

Maroon's knee is the first thing contacted by Gorges' hip. Again, not a dirty play, and while it wasn't knee on knee, it's not a hit that should be condoned by the league unless there is a hip-to-knee loophole in the CBA.

Boston's Brad Marchand got five games for a low hit that left Vancouver's Sami Salo concussed in January 2012, but Gorges got off completely. It's not a carbon copy of the Gorges hit, but it's at least a first cousin.

Through the same time period last season, Shanahan suspended 11 players for a total of 74 games. Sure, useless players like Paul Bissonnette and Patrick Kaleta aren't around to draw suspensions anymore and perhaps players are learning, but zero suspensions after one month doesn't mean there haven't been hits worthy of suspension.

Maybe this is the effect of having Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger on the job. After all, he's done way worse than anything seen above.

How's Your Dry Scrape Doing?

In an attempt to have fewer games reach the ever-so-terrible shootout, the NHL employed two new rules for overtime: a dry scrape after regulation to clean the ice surface and the switching of sides so teams have a longer change, mirroring the situation of the second period.

Len Redkoles/Getty Images

It sort of figures that the one time the NHL uses sound, rock-solid logic it hasn't worked.

Twenty of 80 games this season have gone beyond regulation; six have been decided in overtime.

Through the first 80 games of last season, 15 went beyond regulation and seven were decided in overtime.

Maybe the dry scrape isn't worth it. Maybe this is something to which players must adjust before OT goals are scored more frequently. Maybe it's only two weeks and this will work better as the season progresses.

Maybe…wait a second, a quarter of games are three-point games this season? Is there something we can do about that, NHL?

Quote of the Week: Jon Cooper vs. Darryl Sutter

(Lightning coach Jon Cooper and Kings coach Darryl Sutter are the two most quotable coaches in the NHL. Each week, we will let you decide who had the best quote.)

Let's start this week with Coach Cooper, who did a 10-questions interview with ABC Action News in Tampa, and offered this gem, which is great with or without context: "I like to eat Skittles on the bench during games."

With Cooper and Marshawn Lynch now forever linked, here's an outstanding line from Coach Sutter on how nice it was for the Kings to win four straight at home, as documented by Jon Rosen: "Well, I know if we would’ve lost one of ‘em it would be a calamity."

A reference to eating Skittles vs. thick sarcasm. You decide!

KHL Thing of the Week

(There is some quality hockey that is played overseas that we rarely hear about in North America. This section will highlight that or something else from our friends playing hockey in the KHL.)

Noted KHL enthusiast Chris Johnston of Sportsnet pointed out that SKA Saint Petersburg is 17-1 this season. That team features ex-NHL greats Ilya Kovalchuk, Evgeny Dadonov, Alexei Ponikarovsky and Swedish Olympian Jimmie Ericsson. As far as KHL teams go, it's a very good one.

But what about the worst team in the KHL, HC Sochi, which is 4-11 this season? The team is new to the KHL, one created as a result of Sochi hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics.

And it has all the symptoms of a hockey league's expansion team.

The only notable former NHL player is Cory Emmerton, a second-round pick who played parts of four seasons with the Red Wings. He has just three goals and four assists in 15 games after signing a one-year deal with the club this summer.

HC Sochi has been outscored 47-24 this season, but help is on the way:

Ryan Whitney was deemed not good enough to play for the leaky Edmonton Oilers, but the defenseman has to be an upgrade on whatever is happening in Sochi.

Then again, Emmerton isn't exactly cutting it over there, so maybe he and Whitney can keep each other company.

Goal of the Week

I could watch P.K. Subban all day, every day. And I don't mean just play hockey. I bet he's a hoot to watch shop for fruit, pick out ties and literally anything else in life he does. He's just fun. 

And for that reason, we better stomp that out of him right away. We can't be having too much fun in the NHL. 

Who Is Connor McDavid-ing This Week?

The tank battle for Connor McDavid has been quite the scene over the first two weeks, as teams stumble over each other to finish last in the standings, thus guaranteeing either McDavid or future American hero Jack Eichel.

Dennis Pajot/Getty Images

Here's how it's looking entering Tuesday:

1. Buffalo Sabres (1-5-0) 

By accidentally beating the Carolina Hurricanes in a shootout last week, the Sabres have two points they'd rather give back. On the bright side, it was a three-point game, keeping the Hurricanes close. With three games in San Jose, Los Angeles and Anaheim this week, the Sabres are poised to solidify their spot in the basement.

2. Winnipeg Jets (1-4-0)

After mistakenly winning their opener 6-2 in Arizona, the Jets have gotten it together by losing five straight by a combined 13-2. That's some tanking with some stank on it. Starting Ondrej Pavelec in four of five games makes the tanking a little obvious, but commendable.

3. Carolina Hurricanes (0-2-2)

Bad news: The Hurricanes are likely to get Jeff Skinner, John-Michael Liles and Andrej Sekera back from injury in time for Tuesday's game against the Jets. Those reinforcements could not come at a worse time, as the Hurricanes have winnable games against the Flames and Oilers this week as well. It'll be interesting to see if they can overcome the return of these key players.

Who Is Praising Me This Week?

This won't be a recurring thing for sure, but I want to say thanks to Sportsnet for placing me on a list of the top 50 hockey people on Twitter. To be considered on the same Twitter level as Jeremy Roenick is extremely flattering and, quite frankly, life-changing.

Questions and Answers

(Got a question? Tweet me @davelozo or email me at [e-mail], but please don't call before 9 a.m. I will answer any of your questions about hockey or whatever if it's a good question.)

Yes. They are 3-3-0 with 76 games remaining. There is plenty of time for the Rangers to make up the zero points they are behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final playoff spot in the East. I wouldn't count them out just yet.

As for the second part of the question: Whatever problems the Rangers are having, Eric Staal isn't the answer. According to CapGeek, the Rangers will have $2.7 million in cap space at the trade deadline and Staal's cap hit is $8.25 million this year and next.

So the Hurricanes would have to eat a whole bunch of money to make it work this year and the Rangers have to sign RFAs Derek Stepan, Carl Hagelin and John Moore and UFAs Marc Staal, Martin St. Louis and Mats Zuccarello next season, so although there is a bylaw in the CBA that all brothers must play together at some point in their careers, uniting Eric and Marc doesn't make a lot of sense for the Rangers.

Who wants a flea-infested, shedding, emotionless animal resting on their chest while they are trying to sleep?

But enough about me.

You bet it is. 

Through two weeks, the West is 11-7-3, which is a points percentage of .595, a bit behind last year's .616, the second-highest total since the second lockout. That's not enough to change my feeling from this summer, when all the offseason transactions made me think the West got even stronger.

An argument supporting quality Eastern hockey: In those 21 games, the East has the edge in even-strength Corsi events, 901-885 (50.4 percent), according to some math I did using Natural Stat Trick. Small sample size and all that, but it should be noted possession mess Colorado has played four of those games and finished in the red in three of them.

According to Hockey-Reference, nine of the top 16 teams in Fenwick close are from the West, including the top three teams in the league.

It's early, so let's check back on this one in December. But there's little reason to think the East will be anything but a whipping boy for a ninth straight season.

Most teams have state-of-the-art home locker rooms, so very few of them smell bad. Or maybe I've gone nose blind. But the ventilation is usually pretty good because even hockey players don't want to smell dank hockey equipment. If you're standing next to a player's equipment bag, there can be an aroma.

The two smelliest locker rooms I've been in were the Penguins room at Heinz Field for the Winter Classic and the visiting locker room at Madison Square Garden before the renovations the past three years. The Penguins had these gigantic fans in their room in an attempt to enhance circulation, but that did nothing to prevent my wondering if something had died 16 hours ago near Craig Adams' locker.

The visiting room at MSG was really, really old and there may not have been vents in there. Standing in a corner with the two goaltenders required bravery only seen on the beaches of Normandy. 

"

@DaveLozo Why are the Flyers?

— NastyEmu (@NastyEmu) October 20, 2014"

It's this type of deep question that makes me wish I minored in philosophy.

I will say, because Philadelphia.

I hope so. I bet hockey could do very well if the NHL ever put an NHL team there. Only time will tell.

How about a few non-Twitter questions?

Dave,

I recently watched A Knight's Tale and the movie truly holds up. One of Heath Ledger's finest performances. In it, he quickly becomes one of the worlds best jousters in a matter of one training montage and one tournament. So much for Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000, am I right? Anyhow, back to my question. Heath's character Will finds that he is the best jouster in the land. Who would you think could make the same impact in professional ice hockey without ever having played the game before? It could be another athlete. It could be a person that you've seen dance on a subway train. It could be Derek Jeter. It could be a person in a front office, maybe, say...a PR guy. I'm curious as to what your take is on this.

Signed,

The Knight of Your Mail Bag's Heart

Tom

People love to say that LeBron James would be great at this other sport or Jimmy Graham could do this in another sport, but hockey just doesn't translate from other sports to me. You have to skate. You have to strap boots with knives on them to your feet and have strength, balance and coordination to excel. It's a miracle anyone can play this game.

I think it would have to be an NBA point guard type, like Tony Parker or Chris Paul. Those guys can stop on a dime, contort their bodies, use speed bursts to move past opponents, absorb contact from bigger guys. 

Plus, most point guards are in the 6-foot range, which helps the crossover to hockey. There aren't a lot of 6'6" guys in the NHL for a reason, and that reason is lugging that much body around on your boot knives is insanely hard. The fact that Victor Hedman can skate like he can should be outlawed.

So, NBA point guards. That's my answer. 

Dave,

Alex Ovechkin has gotten a lot of criticism for being a "coach killer," however Craig Laughlin said it's not that he's a CK, but that the Caps have not had a coach that knows how to deal with him properly when he makes mistakes. Barry Trotz has over 15 years of NHL coaching experience and so far, Ovi has played good in all aspects of his game. Do you think Alex is criticized too much?

—Michael Fleetwood, 16-year-old Caps Fan!

First of all, Michael, you may be finding yourself looking to talk to girls as you near the end of high school and prepare for college. A word of advice: As tempting as it may be to refer to yourself as Fleetwood Mac in this regard, do not do it. Resist the urge.

If you don't know about Fleetwood Mac, Google it and get back to me.

As for the question you asked, I think Ovechkin catches way too much heat at times, but I also think there are people that blindly defend him and flip out when he receives the type of criticism that's warranted. He throws the engine into neutral a lot. That's an issue. I know, he scores 50 goals a year, but if he's going to selectively cruise back into his own zone sometimes, he rightfully should hear about it.

I don't know if Ovechkin killed Adam Oates as much as Oates killed himself. Dale Hunter wanted no part of the NHL and while letting Bruce Boudreau go was a mistake, that feels like it was more to do with front office idiocy than anything Ovechkin was or was not doing.

And I take it back. When trying to pick up girls at the mall, if this is still a thing, refer to yourself as Fleetwood Mac. YOLO.

Dear Dave,

Two questions, if you're interested:

1. As you know, this summer a number of talented, experienced hockey analytics experts were hired by various teams around the NHL. Will this ever bring the debate over the use of advanced statistics in hockey to a close? If so, what do you think will happen that finally gives the analytics crowd the win?

(I ask because I'm tired of arguing with fellow hockey fans. It's like tussling over the existence of gravity or photosynthesis.)

Speaking of arguing about evolution...

2. I think the American hockey fan's experience is, for better or worse, unique, particularly for those of us raised in the pre-Internet era. We are often slagged as "not having played the game," but I think our perspective is fun, important and valuable, whether or not that accusation is true. What are your favorite and least favorite things about being an American hockey fan that are particular to that experience?

Regardless of whether you answer my question(s), thank you very much for your excellent work. I always enjoy it.

Best wishes,
MLC

1. It's over. Been over for a while. My feeling is the tide has turned so far that people who slagged analytical basement math nerds have either climbed the fence to the other side and are seeing the value in them or are simply pretending to see the value in them publicly while continuing to slag them privately. So many analytical basement math nerds getting jobs this summer ends it.

Sure, that won't prevent analytical math nerds from losing their minds on Twitter on those occasions when a player/coach/GM/writer says something bad about analytics, but that's life. 

2. I still am not sure what it means to have "never played the game." Does that mean the NHL level? Pro level? High school? College? Junior? Rec league? Intramural league? Against your brother in front of the garage? I truly don't know. 

If it's "never played in the NHL," that leaves very few people who can sit in judgment and have NHL opinions. Of course, the last five Stanley Cups have been won by GMs (Stan Bowman, Dean Lombardi, Pete Chiarelli) who "never played the game" in the NHL. If you know the game, you know the game.

Colin Campbell hasn't played in the NHL since 1985. I'm not sure his takes on a game he hasn't played in 30 years are better than anyone else's, at least not just because he once "played the game."

I don't know if that answered your question, so:

Least favorite: Listening to people justify fighting

Most favorite: Penalty shots

All statistics via NHL.com.

Dave Lozo covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter: @DaveLozo.