Stanley Cup Finals 2011: Vancouver Canucks' Aaron Rome Suspended 4 Games for Hit

After Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals, I postulated that the NHL would not suspend Aaron Rome for his hit on Nathan Horton in the first period of the game.

Well, as is the case from time to time, I was wrong.

Today, the NHL announced that Aaron Rome would be suspended for four games for the aforementioned hit.

NHL Vice President of Hockey Operations Mike Murphy issued the following statement to accompany the announcement of Rome's suspension.

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The hit by Rome was clearly beyond what is acceptable in terms of how late it was delivered after Horton had released the puck and it caused a significant injury. 

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This will absolutely continue the debate about where we need to draw the line on hits and player safety.

Obviously, this was a late hit and deserved to have a penalty called in the game, and being kicked out of the game was not out of line by the officials.

However, a suspension like this does two things.

One, it makes players more aware of the types of hits that they are going to be throwing, which is absolutely a good thing.

Two, it does begin to change the nature of hockey and how physical players will be, which is a bad thing.

Maybe it doesn't happen this season, or even next, but this could be setting a dangerous precedent about hitting in hockey.

Keeping players safe is one thing, and making certain that bad hits don't happen is one part of it.

The other part of this is that players still need to make certain they are aware of what is happening directly in front of them.

We can't start suspending players because they hit a guy with their head down.

We'll see how this suspension affects both teams moving forward.