The Shanahan Suspension Story

One of the more interesting stories that has come out of this preseason has been all of the suspensions handed out by the NHL's new VP of Player Safety, Brendan Shanahan. Some of the rules that were modified this year are now being strictly enforced with supplemental discipline and it appears everyone is surprised by how strict Shanahan has been. His suspensions have been consistent, and none of them have been unreasonable which hopefully will lead players into playing the game safely.

I personally am glad with the new direction of player safety. Gone are the days of unexplained decisions and the randomness that was Colin Campbell's decision making. I do believe Campbell is a good hockey guy, but I don't think he was able use his authority in an efficient enough manner that would cause players to change their style of play. Shanahan clearly noticed this short coming and is hopping to not make the same mistakes. He has begun that already with the informative videos after each suspension, doing interviews with big news mediums like The National on CBC, explaining his plans and ideas. Providing more information and being a bigger presence in the hockey world should help Shanahan get his point across over more people.

The information videos have been the most exciting addition of the new health and safety committee. I read the new rules and though I read a lot, the words and language of the new rules were still confusing. However, by watching Shanahan explain his decisions I already have a clearer understanding of the new hitting restrictions and I am now noticing hits that are legal and illegal while watching games. I cannot remember any time when such a clear and detailed explanation of illegal hits was given; the reasons Shanahan makes his decisions actually make sense after watching the videos. Students learn in school to explain their answers with reasons why and it's nice to see Shanahan doing that to. By explaining exactly what the suspended player did wrong, other players can modify their game to avoid similar damage. The videos make Shanahan appear a lot more reliable and trustworthy when he appears himself and explains the fully thought out reasons on his decisions. When there is a face explaining the reason, it causes more people to stop, listen and possibly change their actions, which is the goal of the videos. That is why this new video system is a great idea from the NHL.

Even though these suspensions are only from the preseason, they should still open the eyes of players who may play the game reckless or dangerously. This year will be different, punishments will be more frequent and consequences will be more severe. Moving forward, I hope Shanahan addresses other dangerous plays in hockey such as icing, fighting and discrimination. Based on his performance so far this season, I am confident Shanahan will make some historic changes that will greatly improve player safety while still maintaining the excitement that is hockey. The future is bright in the NHL.

I can be found on twitter via @jbenny15. Until next week, thanks for reading.