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Brendan Shanahan goes in-depth on suspensions with NHL Live

Brendan Shanahan

FILE - In this Nov. 9, 2010, file photo, NHL vice president Brendan Shanahan speaks to reporters during the annual fall meeting of the hockey league’s general managers, in Toronto. Shanahan has brought credibility from his days as a star player into the NHL front office. He’s also bringing the discipline _ issuing nine suspensions in the preseason _ and new ways of explaining his decisions. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darren Calabrese, File)

AP

(Note: Things get especially interesting around the 5:15 mark of this video.)

Make no mistake about it, there are some players who are confused about the new disciplinary measures being instituted by Brendan Shanahan. That group includes Mike Fisher, who was baffled by the decision not to suspend Francois Beauchemin, the guy who injured him with an open-ice hit.

Give Shanahan credit for attempting to be transparent, but the video highlights a slight concern (beyond the improper pronunciation of Wojtek Wolski - apparently it’s VOY-tek VOL-skee). My worry is that there’s an excessive dependence on reputation, which at times almost borders on amateur mind reading.

Shanny draws from his experience playing against Chris Neil along with Wolski’s lack of a history as a dirty hitter as part partial explanations for why they didn’t face suspensions. There’s definitely some sound logic behind that, but it hints at dangerous assumptions - and to conspiracy theorists, maybe even cronyism.

Ultimately, the NHL is going in the right direction and it should probably be expected that there will be some growing pains. How are you feeling about the changes so far?