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Keith has Friday phone hearing with Shanahan for Sedin elbow

duncan-keith1.jpg

According to Jesse Rogers of ESPN Chicago, Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith will have a phone hearing with NHL discipline czar Brendan Shanahan on Friday regarding his elbow to the head of Vancouver’s Daniel Sedin.

The big news is that Shanahan’s conducting a phone hearing, because suspensions stemming from phone hearings can only be a maximum five games in length. That said, Shanahan did set a precedent earlier this year for issuing max suspensions via the ringer, giving Boston’s Brad Marchand the full-meal deal for his clip on Vancouver’s Sami Salo back in January.

Quick thoughts

-- It’ll be interesting to see how the “retribution” angle comes into play. Henrik Sedin alleged Keith made comments about going after Daniel because Daniel had nailed him with a questionable hit earlier in the period. Some argue that makes Keith’s actions worse, others say it justifies them.

-- Keith’s not a repeat offender...but he’s not exactly a saint, either. Check out the headshot he put on Pittsburgh’s Matt Cooke back in 2009 -- one that also happened to be retaliatory in nature (Cooke tagged Keith with a bad hit earlier in the game):

Doubtful it comes up in discussion or plays into Shanahan’s decision...but it’s out there.