The NHL’s rookie discipline czar has scheduled his first disciplinary hearing of the playoffs.
On Thursday, Brendan Shanahan will speak with Vancouver Canucks forward Byron Bitz regarding the hit Bitz laid on Los Angeles’ Kyle Clifford during the Kings’ 4-2 victory in Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinal:
Bitz was given a five minute boarding major on the play and a game misconduct. Clifford left the contest and didn’t return, and the Kings later announced he’d suffered an upper body injury. (Early speculation was a possible concussion -- Clifford looked woozy trying to leave the ice.)
It’ll be interesting to see how Shanahan handles what could be his first postseason suspension.
Last year, there were three suspensions issued in the opening round of the playoffs -- Jarret Stoll got one game for boarding Ian White, Bobby Ryan got two games for stomping Jonathan Blum and Jarkko Ruutu got a game for a late hit on Martin Erat.
Earlier this year, Shanahan had this to say regarding suspensions in the postseason:
“I can attest to this as a player, if you ask me if I’d rather have a four-game suspension in November than a one-game suspension in the playoffs, I’d take the four-game suspension in November,” Shanahan told ESPN’s Craig Custance. “If you think about it, that one game in the finals is the equivalent of a 12-game suspension. … I don’t feel we’re in the punishment business, we’re in the changing player behavior business. You do that by getting a player’s attention.”
Of note, Bitz has never been suspended or fined by the NHL.