Doyle: Since when is 20 games a light suspension?

While there are always going to be differing opinions in regards to lengths of suspensions, there is one thing I have found very alarming in recent days.

There are some, including people within OHL teams, who have referred to Zack Kassian's 20 game suspension as light, or that Kassian is lucky to only receive 20 games. 20 games is a huge suspension! It is a two-month ban and just about a third of the season. It does not matter what any player does, 20 games is not a short suspension. Even if Michael Liambis was given 20 games, that would not have been light.

I went on record prior to the suspension to say I believe the suspension for Kassian should have been closer to the 8-10 game range. I still stand by that. Among the key points to that was that Kassian was not airborne at the time of impact. David Branch acknowledged that when handing out the suspension because video evidence proves that. According to the comments and e-mails I received after my thoughts on the hit many disagreed. (By the way, if you're going to take the time to e-mail me, at least have the courtesy to put your name on it.) Everyone is in agreement though that this play by Kassian should not be tolerated. I agree, calling for an eight game suspension does not mean it is being tolerated.

Zack Kassian is the latest victim of the magnification of events such as this. The more media attention it receives, the greater suspension appears to come out of it. Combine that with the timing of the Cormier incident in Quebec and it does not help. The national media has not picked up on Zac Rinaldo's hit on Saginaw's Peter Hermenegildo last weekend. Rinaldo was ejected for charging after drilling an unsuspecting Hermenegildo after he had made a pass. The Saginaw defenceman did have possession of the puck, but he never saw Rinaldo coming. Most major/game misconduct penalties usually come with some sort of discipline. For Rinaldo to not miss any time at all seems odd. I would at least give him two games, tied into the game misconduct. Rinaldo/Hermenegildo appears similar to Richards/Booth in the NHL this season that did get plenty of media attention. Can you imagine how many games Sault Ste. Marie's Jordan Nolan would have received if his incident with Plymouth's RJ Mahalak had occurred right now and was picked up by TSN or Sportsnet?

I do not believe that throwing huge suspension after huge suspension is the answer. I think it is time to look deeper into the root of these incidents. The hit Liambis delivered to Fanelli and Kassian put on Kennedy is not that uncommon in hockey. Those types of hits have been dished out for years, but it is the end result that has dramatically changed. Why has there been this huge change? Players taking a run at other players is not something new. Sure, the level of respect in all levels of hockey has dropped, but players taking a long run at an opponent is not new. But it has gone from a big hit that shakes the player up, to knocking him out.

I think it is time to look deeper at the equipment. Have new elbow pads and shoulder pads gone well beyond being protective and instead turned into weapons? Why did Ben Fanelli and Matt Kennedy's helmets come off? Were their chin straps tight enough? Do the equipment manufacturers need to upgrade the clasps to increase the likelihood they remain intact? Has the level of protection helmets provide fallen behind the speed of the game and size of the players? Maybe it is time for all hockey leagues to take a longer look at the helmets Mark Messier has been promoting to see if they indeed provide increase protection. This one might be a little far-fetched, but is it time to look at the upgrades in skates over the past decade? We know the game is faster, is it now too fast? When two players collide, the more speed involved the more severe the impact, leading to increased chance of injury.

Finally, for years people have been calling for players to receive a suspension equal to the amount of time his victim remains out of the lineup. Maybe it is time to implement that. Then there is no debate about lengths of suspensions, bars being set too high, how much the play is exposed in the media, etc. If the actions of the player directly results in the injury, then it's game-for-game missed time, with the suspended player serving the suspension being given a minimum ban for those incidents where they are just lucky the player was not injured more severely. The league basically did that with Plymouth's Leo Jenner two seasons ago. He knocked Sarnia's Vladimir Nikiforov out with a broken jaw and missed almost exactly the same amount of time. Let's take Kassian's case, give him a 5-10 game minimum and then any additional games prior to Kennedy being cleared by doctors to play. This is not a perfect science of course since a player should be punished for giving a player a concussion. The fact it is his third, fourth, etc. concussion is not directly that player's fault.

tdoyle@loosepucks.com
Twitter: Loosepucks