Nyquist's 6 Game Suspension is Not Enough

The NHL seriously dropped the ball yet again on their disciplining of reckless players deliberately breaking the rules out of frustration. On Sunday February 12th in the first period of a game between the struggling Detroit Red wings and the red hot Minnesota Wild, Gustav Nyquist was cross checked from behind by Jared Spurgeon on what most would call a simple hockey play, nothing illegal, just tough play along the boards. Nyquist responded by turning around looking at Spurgeon and then intentionally driving the blade of his stick into Spurgeons cheek an inch below his left eye. Nyquist was suspended 6 games and fined 158 thousand dollars by the league and was offered an in person hearing with the board of player safety which typically results in a minimum 6 game suspension.

First and foremost let me just say that Gustav Nyquist is by no means a dirty player, this being his first suspension and only his second fine (the other being a 2K fine for diving). With that being said his punishment was far too lenient and it almost feels as though he got away with it in a sense. For a player making 4.75 million a year, a 158K fine is lunch money. Granted it is a hefty fine, but lunch money none the less. Lets focus on what the actual problem with the incident was. There was clear intent to injure in that Nyquist was hit, turned around, realized who did it, and attacked. Had he been hit and then flung his stick back without looking then we may be having a different conversation but that's not what happened and it's also not the first time this very same thing has happened. Just last year Duncan Keith was suspended for an intentional high stick on Minnesota's Charlie Coyle. Similar circumstances as well, Keith was knocked down, didn't like the hit, turned on his back and whacked coyle across the mouth while "turning over to get back to his feet". Again not a dirty player but definitely a dirty play with intent to injure that received the same punishment, 6 games and a hefty fine.

Okay so you may be saying to yourself "well clearly the NHL has a pre-determined punishment for this sort of event" and you wouldn't be totally wrong. These plays rarely go unnoticed on the ice and almost never go unnoticed by the league office and punishments and fines are dished out, but the NHL has softened up on their disciplinary actions for plays like this. One of the most infamous high sticks in hockey history was the Bruins Marty McSorely's intentional high stick on Vancouver's Donald Brashear in 2000. A truly cringe worthy incident that rendered Brashear unconscious and with a severe concussion and eventually led McSorely to retire. McSorely was assessed a 25 game suspension, charged with and found guilty of assault with a weapon and was sentenced to serve 18 months of probation and was prohibited from playing against Brashear during said 18 months. Clearly the NHL and Canadian justice system were not playing any games here.

Now personally I think Nyquist's high stick was worse than McSorely's and that McSorely obviously had no intention knock Brashear out and just got him right in the sweet spot that shut the lights off. Nyquist put far more force into the swing and also swung at the face area, where McSorely landed a shot on the side of the head around the temple area. Still not convinced the NHL slipped up? Let's look at more incidents. Chris Simon of the New York Islanders was suspended 25 games for an intentional high stick on the New York Rangers winger Ryan Hollweg. See the similarities? Intentional high stick. 25 games. Intentional high stick. 25 games. What about Jesse Boulerice cross checking Ryan Kesler in the face intentionally. Again in 2007. Again a player using the stick as a weapon out of frustration. Again a 25 game suspension. So let's recap all our incidents here. McSorely intentional high stick, 25 games and legitimate criminal charges in 2000. Chris Simon intentional high stick, 25 games in 2007. Jesse Boulerice intentional cross check to the face, 25 games in 2007. Duncan Keith and Gustav Nyquist, intentional high sticks, 6 games each and both fined, Keith's in 2016, Nyquists in 2017. See the dilemma here? My question is, what is the difference between pre 2010 incidents and the post 2010 incidents? Nothing. The answer is nothing. Why the NHL has decided to give Keith and Nyquist a break I don't know, but what I do know is this is gonna lead to retaliation and is gonna lead to more severe injuries and maybe even rule changes taking the physicality out of hockey which any hockey fan will tell you is desperately needed to keep an audience entertained due to the lack of rough and tough hockey in today's day in age. I seriously hope that, not only as a fan of the play style and grittiness of the game of hockey, but of the game overall that the NHL cracks down and lays the law on future incidents to keep the sport we know and love tough, fair, and fun.