Twelve Games

While it may have been Thanksgiving in Canada on the weekend, we didn't have to wait long to find our first turkey in this season's hockey action. The man to the left is Brendan Shinnimin, and he plays for the Tri-City Americans in the WHL. Shinnimin, though, will have a long time to reflect on his dangerous play against the Saskatoon Blades after he was suspended. The Winnipeg, Manitoba native is a prolific scorer for the Americans, and losing him for that length of time will have an effect on the Americans. But that's what happens when a player does something as reckless and dangerous as Shinnimin did. I commend the WHL's brass for coming down hard on Shinnimin as the hit he threw on Saskatoon's Josh Nicholls on October 6.

Here is video of the hit, and it's hard to watch.

Is the twelve-game suspension appropriate for that kind of blatently dangerous hit? Sure. Could it have been more? Of course.

I'm not sure that Shinnimin's goal was to hurt Nicholls on the play. Nicholls suffered a concussion and a bruised knee and back, so the damage was done by Shinnimin regardless of the intent. What is being made clear by the WHL is that this kind of reckless hit will not be tolerated by the league.

Twelve games is a statement, but I'm guessing that the suspension could have been as high as twenty games. Brendan Shinnimin is a good player, and I feel that he should count his lucky stars that he only got twelve games considering how vulnerable Josh Nicholls was in that situation.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!