Make It Ten

I'm quite certain that no one at the NHL office in New York City reads this blog. That means there's a good chance that no one from the Department of Player Safety reads this blog either. Whatever the case may be, I have to congratulate the Department of Player Safety as they seem to be finding their teeth, and they're biting into players who decide that the rules don't apply to them. As HBIC stated yesterday, I thought it would be a five-game break for Alexandre Burrows after kneeing Taylor Hall in the head, but the announcement came down today that Burrows would sit for ten games, not the five as I predicted!

There was chatter today that Burrows may appeal the suspension, but he decided against it at the end of the day. It speaks volumes to what the Department of Player Safety is trying to achieve when after having a conversation with Burrows, he decided that a ten-game break was appropriate for the crime he committed. Whatever was said in that conversation carried enough weight to convince Burrows that appealing was futile.

Burrows will miss the next ten games and be eligible to return on March 2 versus the Vegas Golden Knights in Las Vegas, so one has to wonder if Burrows will leave ahead of his teammates and arrive in Vegas with a few days to spare. The Senators play in Washington, DC on February 27, so he legitimately could leave from Ottawa on February 24 after the Senators play the Flyers. With the Senators basically eliminated from the playoffs, would anyone from the franchise bother him if he took a couple of extra days to unwind in Las Vegas?

Regardless of what Burrows does, it's rather impressive to see the Department of Player Safety laying down a stiffer-than-normal penalty on a player who doesn't qualify as a repeat offender. If the Department of Player Safety is sending a message to the rest of the league by using Alexandre Burrows - a non-high-profile player on a team that will miss the playoffs - as an example. That should deter anyone else from using one's knee one another player's head in a big way as that's ten games away from NHL action and ten games worth of salary forfeited because Burrows got a little steamed over Hall's hit.

For once, I applaud the Department of Player Safety in handing down an extreme penalty to a player. Intent aside, there could have been serious injury to Taylor Hall, and for a league that normally brushes aside contact to the head, we're starting to see some real penalties handed out as Andrew Cogliano, Filip Forsberg, and Alexandre Burrows found out. Sure, there's still some disgust in the suspension given to Brad Marchand as he should have got more, but one lives and learns in this case.

Late hits that target the head and knees that target the head are now receiving the harsh penalties that they should. If this is the new Department of Player Safety under George Parros' watch, I commend it for setting some real precedents when it comes to protecting a player's livelihood and health by penalizing those who target the head.

While Gary Bettman may deny any sort of link between brain trauma and hits to the head, it seems the Department of Player Safety is doing all they can to prevent any further major embarrassments by penalizing offenders harshly. Bettman can deny it all he wants, but the science is proving the relationship between mental health and head trauma more and more every day. With the evidence mounting, it may be harder for Bettman to deny long-term, but at least somebody at the NHL Office seems to be paying attention to those who target players' heads.

Enjoy your rest, Alexandre Burrows. You get the entire month off and a trip to Vegas at the end. It almost seems like this ten-game suspension is more of a ten-game vacation with how the Senators' schedule is setup.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!