Not Enough

I already had little respect for Zack Kassian, but his effort to change his game from thug to legitimate hockey player had him moving in the right direction on my respect scale. As the old saying goes, "A leopard cannot change its spots," and it seems that it holds true for Kassian as he committed one of the worst infractions one can undertake when he kicked Tampa Bay's Erik Cernak in the chest with his skate last night! I have no idea what would possess Kassian to even have the thought of doing this to another player, but he would have a rendez-vous with the Department of Player Safety today.

First, let's look at what Kassian did in case you haven't seen his idiocy.

Kassian's use of his skate to push Cernak off Josh Archibald is dangerous due to those metal blades on the bottom of the skate. Again, it's hard to believe that Kassian would even consider this option to move Cernak, but apparently the synapses in his brain must fire differently than mine because I'm pretty sure it was ingrained in me at a very young age one never uses one's skates on an opponent for any reason due to the potential danger of the blades.

The NHL offered Kassian an in-person meeting today to discuss the incident, but Kassian waived that option and took the phone call instead. After some back and forth between the two sides, the ruling was handed down with Kassian getting a seven-game suspension for his stupidity in using his skate to clear Cernak off Archibald. In my view, this is not enough of a suspension for what Kassian did.
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We've seen some rather horrific moments in the NHL when it comes to skates making contact where they shouldn't: Clint Malarchuk, Richard Zednik, Ilya Mikheyev earlier this season, and Erik Karlsson's Achilles tendon. Skate blades are dangerous at most times, but NHL players normally want their blades razor-sharp for game action which is why Zack Kassian's move last night was so incredibly stupid. The fact that the skate blade came as close as it did to bare skin on Cernak is all the reason more for this suspension to be a double-digit break in games for the Oilers' forward.

Kassian told Mark Spector in the post-game scrum, "He was holding my leg, it was reactionary, I was just trying to get him off me, kick him off me," and that just illustrates the problem of the disconnect that Kassian when it comes to his actions and the consequences of those actions. Had his skate blade cut Cernak in any way, the suspension would have been much worse. Thankfully, that didn't happen and Cernak is no worse for wear, but the fact that Kassian's first reaction was to use his skate to push Cernak off his leg and Archibald is why he should have received a harsher sentence.

Some will say that seven games IS a harsh sentence, and you'd be right if this was Kassian's first brush with NHL law. Except it's not, and this is where the NHL needs to send a message in that the "reactionary" move that Kassian to having his leg allegedly held is not only wrong, but absolutely will never happen again so we never have another Malarchuk incident or Zednik incident where skate blades cut through flesh accidentally and inadvertently.

It was never Kassian's intent to injure Cernak, and that part is clear. However, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and this is one road that should never see any traffic on it because one's immediate reaction to having his leg held is to put a skate blade into the chest of an opponent and push him off. A long suspension would send the message to all players - Kassian included - that this type of dangerous behavior will not only be punished heavily for one's reckless reactionary choice, but will be the new standard for anyone who decides to use a skate blade towards an opponent for any reason.

Use your head, Kassian. Don't use your skates.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!