Written by Kevin Allen at USAToday.com
As if the Chicago Blackhawks aren’t dealing with enough problems, they will likely have to start the playoffs without No. 1 defenseman Duncan Keith.
Keith, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP last season, could face a heavy suspension for his retaliatory high-stick to the face of Minnesota Wild forward Charlie Coyle in the first period of Tuesday night’s 4-1 loss.
With five games remaining in the regular season, timing could dictate that Keith’s penalty carry into the postseason. The NHL’s department of player safety has offered him an in-person hearing, which means the suspension could be at least six games.
Keith was suspended for one game during the 2013 Western Conference final for a retaliatory high-stick to Los Angeles Kings forward Jeff Carter. In 2012, Keith was suspended five games for elbowing Vancouver Canucks forward Daniel Sedin.
In these situations, player safety must weigh regular-season games vs. postseason games. Does a five-game regular-season suspension equal a one-game playoff suspension? In other words, if Keith’s actions warrant a 10-game suspension, do five regular-season games, plus one playoff game, equal those 10 games?
You may believe that postseason vs. regular-season shouldn’t matter, but historically it does. This is a business based on competition and taking a player out of a team’s lineup in the postseason demands careful consideration. When these situations occur at the end of the season, it makes the decision more complicated.
That is the gray area. But there is black-and-white here. Keith deserves to be suspended, and reckless behavior with a stick is an area where precedent is established.
The NHL believes that recklessness with a stick is dangerous to the point that two-minute penalties are given for inadvertent high-sticking. The idea: players have to be responsible for their stick at all times.
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