Posting Fel's YouTube for reference:
Rule 45: Elbowing
Quote:
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"Elbowing shall mean the use of an extended elbow in a manner that may or may not cause injury."
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Elbowing suspensions have been pretty common recently, so I decided to compare them to Tanguay's hit on Spurgeon.
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Duncan Keith's elbow on Daniel Sedin:
- Elbowing penalty was called
- Keith has no previous suspensions
- Sedin was injured on the play
- Elbow was not intentional
Outcome: 5 game suspension.
Differences: Penalty was made in the neutral zone, not along the boards.
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Shane Doan elbow on Jamie Benn:
- Elbowing penalty was called
- Doan is a repeat offender, and was fined 5 days before this suspension!
- Benn was not injured
- Elbow was not intentional
Outcome: 3 game suspension.
Differences: Elbowing penalty wasn't made along the boards.
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Tanguay's elbow on Spurgeon:
- Elbowing penalty was called
- Not sure if Tanguay's a repeat offender
- Spurgeon was injured
- Elbow was not intentional
Outcome: None.
Differences: Short, no-name player; along the boards.
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Was the Spurgeon's head the principle point of contact? Yes.
Was Spurgeon injured on the play? Yes.
Was the hit intentional? No.
Was the hit avoidable from Spurgeon's standpoint? No.
The only difference I can find is that Spurgeon was hit along the boards. I guess you can only get suspended for elbowing when the player isn't along the boards?
I can't tell why Keith and Doan's hits are warranting suspension while Tanguay doesn't even get fined. What's the difference? Shanahan's logic baffles me. Doan (repeat offender & recently fined) and Keith (non-repeat offender) commit the exact same penalty,
but the deciding factor is whether the player was injured or not? Personally, I believe these suspensions should be handed out for the purpose of preventing future injuries, not punishing whether or not a player was injured. Punishment will just leave players looking for sneakier ways to commit penalties. Prevention will let the players know that dangerous penalties will be punished, even if the receiving player isn't injured.