Hawks surprised by Shaw's 3-game suspension
The long-running saga known as the ShawSmith Redemption is finally finished — and with a surprise ending to boot: a 3-game suspension for Blackhawks rookie forward Andrew Shaw for his collision behind the net with Phoenix goalie Mike Smith in Game 2 on Saturday.
Most NHL insiders had speculated that if there were to be a suspension handed down, it would be for one game, max.
“To be honest with you, it looks like a pretty innocent play,” Hawks center Patrick Kane said after Tuesday's morning skate. “It looks like he's trying to get out of the way. He made contact with the head; that's going to happen in the game of hockey.
“To me, it doesn't look like a suspendable hit, but that's not my job. We'll see what happens.”
What happened was that league disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan came down big-time on Shaw after a morning phone hearing with the rookie.
“The contact Shaw makes with Smith is not incidental, rather, it is a forceful blow delivered by Shaw's shoulder to Smith's chin,” Shanahan explained. “Also, in our opinion, Shaw does not make a reasonable effort to avoid such contact. What's more, this is not a case of a skater and goaltender colliding while pursuing a loose puck. Shaw skated a considerable distance and hits the head of the stationary goaltender who has possession of the puck.”
That's an entirely different explanation from the one Shaw told reporters on Monday.
“If you look, my eyes were focused on the puck, and I was leaning forward to get to the puck,” Shaw said. “I tried turning my shoulder away, but I had nowhere to go and unfortunately the collision happened.”
But in the eyes of Shanahan: “The onus is entirely upon Shaw to make every effort to avoid the goalie.”
Thus ends one weird, wild chapter of what has already been one weird, wild series ... or does it?
Conspiracy theorists will speculate that there were some great production values provided by the Coyotes during this four-day saga.
From Smith flailing and spinning after the hit — his gloves and stick flying as he went down — to his extended time on the ice and then his ability minutes later to rise in dramatic fashion and finish the game.
Then there was Smith announcing through the Phoenix media relations staff after the game that he was “fine” and “100 percent,” but for some unexplained reason held out of Monday practice while the league pondered its decision. Afterward, Phoenix coach Dave Tippett wouldn't talk about Smith's well-being, saying only, “our health is fine.”
Smith participated in Tuesday's morning skate but was deemed a “game-time decision” by Tippett.
“(Shaw's hit) was a blatant hit to the head with no intent to miss the goalie,” Tippett said after the skate. “Like I said, whether if that's a goalie or a defenseman, whatever it is, it's the exact hit, and I've gone through a lot of the meetings with the NHL on it, it's the exact hit they're trying to take out of the game.”
Shortly thereafter, Shanahan came down with the hammer.
To see the NHL's Brendan Shanahan explain the reasons behind the suspension click here.