NHL strikes a blow, suspends Wisniewski 8 games

LOS ANGELES - Anaheim Ducks general manager Bob Murray added insult to injury Thursday.

Not long after the NHL announced it had suspended Ducks defenseman James Wisniewski eight games for Wednesday's hit to Brent Seabrook's head, Murray took a shot of his own at Hawks coach Joel Quenneville for complaining about what Wisniewski did.

"There are certain hits in the game that are tolerable if you have the puck, but if you hit a guy without the puck you can kill a guy," Quenneville said following Wednesday's game.

"It's the most dangerous hit in the history of the game (when a player doesn't have the puck), and (Wisniewski) tried to hurt him."

Murray couldn't resist firing back at Quenneville during a conference call with reporters.

"I played in Chicago for a long time, I lived in the city of Chicago, it used to be a black-and-blue town, it didn't have whiners," Murray said. "I strongly suggest Joel worries about his goaltending and stops trying to run the National Hockey League. He should worry about coaching."

The length of the suspension stunned Wisniewski, the former Hawk, who apologized to Seabrook.

"I am truly sorry that my friend Brent Seabrook was hurt on the play," Wisniewski said in a statement. "I certainly wish him the best. I am, however, very disappointed in the length of the suspension.

"Eight games is incredibly hard to swallow, especially in comparison to other recent hits that have resulted in lesser punishment."

Murray felt Wisniewski should have got a suspension, just not eight games.

"We love the way Wiz plays," Murray said. "In this instance he crossed the line. He went too far.

"The only problem I have is the length. It just seems that Wiz, at this point, because of the climate of the league, is an easy target."

Seabrook didn't play Thursday against the Kings and is out indefinitely with what's believed to be his second concussion of the season. He missed two games back in October.

"He's doing, I'll just say OK," Quenneville said. "We'll say day to day right now, but we don't know more than that."

Hawks GM Stan Bowman said it was difficult to predict how long Seabrook would be out of the lineup.

"These things, they all run their course from short to middle," Bowman said. "It could be either one of those. It's way too early to tell."

Quenneville took the high road and refused to get into a war of words with Murray.

"I did hear about it, and it doesn't deserve a comment," Quenneville said.

Bowman didn't want to comment until he talked with Murray.

As for Wisniewski getting eight games, Bowman was confident the NHL did what it felt was appropriate.

"I'm worried about Seabrook more than Wisniewski, really," Bowman said. "The league looked at it and thinks that's the right number."

Colin Campbell, the NHL's executive vice president of hockey operations, called what Wisniewski did a "retaliation hit to the head of an opponent who never had possession of the puck."

Wisniewski's two-game suspension earlier in the season for a hit on Shane Doan of the Coyotes figured into the punishment, according to Campbell.

"My only comment is there's a lot of talk about what the league's going to do," Bowman said. "We have to start talking a little bit about the players. It seems there's been a lack of respect for each other, and to me that's the biggest thing.

"The players are the ones that control these events. The league is here to deal with it once they happen, but in terms of stopping it we have to get a little bit of respect back in the game from player to player."

A few Hawks who played with Wisniewski were surprised by what happened.

"That's not really his game," Dustin Byfuglien said. "That's not the type of guy he is."

"Wiz plays hard," Duncan Keith said. "I played with Wiz for a long time and I know he's competitive and sticks up for his teammates."

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