Chicago Blackhawks' Keith deserves harsh penalty

Six games. Minimum.

That's how long the NHL should suspend Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith for the blatant and ugly swing he took at Minnesota's Charlie Coyle on Tuesday during the first period of the Wild's 4-1 victory.

Keith was offered an in-person hearing Wednesday by the NHL's Department of Player Safety, which means the league already is thinking of suspending him for at least six games.

Keith can either fly to New York to plead his case or he can speed up the process by having a hearing over the phone. He is suspended indefinitely until the case is heard. The Hawks' next game is Friday at Winnipeg.

The 32-year-old defenseman already has a pair of black marks on his record. The first came in 2012 when Keith elbowed Vancouver's Daniel Sedin in the head. That drew a five-game suspension.

The other came in the 2013 Western Conference playoffs when Keith purposely clipped the Kings' Jeff Carter in the chin. Carter, who had slashed Keith in the hands, was skating away from Keith and crumpled to the ice after getting whacked. That incident drew a one-game suspension.

If the NHL is serious about cracking down on these kinds of acts, it will hit Keith and the Blackhawks hard, and that means at least a six-game suspension.

The Hawks have five regular-season games remaining, so any suspension of that length or less would be a joke. These last five games are somewhat important, but the Hawks' seed isn't likely to change, even without Keith down the stretch.

Losing Keith for even one game of the playoffs would be a huge blow to the Hawks, who have won just three times in their last 10 games.

Keith has uncanny down-the-ice vision and an incredible passing ability to teammates who are 50, 60 - even 100 feet - away. He is the primary reason the Hawks are able to play a puck-possession game, and he's a huge piece of their power play.

Without him, the wheels fall off all over the place, and there isn't enough glue and duct tape to patch together a solution, especially in the playoffs against Dallas or St. Louis. Especially if Keith is hit with a suspension that goes past the second game of the opening round.

Hawks fans certainly will be holding their breath until a verdict is handed down. If you are a fan of the team, you're probably hoping a league that relies so heavily in interest in the Hawks goes easy on Keith.

But if you are a fan of fair play, you'll forget about which city Keith plays in and hope the league does what is right.

Sending a strong message not only shows players that the NHL won't tolerate these incidents, it also sends a message to kids who are trying to become the next Duncan Keith, Jonathan Toews or Andrew Shaw.

And that message is simple: play hard, hit hard and fight fair. But don't ever - ever - use your stick as a weapon.

Or you'll pay the consequences, and those consequences could be as damaging as the act that brought them.

• Follow John on Twitter @johndietzdh