NHL continues crackdown on illegal shots, suspends Brad Staubitz, James Wisniewski indefinitely
In another welcoming move to minimise the amount of illegal shots made during matchups in the National Hockey League (NHL), NHL senior vice president of player safety, Brendan Shanahan put his foot down once again and suspended Minnesota Wilds forward, Brad
Staubitz and Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman, James Wisniewski, indefinitely.
The decision was made and announced on Saturday after the Columbus and Minnesota preseason matchup on Friday.
27-year-old right winger, Brad Staubitz, was awarded a major penalty along with a game misconduct after he checked a Minnesota player from behind, which is termed as a shot on a player who is defenceless at that moment. It was during the opening minutes
of the final period, which later on extended to overtime as Minnesota took the match, 4-3.
James Wisniewski on the other hand, was given a minor penalty for an illegal check to Wilds, Cal Clutterbuck, as the third and final regulation period wound up.
Wisniewski, a 27-year-old defender from Canton, Missouri, termed his hit to the head a defensive move to protect a teammate.
“That’s my partner, the guy I’m going to play with the next six years here”, Wisniewski said. “With him getting run at the end of the game, I was going over there to let (Clutterbuck) know we’ll stick up for each other and that’s not going to be tolerated”.
For Columbus Blue Jackets, Wisniewski is a high scoring defender, who is also very tough and physical in his game play. Having him on their line-up is crucial to Columbus going anywhere next season and moving up from their previous state as one of the league’s
most low performing franchises.
“The fact that he looked after his partner … we play these guys the second game of the season”, Columbus head coach, Scott Arniel, said. “You don’t want to see him get suspended, or for anything to happen, but we’ve done a good job sticking up for each other”.
At the moment, both players remain unable to play, and are suspended indefinitely, until their official hearings begin to allow them a chance to defend themselves. Until then, Minnesota and Columbus will have to find replacements who might be able to fill
their shoes.
Tags: