Consistently Inconsistent: The NHL Department of Player Safety
This Boston Bruins team proves with each and every game that there is no quit in them. They’re down multiple players and they’ve had plenty of calls go against them – starting with the David Backes suspension. The league made an example out of a player with no prior history of fines and suspensions on a questionable hit.
I’ve said it before: Backes isn’t Brad Marchand, the suspension he received was asinine – but we already knew that. However, on Tuesday, Boston lost another key player after Matt Grzelcyk was hit from behind by Winnipeg’s Josh Morrissey. He was assessed a five-minute major after.
Second period ends with a big hit and boarding penalty from Josh Morrissey on Matt Grzelcyk: pic.twitter.com/R46Si86unY
— Boston Bruins on CLNS (@BruinsCLNS) March 28, 2018
On Wednesday, the Department of Player Safety announced Morrissey wouldn’t face any further discipline for his hit.
Are you freaking kidding me?!
I don’t think the league is out to get the Bruins, but this is now the second time in two weeks a call has gone against Boston.
The explanation from the DoPS was that Grzelcyk made a quick turn to face the boards shortly before contact, putting himself in a vulnerable position.
Morrissey has no prior history of suspensions in the NHL – much like Backes but he got suspended anyway.
Boston’s David Backes suspended three games for interference on Detroit’s Frans Nielsen → https://t.co/2CfHHbjQvY pic.twitter.com/0mEr0eDCyX
— Heart of NHL (@HeartofNHL) March 8, 2018
It just makes zero sense.
Morrissey really looked as if he was going after Grzelcyk once Marchand made a clean hit. He went way out of his way to hit Griz. Sure, he may have turned at the last second, but Morrissey had him lined up well before that. Plain and simple.
They’re called the Department of Player SAFETY. When is the safety of the players going to be their priority?
You suspended Backes but won’t suspend Morrissey who went out of his way to target Griz. Regardless if he turned and put himself into a vulnerable position, Morrissey was targeting him well before he was “vulnerable.”
Your job is to protect the safety of the players. If you’re going to suspend Backes then you need to suspend Morrissey and Brayden Schenn.
The inconsistency is terribly consistent with suspensions and fines this season and even Cam Neely agrees telling Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports Boston he doesn’t understand the rationale behind certain outcomes.
Trust me, I don’t either.
Neely continued by saying he feels the Bruins have been more frustrated than not this year regarding calls that haven’t gone their way.
So tell me, when will the Department of Player Safety really start to care about the safety of the players?
-Lauren Campbell (@lalalalaurrrren)