NHL Department of Player Safety Releases Shocking Video To Explain Recent Suspension Decisions
The NHL's Department of Player Safety has never been consistent, and now due to backlash, they've released a video to explain their recent decisions.
Over the last few weeks, the NHL has suspended both Tanner Jeannot and Ryan Reaves for forceful hits to the head, but on Wednesday, they refused to do the same for Zach Whitecloud after he hit Matthew Knies to the head.
It was clear contact to the head for Whitecloud, forcing Knies out of the game with a potential concussion, but upon review, the officials in the game gave it no penalty and no further discipline for the Golden Knights blue liner.
Now, the backlash has been so severe that the NHL's Department of Player Safety has had to release a video explaining rule 48, which is defined like this:
Despite clear contact to the head of Matthew Knies, forcing him to leave the ice, the five-minute video goes on to explain that in the eyes of the NHL's hockey department, the majority of the contact was not to the head, but rather the body as well.
This comes as no surprise to many Maple Leafs fans, as they often believe that the NHL's DoPS are biased against them, and after a suspension to Ryan Reaves and no penalty at all to Zach Whitecloud, it's easy to see their logic in this instance.
Ultimately, it's a positive that the NHL are attempting to be transparent in their suspension decisions, especially given the consequences of such hits for injury to opposing players, but in this instance, many believe they have still got it wrong.
That won't change anything, but at least now fans have a reference point as to what the league is looking at when they consider suspensions, which will certainly help transparency moving forward.
