| 27 April 2009
No surprise, Donald Brashear will be sitting out Tuesday's Game Seven, but what might catch you off guard is that he won't suit up for another five games after that. The suspension was dolled out after Donald Brashear and Colton Orr had a pregame scuffle in warm-ups, but Brash's infamous hit on Rangers forward Blair Betts guarantees his seat in the press box for the next playoff series.
The suspension begins tomorrow and will be served through the playoffs, or regular season if the Caps fail to advance.
"Brashear delivered a shoulder hit to an unsuspecting player. It is also my opinion that the hit was delivered late and targeted the head of his opponent, causing significant injury." - Colin Campbell
This is just another story to add to the legend of this bizarre playoff series.
The severity of the punishment Brash received is an obvious "head-on-a-pike" display of how future head shots will be dealt with. What may have added to the NHL's judgment in this suspension is the recent suspension of Scottie Upshall in the IIHF's World Championship.
Six games seems awfully steep, but with players getting stronger and hits getting harder at some point you have to pull a Roger Goodell and run with the "protect the players" line. Brashear's hit occurred when Betts was not in possession of the puck, and you can clearly see Brashear's elbow rock Betts' head. Whether or not it was intentional is up to you to decide, but an elbow is an elbow either way.
Then again, you could argue this is just more inconsistency in the NHL's disciplinary actions. I mean we're talking about a league that ships you to anger management when you say "sloppy seconds" but gives you one game and a luxury suite after doing hockey's equivalent of the ">"Axl Rose attack in St. Louis."
Suspensions and freakouts aside, this matchup has been bizarre, and a K.Y. jelly wrestling match between Marc Staal and Alex Semin seems to be the next likely event to capture our attention and add to the fable that is New York vs. Washington 2009.
The absence of Brashear may not be a huge factor in this series, and with Chris Clark likely to take his place you could argue that the Capitals are getting an upgrade on the third and fourth lines.
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