Confirmed with Link: Barrie suspended 3 games

[ASmileyFace]

Uhhhhhh 3 games????? Can't agree with that. One was for sure.... but three?

 

[AslanRH]

Too much focus around head trauma now days.

Direct Head shots will continue to be "overpenalized" compared to other discipline.

 

[AvsRobin]

I would have guessed two games. But given it was late, high and caused an injury. We can't really have any complaints about three games.

Hopefully Gormley gets his chance and earns the infamous trust of Roy and then can be used over Holden, Stuart and Guenin when Tyson is back.

 

[tucker3434]

There is absolutely no rhyme or reason to the suspensions.

 

[Foppa2118]

What dumb reasoning on their video. "While Despres is bent slightly in an athletic position..." He's 6'4" and his head was parallel with 5'10" Barrie's shoulders BEFORE the hit, and before he left his feet about an inch. And he's looking the other way while skating into the corner after just having the puck.

"Despres is clearly no longer in possession of the puck." How is it clear? The puck was between his skates and the boards, and Duchene was on the other side of him too.

It's like their whole job is to find out whether a hit caused an injury or not, and then try to figure out how to justify a suspension. 3 games to a guy with no history and doesn't even hit people?

 

[SB]

I dunno, Barrie's stock might have just gone up... lol

 

[NothingLikeAnEJ]

If Roy plays Stuart over Gormley I'll lose it. Having Stuart, Guenin and Holden in the lineup can't happen this season.

 

[tigervixxxen]

It's probably going to be

Beauch-EJ
Zads-Holden
Gormley-Stuart/Guenin

 

[AvsRobin]

Roy could go with the logic of replacing a RD with an RD. That would more likely be Stuart then.

 

[jsalz16]

Deserved a game or two but I thought EJ's was worse optically anyway

 

[LieutenantDangle]

What a dirty player. Disgusting. He must have thought that he was hitting cooke

 

[DanishAvsfan]

With all the legal issues, medical knowledge, and public attention related to head injuries I think it was to be expected. Frankly I think the league is trying to change the culture of the game to protect itself, the game and the players. Based on that I think it is a reasonable judgement.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

Roy could go with the logic of replacing a RD with an RD. That would more likely be Stuart then.

He's played Holden on the right and Guenin on the left in four game this year. I don't think it matters.

 

[Ivan13]

Brown headbutted Couture and got nothing, nice job, wheel of fortune in action again.

 

[McMetal]

I remember watching that head contact and wondering if that would be looked at. It wasn't a clean hit, although three games is harsh for a first offender. The DPS has always been very inconsistent with these suspensions.

I hope Gormley gets a chance now, and that Barrie comes back and starts playing like we know he can. Then we can finally scratch Guenin for good, and maybe Stuart too, Holden has actually looked pretty strong defensively this year. Maybe he's been working on being better in his own zone and less on being an offensive playmaker. If he keeps going like this he could very well become the best option for the bottom pairing.

 

[Joe Sakic]

The worst part is that this fits nowhere near the NHL's crappy and non-existent track record. So far out of left field.

3 games for an offensive, non-hitting defencemen, with no prior history. If this was ever even remotely spread consistently across the league RIP players.

 

[chet1926]

What a joke, 3 games for a guy who has never had an issue. But McDavid shoves a guy from behind face first into the boards and gets absolutely nothing, even though McDavid's was substantially more dangerous than what Barrie did. Hell I even thought Johnson's hit last night was way worse than what Barrie did.

So the big question here now is, do they issue the same suspension had it been Duncan Keith making the hit? My opinion is no. They seem to look the other way when it comes to star players apparently.

Once again I'm not saying Barrie didn't deserve a game as his hit was illegal, but the point is they aren't consistent with their decisions to suspend or not to suspend, which is very frustrating because from my point of view their issuing suspensions based on star status in the league. Either call it fair or don't bother because right now it's a joke.

 

[AvsRobin]

How can anyone rage about a late, high hit that caused an head injury getting 3 games? I expected 2 games but come on. Move on.

 

[chet1926]

How can anyone rage about a late, high hit that caused an head injury getting 3 games? I expected 2 games but come on. Move on.

I don't mind the suspension. What irks me is the lack of consistency, with determining a suspension. Barrie with no priors gets a pretty hefty suspension. Johnson doesn't get anything even though he nailed Perry from behind face first into the boards. McDavid gets nothing for doing the same as EJ. How did they determine that what Barrie did deserved a 3 game suspension, but an equally dangerous play from EJ and McDavid get nothing?

 

[member 116861]

I don't mind the suspension. What irks me is the lack of consistency, with determining a suspension. Barrie with no priors gets a pretty hefty suspension. Johnson doesn't get anything even though he nailed Perry from behind face first into the boards. McDavid gets nothing for doing the same as EJ. How did they determine that what Barrie did deserved a 3 game suspension, but an equally dangerous play from EJ and McDavid get nothing?

Injuries

 

[AvsRobin]

I don't mind the suspension. What irks me is the lack of consistency, with determining a suspension. Barrie with no priors gets a pretty hefty suspension. Johnson doesn't get anything even though he nailed Perry from behind face first into the boards. McDavid gets nothing for doing the same as EJ. How did they determine that what Barrie did deserved a 3 game suspension, but an equally dangerous play from EJ and McDavid get nothing?

EJ would have gotten what Nesterov got if there was an injury on the play.

Three factors go against Barrie. Interference. Charging. Injury. And especially a head injury.

The "no prior history" doesn't protect everyone forever if they cross the line.

 

[ABasin]

NHL discipline never ceases to amaze me. How a player with zero prior history can get 3 games for that is astonishing

I don't think that prior history thing works backwards, and I don't think it should. Just because Barrie has never had a penalty/hit like this before, doesn't mean he shouldn't be punished for his first one.

I thought he'd get two games. He got a third. No big deal. An awful lot of griping about a suspension that was warranted, honestly. My guess is that since this is the first such offense (I think) in the league since the NHL meted out its longest suspension ever, perhaps Barrie got an extra game. Like many people in this thread, I'd like to see a little consistency from the NHL in this regard.

But it was a high hit to the head after Barrie left his feet. That's a suspendable offense, period.

 

[Hesher]

I was hoping for 1 game but I'm not that surprised because of the injury.

 

[hockeyfish]

It will be Cliche in, won't it...

 

[Metallo]

I vaccum I believe that Barrie deserved a suspension. It was NOT charging however, lol, if that is charging then it happens a dozen of times in a game.

Furthermore, given the NHL's track record, the suspension is disapointing as worse/similar actions have gone, and will go, unpunished.