These 5 NHL suspensions could help predict Duncan Keith's punishment
Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith's reckless behavior on the ice could hurt his team in the playoffs â again. Keith earned an in-person hearing with the NHL's Department of Player Safety after he slashed Minnesota Wild forward Charlie Coyle in the face during the Wild's 4-1 win over the Blackhawks on Tuesday night.
Coyle initially took Keith down on a clean open-ice hit, but Keith got into trouble when he looked up at Coyle then swung his stick up and hit Coyle in the face. Keith was given a match penalty, which resulted in his ejection from the game, but while Coyle needed a few stitches to close up a nasty gash across his nose, the Wild forward otherwise seemed to be okay.
But while Coyle was able to return to the game, it could be a long time before Keith sees game action again. The Blackhawks defenseman should receive a significant punishment from the NHL's Department of Player Safety, and the question in this situation is not whether Keith will be suspended -- the malicious nature of the high-stick eliminates that question -- but rather how long his suspension will last?
In general, the NHL tends to offer a player an in-person hearing like the one extended to Keith when it chooses to suspend a player for six or more games. Given that Chicago has five games left before the playoffs and Keith is the defending Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the reigning playoff MVP, the Blackhawks surely hope Keith will be an exception to that standard.
The NHL's history of doling out suspensions for high sticks does not provide a clear answer of what will happen to Keith. While some players have gotten off easy with one-game suspensions, others found themselves on the bench for more than a quarter of a season.
One of the most significant high-sticking suspensions to look at in this case is one Keith himself earned in 2013. In the Western Conference Finals that year, Keith earned a one-game suspension for intentionally high-sticking Los Angeles Kings center Jeff Carter. The DoPS was disturbed by the intentional and retaliatory nature of the play, and Keith was already considered a repeat offender at that point.
This play could continue to haunt Keith. It's bad enough to high-stick a player in the face in a seemingly intentional manner. It's even worse to do so when you have already been suspended before for the same thing.
Keith's possible high-sticking suspension would not be the first of its kind this season. In February, Drew Stafford was suspended for a game for high-sticking Nick Holden.
One of the key points to keep in mind here is that the NHL determined Stafford's high-stick wasn't intentional. It's hard to say the same of Keith's hit on Coyle. Stafford also has no history. Keith does. If Stafford was suspended for a game for that high-stick, logic would dictate that Keith would at least get more than one game.
Keith's high-stick Tuesday also seems worse than Erik Johnson's high-sticking offense in 2014 that cost Johnson two games.
Like Stafford, Johnson had no history of trouble, and Johnson's high-stick was across the hand, not the face. Keith's infraction seems worse than Johnson's as well, which means a climb up the ladder in terms of the length of a possible suspension for Keith.
But how high would the NHL go? It is not unheard of for the league to suspend a player for more than 20 games for a high stick.
In 2007, Philadelphia Flyer Jesse Boulerice cross-checked then-Vancouver Canuck Ryan Kesler in the face after the two players had been taking shots at each other all game. The bad blood between the pair made it clear that the incident was, like Keith's play, both intentional and retaliatory, and the NHL suspended Boulerice for 25 games.
Former New York Islander Chris Simon was also suspended in 2007 for 25 games for a very similar high-stick to Keith's. Simon's infraction came against New York Ranger Ryan Hollweg, and like Keith, Simon was originally the victim of a hit. Instead of brushing it off and moving on, Simon got up and two-handed Hollweg in the face with his stick. Hollweg, like Coyle needed only a few stitches and was not otherwise seriously hurt, but Simon was handed a match penalty and was ejected from the game. The Nassau County district attorney's office even considered filing charges due to the play, but Hollweg declined to pursue any type of legal action against Hollweg.
Simon was a repeat offender with a reputation for dirty hits. He was suspended eight times (65 total games) over the course of his 15-year NHL career. Keith so far has been suspended twice for a total of six games. He is such a highly skilled player that he does not necessarily have a reputation as a solely dirty player, but Keith does have a history of supplemental discipline. It is not shocking to see Keith involved in a play like the one against Coyle, especially since Keith has been suspended for the same offense in the past.
The Keith situation gives the NHL a chance to set a precedent for how it will handle retaliatory offenses from repeat offenders moving forward, even if the opposing player escapes serious injury. Although it is hard to predict exactly how many games Keith will get, it seems that the league is taking the situation very seriously given the in-person hearing. If Keith is forced to miss either a significant portion or all of the upcoming playoffs, it will be interesting to see how much his absence will affect the Blackhawks' chances of successfully defending their Stanley Cup title.
