Brendan Shanahan has wasted no time in showing the NHL who is in charge of discipline this year. Replacing the inconsistent Colin Campbell, Shanahan has made an example of guys early on in the preseason, including Jody Shelley and now James Wisniewski.
It was only a matter of time before we saw Wiz experience the hammer that is Brendan Shanahan, and Wisniewski didn’t waste any time getting on his bad side.
A repeat offender, Wiz has been suspended multiple times over the course of his career, including eight games for a hit on Chicago’s Brent Seabrook in 2010.
Wisniewski’s latest suspension comes after a hit he laid on Minnesota’s Cal Clutterbuck on Friday. Shanahan called Clutterbuck “defenseless” as Wisniewksi threw an elbow into Clutterbuck’s head as the third period ended. Wiz was given a minor penalty for the hit.
Due to his status as a repeat offender, Shanahan handed down a punishment of 12 games for Wiz. That includes the remaining four games of the preseason, as well as the first eight of the regular season. Wisniewski will also forfeit over $530k in salary as well, as the result of his suspension.
If Shanahan was going to pick a guy to make an example out of, Wiz is certainly a guy to do it to. This will be the fourth suspension of his career, one of which was those pair of games he served last year for this gesture to New York Rangers forward Sean Avery.
It’s only the first season of Brendan Shanahan’s tenure as the NHL’s disciplinarian, and he’s already begun to put guys on notice. If Wiz hasn’t learned before, the 12 games he is set to serve now should certainly start to open his eyes. At least one would hope.
