Suspending Disbelief

By Adam

"On all plays we deem to be illegal there are varying degrees that escalate from one level to the next," said Shanahan in a statement. "I didn't like this hit, and I expressed that to Shea Weber. I feel it was an illegal hit. I would like to see less force in that situation and that is why he's being fined."

- Brendand Shanahan, NHL director of player safety

“I play the game hard. I finished my check. I do not think that I would have done anything differently. I didn’t even think it was a penalty.”

-Shea Weber, best defenseman in the NHL

Well, as you can see from the above, Shea Weber has a history of questionable decision making and a total lack of remorse. That would be the statements following this hit from Weber in October.

So it's really no surprise that the lesson Weber learned was that he can get away with dirty stuff that would get other players suspended. He hits a guy right in the numbers from behind into the boards with the puck nowhere close. He gets a fine for $2,500 of his $7.5 million salary. Here he is doing the old turnbuckle routine with Hank Zetterberg's head and the glass last night.

Again, he gets a fine for $2,500, oh, and a 2 minute minor penalty as time expired in the game. But just in case you think Shanahan has gone soft after all those 5-10 game suspensions at the start of the season, he made clear this fine would be taken into consideration in the future. I'm sure it will, just like the first one wasn't. Honestly, I can't say I was surprised. This is the same league that fined Claude Lemieux $1,000 and suspended him for two games for nearly killing Kris Draper.

That's just how things work. I don't care how many concussions Crosby gets, this is the playoffs and that's just how it works. Well, unless your name is Byron Bitz. In a consistent, just NHL Weber would have sat a game. But here's what's great about the NHL, the players still play the games and still answer to each other. The Red Wings get at least three more games to find satisfaction with Weber. And if they play to their potential they will send him packing before May.