Why Wolski Wasn’t Suspended for Head Shot on Alfredsson

Greg Wyshynski at Puck Daddy has Brendan Shanahan’s explanation for why Wojtek Wolski was not suspended for his elbow to the head of Daniel Alfredsson, who suffered a concussion on the play, during the Rangers 5-4 shootout loss to the Senators last Saturday’s game…

“Wolski’s not a dirty player, and has no history of being a dirty player. There are collisions that occur on the ice where, unfortunately, one player sees it just prior. On this play here, Wolski has got to get out to this point. You see here, Gaborik, the left winger, has to come all the way to Wolski’s point on the right side because Wolski’s not there. [Wolski] ran into Alfredsson trying to get there.

“We’ve seen enough of these now — and I don’t like these — but seen enough of them where when one player sees [the hit] just prior, he tenses up. And sometimes he even leans in, because he’s bracing for an impact. When both guys see it, it’s two guys tensing up and they bounce off each other and everybody’s fine. It’s really unfortunate here, when one player doesn’t see it and the other guy does.

“Now, if I felt this was intentional, or if it wasn’t at the last instant, just prior. [If] I might have felt there was any kind of sneakiness or history of these types of offenses for Wolski, he would have been suspended.”

For video of the explanation, click here.

Wyshynski also has Senators head coach Bryan Murray’s reaction to the non-suspension…

“It’s my player and I have an emotional attachment to him, so no, I told him I didn’t agree,” he said. “I felt that the player did go out of his way, a little, to make contact. That it was an elbow involved in the play, and I thought we had determined, a shoulder check, contacted with short vs. taller players and all that type of thing, would be considered an accidental hit, but an elbow to the head would be a suspension.”

Here’s the play in question…

…i’m obviously going to have a biased take on this because not only is Wolski on the Rangers he’s also my boy. But I totally agree with Shanahan’s decision to not to suspend. There was absolutely no malicious intent by Wolski on the play. This is hockey and sometimes it gets rough out there. Look at the Konopka hit on AA the other night. Sure AA’s face was smashed against the glass, but it was a legal hit with no malice. And again Shanahan was right in not suspending despite Konopka getting a five minute major and a game misconduct.

Remember to follow me on Twitter & Facebook or e-mail me at [email protected].