Playoffs Round One

Last year in the playoffs, the TSN panel were counting the number of Too many men calls, it seemed to be a problem at the time were coaches we're matching lines and in the thick of it, threw an extra attacker in. As this still is a problem, the focus has shifted towards the fighting, rough stuff and suspensions. At the begging of the season when Brendan Shannahan was appointed chief of discipline, it became apparent that things would be different. The NHL was having problems with hits to to head and unnecessary contact. In the pre season there were 11 suspensions handed out. It was a firm reminder that hits to the head would not be tolerated, Brandon Shanahan also put out short videos explaining the reasons for the suspension. They were meant to be tools for the teams to understand what is good and what is bad. During the playoffs this year the story has been the amount of fighting during the game and after the whistle. As it is apparent mostly in the Pittsburgh/Philly series, it has been happening in every series. just tonight Hossa sustained an injury that happened when Raffi Torres delivered a hit on Hossa. From what I remember it has been the most violent opening round I've seen. Not very often do you see a head to head fight, scrums after every whistle and at least one suspension handed out each night. Despite the amount of suspensions throughout the season and this far in the playoffs, it doesn't seem the be getting better, and why is that? You would think that guys would start getting tired of being fined, missing games and being riddled by the media. Well the thing is, is that the players are playing in a game that is so high speed and with such a high intensity that they are being forced to go into those rough areas, it is especially bad in the playoffs because every game matters and every little shift matters and they are being forced to work even harder. The guys are not thinking about how they might get suspended, they all want the cup and they are going to do whatever it takes to win it "because it's the cup"- NHL