Had the NHL wanted to send a message that it was serious about stick-swinging and shots to opponents’ heads, it could not have asked for a better opportunity than the one Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Duncan Keith offered up on Tuesday when he swung his stick into the face of opponent Charlie Coyle.
It was a tremendous opportunity. The NHL managed to turn it into a serious problem.
The violent intent here was hard to deny; there was little room for belief that this was an accidental swing of the stick. As the NHL Department of Player Safety’s official suspension video forcefully argued, this was a deliberate act on Keith’s part toward the Minnesota Wild player:
While on his back, Keith looks at Coyle, winds his arm back, then slashes his stick dangerously and violently, directly into the face of Coyle … It is important to note that Keith is in perfect control of his stick at all times.