Brendan Shanahan already handed Brad Marchand a five-game suspension for his low hit of Vancouver's Sami Salo in a game between the two teams in January. So when Marchand was whistled for clipping again on Wednesday night in Montreal, there were some who thought another suspension could be coming for Marchand.
That won't be the case, however, as Shanahan, the NHL senior vice president of player safety, took to Twitter on Thursday afternoon to delcare that Marchand would not be fined or suspended for his hit on the Canadiens' Alexei Emelin.
"Like all penalties on the ice, not all 'clips' rise to the level of supplemental discipline. This check by Marchand was delivered to the upper thigh/hip and not the knee area. We don't like it, but [it's not worthy of supplemental discipline]."
This varies greatly from Shanahan's assessment of the Salo hit in which the dean of discipline stated that Marchand's hit was "dangerously low" and called it a "predatory, low hit."
Marchand was given a two-minute minor for clipping for his hit on Wednesday night. See the hit below.
