When the NHL last week suspended Duncan Keith six games for his vicious high stick to the face of Minnesota Wild forward Charlie Coyle, many believed the Chicago Blackhawks defenseman had gotten off easy.
That group included Florida Panthers captain Willie Mitchell.
Mitchell, who has not played since suffering the seventh concussion of his career on Jan. 18, lamented the fact that punishments for hits to the head are not as steep as they once were.
“The league needs to do a better job,” the 38-year-old defenseman told Sportsnet on Saturday in his first public comments since his injury. “Guys need protection.
“There’s a concern with players. Guys are worried about it. Guys talk about it — the league isn’t doing enough to protect the players. A couple of years back, a 20-game suspension was a message. You’d be missing games, you get a big chunk of money taken from your pocket — a quarter of your (annual) salary gone. Those suspensions had gotten the game safer — still physical, still fast. Shanny (Brendan Shanahan, then the league’s chief disciplinarian) did a great job. But it’s not like that now.”
Keith’s suspension was the second-longest handed out this season for a player-on-player hit, surpassed only by repeat offender Raffi Torres’ 41-game ban. In Mitchell’s eyes, this is a problem.
“Players are worried, and guys talk about it here in the dressing room, but don’t say much (publicly) because they think they’re going to get fined,” Mitchell told Sportsnet. “But I can tell you: Players are worried about it.
“I’d like to think I’m a rational guy. I’m not an F-U guy. I’m not criticizing the league as a whole. If my game slips, a coach will come tell me, it’s slipping. Well, on trying to protect us, the league is slipping.”
It remains to be seen whether Mitchell will return to the ice this season — or ever. He said he’s now free of post-concussion symptoms but hasn’t received assurance that another hit to the head won’t cause permanent damage.
“Unfortunately, no one can give you an answer,” he told Sportsnet.
Mitchell, who will turn 39 later this month, is in the midst of his second season with Florida after stints with the New Jersey Devils, Minnesota Wild, Dallas Stars, Vancouver Canucks and Los Angeles Kings.
Thumbnail photo via Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports Images
