My Thoughts: From having watched this game first-hand, I thought Sutton should have been given 5 and a game for the elbow and I knew suspension was looming for him. He was given 2 minutes for elbowing, but I loved how Shane O'Brien stepped in to fight him immediately (showing exactly the reason why the avs signed him in the offseason - to provide size and grit, but to protect their star players). This could have and was a scary incident, and luckily, Landeskog shook it off right away, but Sutton clearly targeted the head as Shanny stated in his explanation. These are the type of hits that are trying to be eliminated from our game, especially in terms of the veteran Sutton going after the 18-year old rookie Landeskog, it just looks horrible on Andy's part. In simplest terms, Sutton wasn't trying to injure Gabriel but it was a head shot on a player who wasn't expecting it, a blindside hit where Landeskog wasn't looking before getting the elbow to the head. For me, if James Wisniewski was given 8 games for his elbow, I felt that Sutton should have gotten a similar suspension as I felt his hit was much worse (and like Wisniewski, Sutton is a repeat offender). Ultimately the biggest factor was that Landeskog was not hurt, but I still felt that it was a vicious elbow deserving of a 8-10 game suspension. Regardless, Sutton paid the price and was suspended 5 games yesterday, forking over $57,432.45 in salary. For me, I love the way Shanahan is handling his disciplinary role so far, and I think he is making our game safer for everyone.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Andy-Sutton-gets-5-game-ban-for-Landeskog-hit-a;_ylt=AqHulA94F_g8dDWgWBvILrd7vLYF?urn=nhl-wp16409
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tSuisrmpnU
Above I have posted two links: the first is yahoo sports' Greg Wyshynski's take on the hit (with video of Shanahan's explanation), and the second is the actual Youtube video of the hit.
-Joel Forman - Colorado Avalanche News
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