Corey Crawford wasn't the only member of the Chicago Blackhawks that lost his cool during their Game 4 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night.
It also wasn't even close to the most embarrassing one.
With little more than two minutes to play in the third period and the Blackhawks trying to tie the game, forward Andrew Shaw took a foolish penalty by shoving Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester into the net after a whistle to put his team short-handed at the worst possible time.
That was only the beginning of his problems.
He followed that up by throwing a temper tantrum that should probably keep him out of Game 5 of the series for any number of reasons.
Let's take a step-by-step look at everything he did.
1. On his way to the box he appeared to flip off the referee (with both hands) two different times.
You can see him in action here toward the end of this video, via the Blues' broadcast.
Things would only continue to fall apart for him after that.
2. As he entered the penalty box he picked up the water bottle holder and spiked them on the ground.
a bit of that @camicakes7 pic.twitter.com/UJTpB3Useb
— Stephanie (@myregularface) April 20, 2016
But he still was not finished.
3. Once he finally took his seat in the penalty box he used his hockey stick to bang on the glass and then seemed to really cross the line when the TV broadcasts caught him yelling what appeared to be a homophobic slur at the official that sent him to the box.
Andrew Shaw using a slur in the penalty box https://t.co/MXvht3kuoN
— The Cauldron (ICYMI) (@CauldronICYMI) April 20, 2016
His response after the game when asked about it was not encouraging.
Andrew Shaw on whether he used a gay slur after his penalty: "Emotions were high. I don't know what I said. I wasn't happy with the call."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) April 20, 2016
If he did use a homophobic slur, the NHL has to act on that, and "emotions were high" is simply not an excuse for that kind of behavior.
The You Can Play Project, an organization "that is dedicated to ensuring equality, respect and safety for all athletes, without regard to sexual orientation and/or gender identity," and an organization teamed up with the Blackhawks on a partnership just two weeks ago, has already said that it will be reaching out to the NHL to "immediately assist in an appropriate response."
A slur on its own would be worthy of a suspension from the league.
If you're looking for some sort of precedent here, former enforcer Krys Barch was suspended one game for making a racist joke directed at Montreal Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban, while James Wisniewski was once suspended two games for making an obscene gesture directed at Sean Avery.
When you add in the fact he flipped off the referees two different times (with both hands!) and was simply out of control it only adds to the ridiculousness of the entire display. Together, it should all be enough to at least keep him out of the next game of the series. If not more.
