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This is more than a little surprising but according to TSN's Bob McKenzie, New York Rangers forward Rick Nash will not face any discipline from the NHL for his hit to the back of the head of Tomas Kopecky on Thursday night.
In case you missed it, the video above shows the play.
There was no penalty called (which was also surprising), but given that Nash appeared to leave his feet and then make contact with the back of Kopecky's head, it seemed the NHL would step in and hand out some supplemental discipline.
But that's apparently not going to happen.
Was the hit Toronto's Joffrey Lupul had on Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman earlier this week, a play that resulted in a two-game suspension, that much worse? And was Nash's hit on Kopecky less vicious than Vancouver 's Alex Edler's charge on Coyotes goalie Mike Smith on Thursday, a play that has resulted in a hearing with the league on Friday afternoon?
In the world of NHL discipline, where the only consistent thing is inconsistency, the answer to those questions appears to be yes.
For as nice as Brendan Shanahan's videos are when it comes to explaining suspensions, it would be equally nice to get some in-depth explanations from the league as to why plays like this aren't punished. It seems to go against everything the NHL is trying to eliminate.
If the argument is that Nash has no prior history or that Kopecky wasn't injured on the play, that's just another example as to how flawed the entire process is.
