Shanahan, the NHL's director of the Office of Player Safety, has suspended Colorado Avalanche defenseman Eric Johnson for two games, a first-timer punishment for a vicious slash to the hand of New York Islanders centerman Frans Nielsen - a blow that fractured one or more bones.
And if it doesn't heal within the 4 weeks that is set as a time table for his return, the Islanders can kiss any chance they had of making the playoffs goodbye - not that he's irreplaceable, it's just that the they have lost seven of their last eight with him in the lineup, averaging a only a goal and a half a game in the process...
...and with that slide they've dropped 12 points behind the Detroit Red Wings for the eighth and final seed in the Eastern Conference with 22 games to go - not impossible to overcome by any means, but potting a biscuit and a half a game ain't going to make the nut.
Johnson took a good whack at Neilsen's hand, a two handed, sawed-off job that looked like it got his thumb - but since he'd never been in trouble before, Shanahan went light on him - but gave him good public flogging in the statement announcing the suspension.
“After Nielsen attempts to rim the puck behind the net to a teammate, Johnson chokes up on his stick and delivers a reckless two-handed slash, catching Nielsen across the thumb and injuring him,” the statement read. “Nielsen makes no unpredictable movements, and Johnson’s reckless slash is violent and directly across the hand.”
Pretty obvious from the video that there was sole intent, the only mysteries being Johnson's motivation and how he could possibly argue being assessed a penalty.
Regardless, Johnson is tied up out back for the first two games of the post-Olympics' schedule and his game checks, totaling over $38 thousand will feed into the Player's Emergency Fund.
There's no doubt that Neilsen will be back, the question is, at what level? At the time the injury occurred, he was averaging just about a point a night through the last month, and has 43 points through 60 games this season - and can still set career marks for both goals and points if he can pick up where he left off.
http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/02/islanders-neilsen-suffers-broken-hand.html#.UvxRZbQcq58
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