Brashear Suspended For Six Games

The cliche goes, you can't teach an old dogs new tricks. Although over-used and beaten to death, the expression still rings true. In sports, this is especially the case and undoubtedly applies to every player's tendencies, reputation and skills. This can especially be said about Washington Capitals forward and enforcer Donald Brashear.

Yesterday, Brashear was at it again. During the pre-game skate before Game 6 between the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers, Brashear attempted to make his presence be known to the Rangers roster. While Brash's teammates skated around, the Caps tough-guy attempted to get into the head of Rangers enforcer Colton Orr. Brashear and Orr, who were involved in matching roughings during a scrum in Game 3 appeared to be mouthing off to one another back and forth when Brashear gave an apparent push to Colton Orr.

However, that wasn't the end of Brashear's normal goon-like-actions. Midway through the first period, Ryan Callahan delivered a check to the back of Brashear. Brashear, turned around looking for retaliation on Callahan, but as Callahan skated over the boards and onto the Rangers bench, Brash had to find a new target. Insert Blair Betts. As Blair Betts turned to dump the puck into the Capitals zone, Brashear leveled him with a devastating shoulder to head hit. As Betts crumbled to the ice, the Madison Square Garden crowd erupted in a disgusted uproar.

Betts, as you can see from the video, was clearly not expecting the hit from Brashear as he dropped to the ice holding his head. The 29 year old Betts, was unable to get to his feet under his own power and was helped to the dressing room. During the hit, Betts sustained a broken orbital bone in his face. The orbital bone as Bruins fans know, is a sensitive part of the face and does not heal easily, as Michael Ryder missed two weeks of the regular season due to the injury. The loss of Betts hits at a bad time for the Rangers, as Betts is considered the Rangers best penalty-killer and heading into Game 7, the Rangers have allowed just 6 powerplay goals on 31 powerplay opportunities for the Caps.

My thoughts on the Brashear hit was that it was exactly what the NHL doesn't need. Brashear, a player who's been suspended a total of 6 games since the NHL lock-out isn't exactly a player NHL VP Colin Campbell doesn't know very well. He's accumulated over 2,500 minutes of penalties in his NHL career, and he's the chief punk (like that 'Slap Shot' reference?) of the Southeast Division. I believe the suspension of 6 games is very justifiable as Brashear, could have ended the career of Blair Betts had he hit him closer to the temple. As much as I have given harsh criticism to NHL VP Colin Campbell, for a guy who's preaching about cutting down on dangerous and malicious hits I believe his punishment of Brashear fits the bill. As Betts isn't playing anytime in the near future, possibly not for the rest of the playoffs, it's only fitting that Donald Brashear watches his team from the press box, the same place the man he injured will be tomorrow night at the Verizon Center.