Why Brad Marchand Was Suspended for His Spear and Sidney Crosby Was Not

Some folks are pretty upset at the NHL’s Department of Player Safety. And I mean, how could you not be as a general rule? It is the departmental equivalent of a backed-up toilet and almost always has been, save for maybe Brendan Shanahan’s brief stint at the helm. They have hardly enforced the rules surrounding illegal hits/contact, and when they do, they lack any sort of consistency — their authority with the players is minimal, and you just have to look at how some of its players continually endanger each other. Many usually don’t have anything to fear in terms of discipline.

The most recent reason for the angst lies in the recent suspension of Brad Marchand and the lack of one for Sidney Crosby. To recap: on March 21, the Penguins were in Buffalo playing the Sabres, and in the first five minutes of the game, Crosby gave drunk-driving enthusiast Ryan O’Reilly a painful and ugly spear to the groin from behind and was not penalized at all. The Department of Player Safety decided that they weren’t going to punish Crosby for this behavior, and in the very next game, on March 23 in Ottawa, he chased the puck into the corner with the Senators’ Marc Methot, giving him a wicked (though extremely common) slash to the hand.

Meanwhile, Marchand speared Tampa Bay defenseman Jake Dotchin a few days ago in the first period of their game in Boston. Marchand was booted from the game and the Lightning were awarded a five-minute major power-play. The DoPS then handed down a 2-game suspension to Marchand, beginning yesterday in Ottawa’s playoff-clinching shootout win and finishing up in the Bruins’ final game of the regular season. In other words, not affecting playoff time.

Now, this is frustrating three-fold. Number one, of course, is that Marchand’s suspension was so small. I get not wanting to drastically influence the outcome of the playoffs by handing down major suspensions, but at the same time, how can Player Safety expect to be taken seriously if they can’t create any incentive not to be reckless - whack a player in the crotch, only sit out for two mostly meaningless games? And Marchand has been warned, fined, and suspended in the past, as recently as January.

The second part that is flustering is that Crosby was not suspended or even penalized for his spear of O’Reilly. Crosby is no stranger to somewhat dirty contact, especially behind the play. To my knowledge, he has never been warned by DoPS, and to hear nothing from them after his spear is, frankly, baffling. DoPS also weirdly addressed why they didn’t suspend Crosby in their announcement clip of their suspension of Marchand.

But, most annoyingly, this sequence has scared out of the woodwork all the Crosby-gets-preferential-treatment conspiracy folks, like the always butthurt Mike Harrington at the Buffalo News (you may remember him defending O’Reilly as the Sabres’ Masterton nominee last season for “overcoming” drunkenly smashing his pickup into a Tim Horton’s and ditching on foot). Yes, he seems to get away with some dirty player, but most players do. It’s the nature of the game as it is, whether it’s right or not. Yes, Crosby is a superstar, perhaps the most famous player in the world — and definitely the best. (McDavid is closing in, though).

Marchand is no slouch, however. Entering play Thursday night, he was tied for second in the league in goals at 39 with Auston Matthews; the season before this, he finished with 37 goals. And prior to that, he solidified his place in the collective spotlight after winning the Stanley Cup with Boston in 2011 and then later joining up with Crosby and his regular Bruins linemate in Patrice Bergeron for Team Canada’s World Cup victory this past summer, scoring the tournament-clinching tally. All while driving play to the tune of 57.65% score- and venue-adjusted CF% (thanks to corsica.hockey). The dude is one of the best left wings in the game. While he is of course not on Crosby’s level, he is a premier player and in light of this, he would, theoretically, get some of the same star treatment from the league. Perhaps you say his popularity stems from his status as a villain, but Crosby is the enemy in many opposing arenas, as well.

And, quite frankly, Marchand is probably the dirtier player. This suspension is the fifth of his career, to go along with three fines from Player Safety. He has a reputation around the league as a danger to his peers, and it would be hard to argue it isn’t deserved. Crosby, for all his antics, has only ever been “suspended once,” for missing the 2015 All-Star Game. Of course Marchand is more likely to be suspended here.

As for the slash on Methot’s hand, it had an unfortunate and disgusting result, but this kind of slash on the hands is a regular thing in the game. It should have been a two-minute penalty, maybe even four minutes given the nature of the injury. But the lack of suspension there is probably normal, for better or worse.

The NHL’s Department of Player Safety is on the receiving end of a significant amount of scorn, and usually for good reason. But their shortcomings are not as large as they seem in this situation.