The NHL’s Punishment System is Too Soft: Will the Jackets Retaliate?

We all held our collective breath on Thursday night, when star Blue Jacket defenseman Zach Werenski was clipped with a knee that resulted in him leaving the team’s first game of the season. It was a dirty hit, no other way to put it; and by not punishing the play more severely, the NHL’s punishment system fails again. Are the Jackets forced to retaliate?

We can all let out a sigh of relief this morning, with the news that Werenski will only be out 1-2 weeks. It’s really the best case scenario that we all could have hoped for, after seeing him leave the ice unable to put any weight on his right leg.

The play happened mid-way through the second period, as Werenski tried to play a rimmed puck behind the net. He never touches the puck, which bounces over his stick as he tries to settle it. He sees contact coming, and does his best to avoid taking a hit – only to have Flyers goon Garnet Hathaway stick his knee out and catch him square in the quad. See for yourself:

After digesting for the night and part of the day, I’m not going to say there’s obvious intent to injure here. But, the onus is on the person throwing the body check to do so in a safe manner. Elliotte Friedman talked about this in today’s episode of the 32 Thoughts Podcast (5:32 mark). In this example, by sticking his knee forward to try to clip Werenski as he skates free of harm, he does not throw a clean check. This is a kneeing penalty, per the rulebook.

Now, when you take into account the fact that Werenski never touched the puck, and that he was injured on the play; in what world do we not want to call a major penalty here? While there may not be an intent to cause injury here, there is intent to clip his lower body, and he does in fact cause injury on this play. The penalty was called a major originally, but then reviewed and reduced to a minor. Still, the league’s department of player safety decided that this hit merited a league maximum $5000 fine this morning. Gee, thanks. It’s a slap on the wrist for a guy who has scored *checks notes* uh, 58 goals in 458 career NHL games – while adding 492 minutes in penalties.

Even though Werenski won’t be out long-term, the result is devastating for the Blue Jackets. Last November, in a game against these same Flyers, Zach’s season was finished by a missed check that caused him a severe shoulder injury. This was his first regular season game since that play, nearly 11 months ago. He escapes the same fate from this hit, fortunately, thank goodness … but still, the Jackets will now have to play the next several games without their #1 defenseman.

By choosing not to offer any further supplemental discipline to Hathaway as a result of this hit, the league essentially hands responsibility to the players in this situation. These teams don’t face off again until November 19th, but if you think they will have forgotten about it by then, you’re mistaken. Tough guy Erik Gudbranson was very clear with his thoughts on the hit last night. We can only imagine that enforcer Mathieu Olivier will be present for the next game against the Flyers. I’m sure we’ll see a staged fight take place with Hathaway and one of the two. Maybe that will be the end of it.

But if not, what then? Whose fault will it be if the tensions escalate and a powder keg explodes? Will there be more $5000 fines handed out if someone is injured again? Will anyone learn a lesson? After all, this kind of hit is exactly why the Jackets felt the need to acquire Gudbranson and Olivier in the first place. The league has to decide whether or not this is the kind of hockey they want to be played. By doling out fines that amount to a fraction of someone’s game check, maybe they have already made that decision.