Due to the fact that my blog is dedicated to hockey, I chose to find an article explaining the recent suspension of New York Islanders forward Trevor Gillies. And I found just the one on NHL.com.

He just returned from another suspension for a similar offense, so I knew there would be plenty of talk about it.

Gillies is a repeat offender of checking from behind. Which is not only extremely dangerous, but TOTALLY against the rules. During their game against the Minnesota Wild on March 1st, Cal Clutterbuck was the victim of a blow to the head, from Gillies' check from behind.

Although Clutterbuck was uninjured, the seriousness of the offense is still great.

Gillies has only one goal this season, versus 124 penalty minutes. Which if they were minor infractions only receiving 2 minutes, that's 62 penalties in the 33 games he's played this season.

According to the article, Gillies is suspended from the Islanders next 10 games and will lose close to $61,000 is salary. However I don't feel that the NHL board is going down hard enough on him.

He is a repeat offender who just got off of a 9 game suspension after elbowing a player against the Penguins, because of that incident, he cost his team a $100,000 fine for not being able to control their players .

Only 10 games means that he will be out less than a month, which is not long at all. And for someone in the NHL, $61,000 is nothing to worry about.

I believe that if he has such disregard for the rules and for the safety of others, he shouldn't have the privilege of playing. Because hockey isn't just about who is bigger and can hit harder, but it's also about skill and grace on the ice.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=555042