Brad Marchand Suspended For Sami Salo Hit: NHL Disagrees With Self-Defense Claim

Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins has been suspended five games for his clipping infraction against Sami Salo of the Vancouver Canucks, the NHL's Department of Player Safety announced Monday evening. Marchand was handed a five minute major and a game misconduct for the offense in Saturday's emotional game against the Vancouver Canucks, a rematch of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final.

Brendan Shanahan explained the suspension in one of his trusty videos. As it shows...

Shanahan makes several points in the video, but most notably, he rejects the claims of both Marchand and Boston Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli, who said earlier Monday that the Bruin was simply defending himself by going low and at the knees of Salo.

"While we understand," Shanahan said, "that in certain circumstances a player may duck or bail instinctively in order to protect himself from an imminent, dangerous check, we do not view this play as defensive or instinctive. Rather, we feel this was a predatory low hit delivered intentionally by Marchand in order to flip his opponent over him."

Shanahan also noted that seconds earlier on the same shift, Marchand delivered a clean check on Salo in virtually the exact same situation along the boards. Following that initial check and just prior to the offending clipping penalty, Marchand was clearly irritated with Salo and threw several punches to the back of his head.

For more on the suspension from the Boston perspective, check in with Bruins blog Stanley Cup of Chowder. For more from the Vancouver perspective, check in with Canucks blog Nucks Misconduct.