How many games do you think that Rangers forward
Brandon Prust be suspended for this dirty elbow on
New Jersey Devils defenseman
Anton Volchenkov? There was no penalty called on the play but from vantage point on the coach, this appears to be a chicken wing elbow by Prust on Volchenkov and a violation of rule 48 - as I interpret this from reading the rule book - to quote
Brendan Shanahan, "this is an illegal hit to the head."
48.1 Illegal Check to the Head – A hit resulting in contact with an opponent's head where the head is targeted and the principal point of contact is not permitted. However, in determining whether such a hit should have been permitted, the circumstances of the hit, including whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position immediately prior to or simultaneously with the hit or the head contact on an otherwise legal body check was avoidable, can be considered.
In closing, I expect that Brandon Prust will receive at least a one game suspension for his hit to the head on Volchenkov. I think the NHL has to suspend Prust because the NHL has set a precedence finally, after getting it wrong during the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
While it's true
Prust doesn't have a history of being a dirty player or does it appear that he has ever been suspended or fined by the
NHL, neither had
Claude Giroux at the time of his suspension in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
