oints over his first 45 career games against Philadelphia,

The NHL has suspended Bruins forward Shawn Thornton for 15 games for his attack on Penguins defenceman Brooks Orpik. Cheap Yeezy Powerphase Ireland . After the whistle, Thornton skated the length of the ice, pulled Orpik to the ice from behind and punched him in the face several times. Orpik suffered a concussion and was taken off the ice on a stretcher and sent to hospital. "This cannot be described as a hockey play that went bad, nor do we consider this a spontaneous reaction to an incident that just occurred," NHL director of player safety Brendan Shanahan said. The NHL described it as an "act of retribution." After he was suspended, his people, which include the NHLPA and his lawyer/agent, issued the following statement: "I am aware of todays ruling by the NHL department of player safety. I will be consulting with the Bruins, my representation and the NHLPA about next steps, and will be in a position to address the matter publicly after speaking with those parties." Translation: Thornton and the NHLPA are assessing the merits of an appeal and whether he stands a reasonable chance of getting his suspension reduced. Bruins president Cam Neely believes that the suspension is too long. "Higher than I expected and higher than I think is warranted…Weve had our fair share of players hurt badly by concussions. I dont think anyones gotten a 15-game suspension out of those. Thornton is a guy who plays the role he plays and has never had any suspensions or issues. It comes down a little harsh for me" Neely declared. Timeline Thornton has 48 hours to appeal his suspension as per the collective bargaining agreement. That takes us to Monday. That appeal goes to the Commissioner Gary Bettman. Since the suspension is over five games, Bettman will need to conduct an in-person hearing. Assuming Bettman upholds Thorntons suspension, which is a near certainty, Thornton will have seven days to appeal the decision to an independent arbitrator. The arbitrator will also have to hold an in-person hearing. If Thornton does appeal, the NHLPA will argue that the length of the suspension is not in keeping with the leagues practice for similar incidents. Effectively, it will be argued that the punishment is disproportionately long. Could Thornton Win An Appeal? Should the case be appealed to an arbitrator, Thornton will have a difficult time getting the suspension reduced. Ultimately, the appeal is unlikely to meet with success. Why? The league should be able to demonstrate that the length of the suspension is aligned with its past practice when it comes to incidents where one player intentionally targets and assaults another player in a manner that cannot be considered contact that is incidental to the game. Heres just a sample of suspensions dating back to 1978 that the NHL could rely on to show that the Thornton suspension makes sense: Chris Simon (2007): 30 games for stomping on the leg of Jarko RuutuJesse Boulerice (2007): 25 games for a cross-check to the face of Ryan KeslerRaffi Torres (2012): 25 games for his hit on Marian HossaMarty McSorley (2000): 23 games for swinging his stick at Donald Brashears headDale Hunter (1993): 21 games for his hit on Pierre TurgeonBrad May (2000): 20 games for a slash to the head of Steve HeinzeSteve Downie (2007): 20 games for launching himself at the head of Dean McAmmondTodd Bertuzzi (2004): 20 games for his assault on Steve MooreDave Brown (1987): 15 games for his cross-check to Tomas Sandstroms faceTony Granato (1994): 15 games for slashing Pittsburghs Neil WilkinsonWilf Paiement (1978): 15 games for swinging his stick and hitting Dennis Polonich in the face There are certainly arguments that could be relied on to distinguish certain of these incidents from the Thornton incident. That being said, however, all share a common element: an intent to harm together with contact that falls squarely outside the scope of what is considered acceptable contact in the game of hockey. In these cases, the length of suspensions has ranged from 15 to 30 games. The league will also be able to rely on an extensive history of lengthy suspensions. The NHL has been suspending players for long stretches for decades. Thornton suspension, the league will argue, is by no means unique. Rather, the length fits in nicely with previous cases and is wholly supported by precedent. In fact, based upon the leagues history of suspensions and the egregious nature of the incident, the NHL may well be in a position to argue that it exercised restraint in suspending Thornton. The suspension, the league may contend, could have been longer but was reduced on account of Thornton having no priors. One more thing: the league could argue that times have changed. It is now generally accepted that players can suffer irreversible brain damage as a result of blows to the head, and as a result, the league must take active and decisive steps to safeguard the brains of its players. Part of that is imposing sanctions that are designed to strongly discourage behavior that threatens the long-term health of its players. Failing to firmly discipline players in these circumstances puts all players at risk at a most sensitive time for sports. So relying, in part, on deterrence may assist the NHLs position. Merits aside, we may still see an appeal. The option to appeal a suspension to an independent arbitrator is brand new having been introduced in the latest CBA. So far, no case has been appealed to an arbitrator. The NHLPA may want to appeal the decision to start building case law and precedents for future cases. So while this case does not present a high likelihood of success for Thornton, the NHLPA may want a decision from an arbitrator to help guide it on future cases. Indeed, there is value in precedents. Ultimately, given the NHLs past practice when it comes to assault on the ice, Thorntons suspension is on the lighter side or at the very least eminently reasonable. So I dont see an appeal unless the NHLPA wants to start building precedents. The problem with that, however, is that this isnt a great case to test the independent arbitrator waters since Thornton is very likely on the losing side of the case. Wholesale Adidas Nmd . Sundays race will be held at the Sepang circuit, adjacent to Kuala Lumpurs main airport where the ill-fated flight took off earlier this month. Authorities now say it is almost certain it crashed in the Indian Ocean, killing all 239 people aboard. Adidas Basketball Shoes Wholesale . Indeed, must be among the greatest challenges in all of sports. The pressure he applies, from set to set, game to game, point to point, shot to shot. http://www.cheapnmdsneakersireland.com/ . There is no argument that the line of Pacioretty, David Desharnais and Thomas Vanek was one of the hottest in the NHL leading into the post-season, and they did combine for three goals and seven points, but it was the depth of all four lines that helped propel Montreal.PITTSBURGH -- The Philadelphia Flyers used dominating special teams to sweep a weekend home-and-home series against the rival Pittsburgh Penguins. Wayne Simmonds had two power-play goals in the first period, Matt Read had a short-handed tally and Philadelphia killed off all four Pittsburgh power plays in a 4-3 victory on Sunday afternoon. It was the second victory in as many days for the surging Flyers against their cross-state rivals. Philadelphia had a power-play goal, a short-handed goal and was a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill in a 4-0 win against the Penguins at home on Saturday. "The power play was good again, the penalty kill was good again," Flyers coach Craig Berube said. "Lots of shots, lots of chances. We played a pretty solid game." Philadelphia improved to 5-1-1 in its past seven. Including playoffs, the Flyers are 10-2-1 all-time at Consol Energy Center (8-1-1 in the regular season). "I know the boys in this locker room love playing against them," said Philadelphia goalie Steve Mason, who allowed three goals on 48 shots during the weekend sweep. "Whether were in their head or not, we dont really care. We get amped up to play against them." Defencemen Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen and recent call-up Jayson Megna scored for the injury-riddled Penguins, who lost two straight in regulation for the first time since dropping three in a row from Nov. 6-13. During the final seconds, the Penguins Sidney Crosby hit the post with a backhand off a pass from Evgeni Malkin while skating down the right wing. "(The post) is all I gave him, though," Mason deadpanned. "Its part of the equipment." Pittsburgh still holds a commanding lead in the Metropolitan Division, but remained three points behind the Boston Bruins in the race for the Eastern Conferences top seed. The Penguins fell to 18-2 in March home games over the past three seasons. They were 10-0 at home last March. "The last two seasons, March has been too easy for us," Niskanen said. "We go through with just a breeze, and I think we go into the playoffs overconfident. Right now, were in a little bit of a bump in the road and were going to have to fight for it." Simmonds assisted on Brayden Schenns goal 2:06 into the game and then scored twice in a 6:54 span to give the Flyers a three-goal lead 14 minutes in. Reads goal was his third goal of the weekend for Philadelphia, which entered Sunday holding down the eighth and final spot in the conference standings. Making starts on consecutive days for only the second time this season, Marc-Andre Fleury made a lunging glove save on the first shot he faced Sunday, fromm Simmonds. Buy Adidas Basketball Shoes Online. But he couldnt control the puck in his glove and it fluttered to Schenn in the slot, who slid it in past a diving Penguins defenceman Robert Bortuzzo for his 17th of the season. Claude Giroux assisted on Simmonds 20th and 21st goals, the first of which was with 13:13 left in the first when he deflected a Kimmo Timonen shot from the point. Simmonds made it 3-0 when he corralled a rebound while uncovered and beat Fleury to end his afternoon after just 13:41. "The way we started the game," Timonen said, "it was perfect." Under siege by a Philadelphia attack that Pittsburgh had issues dealing with, Fleury allowed seven goals on 55 shots in less than four periods covering 24 hours against the Flyers. Rookie Jeff Zatkoff replaced him. Without their top two goal-scoring wingers -- Chris Kunitz (lower body) and James Neal (concussion) -- for the second consecutive game, the Penguins were held to fewer than four goals for the eighth consecutive game. That hadnt happened to them since early in the 2011-12 season. A pair of defencemen pulled Pittsburgh within a goal with slap shots from the point that found their way through traffic and past Mason. Orpik was credited with his second of the season with 2:27 left in the first, and Niskanen tallied his 10th at 5:50 of the second. But Read had a short-handed goal for the second straight day, finishing a 2-on-1 break himself with a wrist shot for his 19th of the season. Megna tapped in a nice pass from Brian Gibbons to cut the Penguins deficit to 4-3 with 3:41 left in the second, but Pittsburgh failed to score on 11 third-period shots. Pittsburgh has the NHLs No. 1 power play and No. 2 penalty kill but lost the special teams battle 5-0 over the weekend against the Flyers. "We play Pittsburgh a ton of games a year, and our power play has been successful against them since Ive been there," Simmonds said. "I think we kind of know where theyre going to come from. "I dont want to say we try to pick them apart, but we know where theyre going to come from and we try to change our point of attack. And it seems to be working." Notes: The Penguins announced after the game that D Kris Letang was cleared to practice and will practice with the team Monday. Letang has not played since suffering a stroke Jan. 29. ... Penguins F Beau Bennett was cleared for full practice after missing the past 43 games with a wrist/hand injury. ... Penguins D Simon Despres was a healthy scratch. ... Giroux has five assists in the past three games. ... Crosby, who had 74 points over his first 45 career games against Philadelphia, was scoreless in the home-and-home series. ' ' '