UPDATE 7:31 p.m.: Shelley has been suspended ten games. He’ll sit for the five remaining preseason games and the first five games of the regular season. Talk about sending a message.
Jody Shelley was likely expecting a suspension today. But I doubt he expected to sit for as long as he’s apparently going to be sitting. According to Nick Kypreos of Rogers’ Sportsnet, the NHL’s new chief of discipline, Brendan Shanahan, is going to hand down a harsh five-plus game statement for Shelley’s hit on Darryl Boyce last night.
His report says that Shelley turned down his right to an in-person hearing with Shanahan and the league. Typically, when an in-person hearing is requested, it means a suspension of at least five games.
This is Shanahan’s first case as discipline czar, and a five-game ban (or more) would indeed be a message. But frankly, Shelley deserves it. He’s probably one of the nicest people in the Flyers locker room, but he’s shown time and time again that he’s not afraid to hurt people on the ice. (And that’s just his one year in Philly so far.)
He deserves to have the book thrown at him, even if that means he’s out for a considerable amount of time, giving somebody like Tom Sestito the chance to beat him out for his job at the end of training camp and the beginning of the regular season.
