No Suspensions Coming for Edler, Sturm

Edler Takes a hit from Josh Green in Saturday Night’s Pre-Season Game Against the Oilers
Photo Credit: Ric Ernst PNG

According to TSN’s Bob Mckenzie – the most reliable name in hockey news – Marco Sturm and Alex Edler will not suffer the wrath of Shanaban for their violations of Rule 48 in Saturday night’s game against Edmonton. Again according to McKenzie, there is insufficient "evidence of "targeting" on either hit," and as a result both Edler and Sturm will be in the Canucks opening night line-up on Thursday.

Here’s Marco Sturm’s hit on Oilers centerman Lennart Petrell:

Apparently the league’s office of player safety has ruled this hit a "full body hit with incidental head contact". I don’t get this one, looks to me like Sturm comes from the blind-side and makes principal contact with his shoulder on Petrell’s head. If it wasn’t intentional (I suspect it was not) it was certainly reckless… I suppose what I’m miffed by, is what exactly is the difference between Sturm’s hit on Petrell, and MacArthur’s on Abdelkadder that did warrant a suspension?

Onto Edler’s hit on Taylor Hall:

 

This hit on Edler will go unpunished by the office of player safety because Hall "lowered his head just prior/simultaneous" to Alex Edler’s defensive check to initiate contact. This hit was always a bit of a grey-area, Edler was anticipating contact from Hall on this play and didn’t see that Hall had lowered himself to try and make a poke at the puck. Edler’s elbow was out and made contact with Hall’s head – but the contact with Hall’s head, though scary – was pretty clearly accidental.

Clearly, confusion reigns in the early days of the Shanahan era – and hopefully Shanahan clarifies why exactly Marco Sturm’s hit was deemed not to warrant any disciplinary action… What do you think, did Sturm and Edler deserve any supplementary discipline on either of these hits, or was a minor penalty sufficient?