Gillies suspended 10 games - 03-04-11

Islanders forward Trevor Gillies suspended 10 games by the NHL for hitting Wild forward Cal Clutterbuck in the head Wednesday.

In a statement, NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Campbell said: "By targeting his opponent's head, three shifts into his first game back from a suspension for a very similar action, Mr. Gillies has forfeited his privilege of playing in the league for 10 games. While it is fortunate there was no injury on the play, there can be no justification for a player delivering a dangerous check to an opponent in this manner."

Gillies will forfeit $60,975.60 of his $500,000 salary during the suspension.

The hit in question:

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Gillies' penalty occurred in his first game following a nine-game suspension he served for hitting Penguins forward Eric Tangradi in the head Feb. 11. Gillies proceeded to punch Tangradi in the head and taunted him from the runway. Tangradi suffered a concussion on the play and has not played since then:

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EN Says:

Gillies didn't learn his lesson after nine games. The idea that one more game is going to going to teach this slug a lesson is embarrassing.

On Oct. 12, 2007, former Flyers forward Jesse Boulerice was suspended 25 games for a cross check to the head of Canucks forward Ryan Kesler:

Until that point, Boulerice only had once incident of supplemental discipline in his career, a $1,000 fine in 2002. In that instance, Boulerice was a repeat offender when he was punished for the hit on Kesler but there was a five-year gap between Boulerice's transgressions.

Gillies, fresh off an incident where he targeted an opponent's head (Tangradi), does it immediately once again. And all he gets is 10 games?

Why is there such a discrepancy in punishment? Both Boulerice and Gillies each targeted the head. Period. That's the only criteria that should come into play. Don't worry if the offending party is a repeat offender or if the victim is injured.

Forget about Mario Lemieux's much criticized statement last month. His infamous "Garage League" quote in 1992 is what we think of first when it comes to Colin Campbell's NHL.