NHL right in suspending Pronger

Maybe it really IS the New NHL.

In light of Ducks D Chris Pronger's cheap shot elbow to Senators LW Dean McAmmond (below, knocked silly on the ice) on Saturday night, Colin Campbell, the NHL's Senior Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations, sat Chris Pronger (above) for Monday's game four of the Stanley Cup Finals.

This never would have happened 10 years ago, and definitely not in the 1980s. I can still remember Philadelphia Flyer G Ron Hextall taking a baseball-bat swing at Oiler C Kent Nilsson in the 1987 finals; he was subsequently suspended for multiple games to start the next season. Anyway, I digress - there are numerous examples throughout the 1980s and even the early-to-mid 1990s where players would commit blatant penalties with intent to injure, knowing that they wouldn't get suspended for playoff games by a spineless league.

So, arguably the best blue liner in the game, and definitely in this series, will have to sit down tomorrow night. That's a big minus for the Ducks. Even if McAmmond can't go for the Sens, and it's looking like he won't with a nasty concussion, Ottawa still wins this trade-off. I'm sure McAmmond would have rather weakened the Ducks another way, but Ottawa has got to be favored tomorrow night.

Not only was Pronger's hit a cheap one, but his explanation was equally as cheap, when asked if he could change the way he plays the game:

"I don't think I can, for me to be the type of player I can be," Pronger said. "Obviously, it's a fine line and getting finer every year, and we have to make subtle adjustments. But I don't think I can make wholesale changes and still be the type of player I can be."

What a load. There are plenty of players his size in the game who don't have to play with their elbows and sticks.

As ESPN's Scott Burnside so succinctly points out in a column early today, there are a number of players Pronger's size or larger who don't have to resort to the on-ice tactics Pronger is becoming known for:

Look around the league. Zdeno Chara, all 6-foot-9 of him, was a recent Norris Trophy nominee, but he doesn't resort to the kinds of behavior that has marked Pronger's play. Neither did Larry Robinson, perhaps the greatest big-man defensemen of all time.

Stick that, Pronger.

What's worse about his behavior was his noted lack of remorse, at least publicly:

"I don't think there's any apologies that need to be made. I think they understand how I feel and the situation we're in. I don't think that's going to do anybody any good in our locker room. We need to look forward and look toward building toward Game 4 and getting better."

McAmmond, for his part, feels the hit was less than legit:

"I think it should have been a suspension because it was a blow to the head," McAmmond said in a statement. "It wasn't incidental. It's not like that couldn't have been avoided."

Monday's game should be a good one.

Go Sens.