Why Is The NHL Okay With The Head Shot That Injured Ottawa Senators Winger Michael Amadio?

The NHL Department of Player Safety was busy over the past couple of days figuring out what their latest suspension should be for New York Rangers forward Matt Rempe for his elbow to the head of Dallas Stars defenceman Miro Heiskanen. In the end, they decided on eight games. Because head trauma needs to be taken seriously.

Meanwhile, there appears to be no discipline coming from DOPS about the head injury to Ottawa Senators winger Michael Amadio on Saturday night in Vancouver.

During the third period, Amadio was taking the puck around the Vancouver net and six-foot-seven defenceman Vincent Desharnais tried to cut him off at the pass. Amadio had ample room to get past him cleanly until Desharnais reached out and took away his lane by swinging out his elbow, connecting with Amadio’s head.

Stunned from the blow, Amadio fell to his knees and Desharnais finished him off by driving him face-first into the boards with his hip.

Here’s a still frame account of the incident.

And here’s a video of the play where you can see that the head is obviously the main point of contact. Watch Desharnais’ right hand leave his stick to apply the chicken wing to Amadio’s chin.

An injury resulted on the play as well. Amadio, who has four points in his last five games, immediately left the game in Vancouver and didn’t return. He also didn’t play on Sunday in Edmonton due to a head injury. And there’s a good chance he’ll spend a lot of time sitting quietly in the dark this Christmas instead of enjoying time with his wife and baby.

The incident seemed to check all the boxes for a suspension, but if the NHL Department of Player Safety was going to take any action, they would have mentioned a hearing by now.

Frankly, it would be interesting to see their reaction if, for example, Connor McDavid had been hit like this.

Truthfully, a suspension doesn’t directly help the Senators at all. They’re done with the Canucks this season and play in a different conference. But if this incident isn’t worth a suspension, at a time when the sports world is hyper vigilant about head injuries, then it would be interesting to hear the NHL’s safety police explain why.