Ovie Suspended. Again.

Has the NHL confused two time reigning MVP Alex Ovechkin with Sean Avery? Now that Matthew Barnababy is retired, the NHL needs another whipping boy? Maybe Colin Campbell needs to start eating Activia. Regularity could improve his mood.

What other explanation could there be for the NHL docking Ovie two games for a shove of Brian Campbell during the Caps comeback win in Chicago Sunday? Campbell had just played the puck in the corner and Ovie pushed him somewhere in between his side and his back. Campbell was turning to cruise behind the Chicago net when Ovie pushed him. The shove caused Campbell to tumble into the boards, breaking a collar bone and a few ribs in the process.

A nasty injury resulting from an unnecessary push. But so many of the NHL's hits (and pushes) are unnecessary, so that seems a tough standard. To my eyes, there was no intent to injure on the play. If Ovie wanted to injure Campbell he could have crushed him, but he didn't. The injury is unfortunate, but Ovie, who was assessed a five minute major penalty and thrown out of the game, already paid more than he should have before the suspension.

That's just my opinion (obviously). The thing that makes this so interesting is the wide range of opinions that Ovie's "hit" on Campbell has inspired. Some, like me, think Ovie is being punished too severely. Others think he's out to injure other players and should've been suspended. I won't bother linking to all of the articles out there, but the Washington Post's Capitals Insider has a good rundown of some of the varying opinions this has inspired.

In the end, this probably doesn't matter much for the Capitals. They've already clinched the Southeastern Division, and they're probably going to be the number 1 seed in the east. The team this impacts is Chicago, who lost a good player to a nasty injury potentially for the rest of the season.

Ovie would be wise to listen to the sage words of Mike Knuble, who said, "You would like to see him being more careful because, number one, you don't want to see him hurt himself and, number two, so he doesn't miss games -- for our benefit."
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