Big time suspension, so I guess they banished
Rob Blake back to the mail room of the league offices and let Shanahan come out and speak for himself.
5 games is just too much for this play in my opinion, even with Sutton having a disciplinary record. The first time I saw it, I immediately noticed the size differential involved and Landeskog's positioning, and thought it would be impossible for Sutton to take the body at all without making contact with Landeskog's head. However, the more I watched it, and while his head was down, I don't think Landeskog was as bent over as I initially thought, and I also think Sutton could have taken a slightly different path and still thrown a hit that would have made less direct contact with the head.
So given the league crackdown on headshots (which I frequently disagree with on a play-to-play basis), I understand the league's decision to discipline Sutton. But I would have thought 2 games, even with his record. This really was not that malicious appearing of a hit in my mind, and Shanahan seemed to have completely ignored the difficult reality of the difference in player sizes contributing to the area of impact.
They came down too hard on Sutton on here, and they let Carcillo off easy for his hit the same night (and I rarely if ever call for longer suspensions).