By Allan Muir

Pretty much everyone who saw Lars Eller lying face down in a pool of his own blood on Thursday night was horrified by the results of Eric Gryba’s devastating open ice hit. But there weren’t many, outside of Montreal loyalists who looked at that collision and thought it was the sort of play that needed to be eliminated from the NHL.

Apparently that number swelled by at least one today as the Ottawa defender was handed a two-game suspension by Brendan Shanahan for what he called an “illegal check to the head of Eller.”

No doubt this was a tough call for the NHL’s chief disciplinarian. Arguably the toughest he’d faced all season. Despite the injury suffered by Eller, there was no black or white in this incident. Watch the replay a dozen times and you won’t see incontrovertible proof of Eller’s head being the primary point of contact – -or of an innocent hit gone awry — unless that’s exactly what you’re looking to see.

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By Allan Muir

Two days into the NHL playoffs and the wheels of justice already are turnin’.

Multiple sources are reporting that Boston Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference faces a hearing with the Department of Player Safety this afternoon at 2 p.m. EDT to discuss an elbow he allegedly delivered to the head of Toronto’s Mikhail Grabovski on Wednesday night.

Well, maybe not so allegedly. See for yourself:

Ference wasn’t penalized on the play. Grabovski, however, was forced to spend some time in the quiet room before being allowed to return to the contest.

Pretty tough for Ference to defend himself here, so I have to believe that Shanahan will sit him for a game, possibly two, as a result. That likely would lead to Dougie Hamilton drawing in for the Bruins in Game 2 tomorrow night.

No word yet on whether New York Islanders’ center Marty Reasoner will earn a sit down with Shanny for his cheapshot on Pittsburgh’s Jussi Jokinen in their series opener last night, although Arthur Staple of Newsday says he doesn’t see one forthcoming. Can’t argue with his point — the contact wasn’t knee-on-knee — but it was clearly reckless and caused an injury (though we don’t yet know the extent).

Given how quickly the league reacted to the Ference incident, it could be safe to assume that Reasoner is in the clear if we don’t hear something in the next hour or so.

By Allan Muir

There’s nothing wrong with a player protecting himself. Brendan Shanahan pretty much called it an inalienable right in the video explaining defensive contact to the head that the league released just a couple of weeks back.

But, as with most things, there’s a right way to go about it and a wrong way. And dissuading an opponent by leading with your elbow, Gordie Howe-style? Yeah, that’s going to get you hauled in front of Sheriff Shanny, a man who is unlikely to accept a plea of “old-time hockey.”

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By Allan Muir

The way Brendan Shanahan saw it, Anton Volchenkov had a choice. With Brad Marchand squarely in his sights, he could have blasted the Boston winger with a legal check, or he could have done something stupid.

Volchenkov went with Plan B. And so the New Jersey defender will sit out four critical stretch games.

Shanahan’s video explanation captured what everyone who watched the play saw. This was a cheap shot that could, and should, have been avoided.

“Rather than make a full body check, Volchenkov extends his elbow, making significant contact to the side of Marchand’s head,” Shanahan said. “Although Marchand…is stopping and turning his head away from Volchenkov to avoid the full force of the impending check, that doesn’t contribute or explain the reckless elbow contact to the head on what could’ve been a legal collision. He sees Marchand clearly, and if anything, Marchand’s actions just prior to contact forced Volchenkov to extend his elbow even further.”

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By Allan Muir

Chances are that Devils defenseman Anton Volchenkov has earned a few days off at a time when his floundering team, losers of eight straight, can least afford his absence.

Anton Volchenkov earned a five-minute major and a game misconduct for delivering a vicious elbow to the head of Bruins forward midway through a 5-4 Boston win on Wednesday night.

Of course, the Bruins can’t afford to lose their leading goal scorer, either. And that should be clearly addressed by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety on Thursday.

It’s tough to imagine DOPS watching this video and not burying Volchenkov for this flagrant cheap shot. He didn’t just lead with his elbow. He had it up early. Really early. Hard to argue accidental contact here. Add in that Marchand was injured on the play and didn’t return to action, and Volchenkov looks cooked.

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By Allan Muir

Apparently the “He hit me first!” defense does work any better with Sheriff Shanny than it does on the average parent.

San Jose defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic trotted out the old chestnut, but was still fined the maximum allowable under the CBA ($8,378.38) for slashing Minnesota’s Dany Heatley after the final buzzer of Wednesday night’s 4-2 Sharks win.

Vlasic was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct on the play that saw Heatley swing his stick (and miss) first, prompting Vlasic to showcase his superior aim. They always get the retaliator, don’t they?

Heatley suffered an injury, but he told the Department of Player Safety that it occurred in the ensuing scrum and not as a result of Vlasic’s slash. That probably helped Vlasic’s case.

The crazy amount of the fine actually has a basis. As a first-time offender, Vlasic could be fined the lesser of ten grand or half his daily salary.

By Allan Muir

If the NHL’s Department of Player Safety updates their instructional videos over the summer, Nate Thompson might want to request a copy for posterity. There’s a better than zero chance the Tampa Bay forward will have a starring role.

Thompson was dinged Saturday afternoon for two games after delivering a textbook head shot on New Jersey’s Matt D’Agostini on Friday night.

Hard to believe he was able to mount much of a defense. The case was a clear violation of Rule 48. As Sheriff Shanny noted, Thompson “recklessly target[ed] D’Agostini’s head by extending up and making it the principle point of contact.”

The evidence was pretty damning — I mean, Thompson was eyeing his target all the way and clearly had the chance to use the body instead of throwing a brutally obvious elbow — but D’Agostini wasn’t hurt on the play. And since that element clearly weighs heavily in all DPS deliberations, there wasn’t going to be a book thrown today.

Not sure a message has been sent here, but it was far from the dirtiest hit of the year. Since five of the previous 12 suspensions this season have gone for a pair of games, this call is probably just about right.

By Allan Muir

Joffrey Lupul has played brilliantly in his first two games back with the Maple Leafs since missing most of the season with a broken arm.

We’ll have to wait a while to see if that hot streak continues into game three.

Lupul was handed a two-game suspension today by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety for a wildly blatant head shot on Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman in last night’s 4-2 Toronto win.

“As the video shows, after Hedman passes the puck, Lupul approaches from the side and recklessly targets Hedman’s head by elevating and making it the principal point of contact,” Rob Blake said in the DPS’ explanatory video.

By “elevating,” Blake means Lupul left the ice prior to making contact, which he pretty much had to do to avoid slamming into the 6-foot-6 Hedman’s elbow. But once a player “leaves his feet,” he’s asking for trouble from DPS.

Fortunately, Hedman wasn’t hurt on the play and that, combined with Lupul’s absence from the league’s Big Book O’ Mug Shots, added up to the two-gamer and the forfeiture of more than $45,000 in salary.

Was it a fair call? As the season goes on, it’s getting tougher and tougher to compare one suspension to another, but taken on it’s own merits, this one passes the smell test.

By Allan Muir

Philly agitator Zac Rinaldo might be the only guy held in lower regard around New Jersey than those Southern congressmen who voted against funding Hurricane Sandy relief, so I’m guessing no one in the Prudential Center was too sorry to see him get blown up by Ryan Carter tonight.

Shoot, there was probably a hat being passed around the arena to raise funds for a statue in honor of the heroic Devil.

The league’s Department of Player Safety will probably take a dimmer view of the incident in which Carter appeared to intentionally instigate knee-on-knee contact with Rinaldo midway through the first period of New Jersey’s 5-2 win over the Flyers.

Sometimes these collisions are purely accidental, the result of two players oblivious to one another who end up occupying the same ice at the same time.

This one…not so much. Looking at this replay, it’s going to be tough for Carter to convince anyone there was no ill intent on this play.

Look for him to get a meeting with DPS tomorrow, with a suspension of at least a couple games for his effort.

But hey, at least he’ll have the statue, right?

By Allan Muir

Corey Perry just earned the season’s first “message” suspension.

The Anaheim winger learned he’ll sit out four games and forfeit more than $115,000 in salary for his late hit on Minnesota’s Jason Zucker last night.

Brendan Shanahan conducted the hearing by phone, but it was Rob Blake, his Department of Player Safety cohort, who checked off all the obvious points in the video explanation: it was a late hit; Perry “recklessly made significant contact to the head of a player ineligible to be hit,” he had time to avoid or minimize it; Zucker was injured on the play; Perry had previously been suspended.

But the most interesting part of Blake’s presentation was this line: “In spite of the fact that all players need to be aware of their surroundings, it is perfectly reasonable that Zucker should no longer expect to be hit this long after possession.”

The whole “blame the victim” thing has long been a part of hockey culture. Honestly, I’m as guilty of it as anybody, because I was always taught that a player has a responsibility to keep his head up and stay alert, especially just after making a pass or taking a shot. If you’re dumb enough to stop to admire it, you’ll get what you deserve.

When I caught the replay, that was my initial reaction. If Zucker doesn’t take such a long look at his pass, he would have seen Perry in time and dodged the brunt of the hit.

But that’s wrong-headed thinking because all it does is validate opportunistic predation. Once a player has given up possession, he should have a reasonable expectation that he won’t be destroyed by a late hit.

I guarantee there will be plenty of disagreement with that since it essentially takes the onus off the victim to protect himself. But this doesn’t mean that players can’t finish their checks. It sets a standard that should eliminate the long runs like the one Perry made.

There should be punishment and prevention elements to any supplemental discipline decision. Shanny made an example out of a superstar-caliber player. Odds are the message won’t be overlooked.