Yeah, but we all know that there’s a difference between a hit where a guy doesn’t leave his feet and one where he does—or where he leads with an elbow to the back of the head.

I’m sorry, but Torres didn’t deserve a suspension for a clean hit that warranted, at best, 2 mins. for charging.

hah there’s always that, but we won’t judge

Oh, I agree that the ability of a player to finish the game (or most of the rest of the game, in Seabrook’s case) shouldn’t be as much of a factor in determining punishment. However, by analogy, our justice system hands out different punishment for attempted murder and first degree murder, which is based solely upon whether the victim lives or dies. It doesn’t make any particular crime any more or less heinous, just that the result is different.

As far as players returning, then missing games, I think most of that happened before the league instituted the “quiet room” rules, where head injuries are scrutinized a bit more closely during the game in which they happen. If we look at the Crosby example, under current NHL rules, he’d have never come back during the Classic.