I wanted to get into this last night but I was too intoxicated to collect my thoughts lol. Shanahan should be embarrassed for how he's handled this postseason discipline. To me, the Shea Weber non-suspension backed him into the wall and caused this controversy. No punishment after that would go unscrutinized in comparison to the slap on the wrist of Weber. As pointed out, his actions were far beyond the whistle and completely unrelated to any hockey play. I don't generally like to play hypotheticals as that leads down a slippery slope, but I would really like to see what the response would've been had it been Crosby and his helmet cracked in 3 places. If the league really is trying to eliminate the extra circulars in between the whistles, they need to start handing out match penalties. That's the only way that players are going to listen.

As far as Torres goes, I agree with Brian that this was more of a hockey move than a deliberate attempt to headshot Hossa. Even with what I said a few sentences ago, I do think the 25 games is a bit hefty especially given that it was a hockey move that happened during play and not post whistle. That decision following the Weber one cost Shanahan a lot of credibility in terms of fair discipline across all franchises.

I think the bigger thing here though is that it's just a completely different game in the "new" NHL (that and this recent awareness of the impact of concussions, given players like Savard, Crosby, and other players in other sports such as in the NFL, who is getting sued for retired player's health issues). As if it wasn't already last on everyone's list, that stoppage badly damaged the public's general perception of hockey. To further grow the game and appeal to the non-fan, I do agree with the league's assessment that scoring and offense should take priority over the scrums and fighting. The proof is in Crosby himself, as much as I loathe to admit that. Having several talented young draft picks (Fleury, Malkin) and especially the arguably best up-and-coming star since Gretzky took Pittsburgh from the brink of bankruptcy to a premiere franchise and landed them a brand new building to boot. He quickly propelled the league into somewhat-relevancy following one of the most alienating blunders in pro sports history. The league needs those stars and needs that scoring to expand it.

I don't know whether it's a good idea to establish several more Canadian franchises in lieu of Sun Belt teams. While the sport obviously doesn't hold the same popularity in those areas, they are much more densely (and increasingly more) populated than Canada where 2/3 of the population resides in Ontario, specifically the Toronto-metro area. You can only throw so many teams in Hamiltons and Peteboroughs and places like that before you start over-saturating and overlapping markets. Though, I suppose the population issue didn't stop a relatively small Winnipeg from completely selling out their season tickets even for a team that is full of fail thanks to insane fan dedication in that country to the sport. I've always been a firm believer in good marketing. You can have a terrible product, but if you wrap it in a nice box and spin it the right way, it will sell, period. I think NHL needs to realize this (though I obviously don't think the product is crap) and ramp up their national appeal through aggressive marketing combined with an offensive-minded style of play in favor of the buffoonery. I will always appreciate the fights and Gordie Howe Hat Tricks but in the long run, what's good for the game is good for me.

And don't count on EC Wings. If the league was smart, they'd adopt a structure similar to MLB and NFL where divisions are and conferences are NOT geographically based instead of that ridiculous 4 conference thing they proposed, which was rightfully rejected.

Sorry for tl;dr.