Rangers defenseman gets overly harsh suspension for spitting incident
The NHL announced on Tuesday afternoon that New York Rangers defenseman K'Andre Miller has been suspended for three games for spitting on Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty during their game this weekend.
The league technically referred to the incident as "unsportsmanlike conduct," but it was for this spit (click here).
Miller was given a match penalty during the game, which comes with a five-minute major penalty and an automatic suspension pending league review. The league reviewed it and decided on the three-game ban.
Miller apologized to Doughty after the game and said the whole thing was accidental.
Three games tends to be the punishment the league seems to favor for similar incidents, having previously suspended former Washington Capitals player Garnet Hathaway the same number of games for a spitting incident of his own.
The problem with choosing three games for that punishment is that it seems overly harsh when compared to the other suspensions the league hands out for illegal hits.
It is understandable why the league does not want players spitting on each other, and it does warrant a suspension. Maybe even three games is a suitable punishment for that. If so, it makes all of the other suspensions from the league seem overly weak.
Three games is the longest suspension the league has dished out for any illegal play during the entirety of the 2022-23 season, while Miller's is only the fourth suspension to reach that number of games.
Illegal hits to the head, cross-checks, boarding infractions, kneeing and elbowing, all players that can -- and have -- caused injury to players have all been handled with one-or two-game suspensions for much of the season. If they have even been suspensions at all. They usually just result in inconsequential fines that do not really make any impact on players.
The league's priorities in terms of discipline just seem way out of line here.
Miller arguably would have received a shorter suspension had he dangerously hit Doughty from behind into the boards or elbowed him in the face. That does not seem right.
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