from Barry Rozner of the Chicago Daily-Herald,

What Duncan Keith did was wrong.

Everyone knows that. No one can dispute that. No one would try.

Not even Keith. Certainly not Keith.

But he is not Charles Manson. He's not even Dave Manson, though you would have to watch hockey to have a reasonable picture of the kind of player he is.

Keith is about as honest a defenseman as there is the NHL. He's probably too honest for his own good, and larger forwards frequently take advantage of that.

The fact, however, is that Keith now has three serious violations on his record and he's been punished for all three.

The latest, as you know, was the slash to Charlie Coyle's face in Minnesota last week. It was very bad, frighteningly dangerous and the six games seems a fair number.

What was unfair was what occurred just before the Keith slash.

Coyle slashed Keith in the face and a moment later Coyle yanked Keith's skates out from under him, the equivalent of a slew foot. It was a dangerous play in which Keith's head hit the ice.

Either play by Coyle could have ended Keith's season. And that's why Keith reacted.

continued

Below, Corey Hirsch and P.J. Stock of Sportsnet discuss the suspension and high stick, video also includes the incident.