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Nashville Predators vs Vancouver Canucks: Alexander Edler Elbows Mattias Ekholm in the Head

By Dirk Hoag
Stephen Dunn

Late in the second period of tonight's Vancouver Canucks/Nashville Predators game, Vancouver defenseman Alexander Edler caught Nashville blueliner Mattias Ekholm with an elbow to the head that may well warrant supplementary discipline from the NHL. Edler was already suspended for two games last month for charging Phoenix goaltender Mike Smith.

Note how Edler takes his left hand off his stick and extends his elbow to deliver the hit well before contact is made, and directly targets the head:


The question, naturally, is whether the NHL's office of Player Safety will review this hit and dish out any supplemental discipline to Edler. Despite this being a dangerous hit, there are probably two main factors that argue against the NHL taking action:

  1. Ekholm returned to the game and played in the third period.
  2. History tells us that the NHL tends not to give a crap when players on teams like the Predators get run.

What do you think? Was this something that the league should take action on? Should the NHL only step in when a player is knocked out of a game, or penalize dangerous actions by players that are likely to cause injury?