Only $1K

As expected, A.O. was not suspended by the NHL but was hit with a $1,000 fine. This is the NHL's star justice system at work. A.O. gets the same length of suspension that Mary-OH! Lemieux got for BOTH of his stick swinging incidents in his career (and his charge out of the penalty box at referee Kerry Fraser). One of which famously came against the Caps in the 1996 Playoffs.

Not only is A.O. a superstar, but he is known as a physical hockey player. Nobody in their right mind can accuse A.O. of taking a run at Briere. A.O. was simply "playing his game."

Six years ago when Richard Zednik was suspended for four games for his cross-check to the face of Colorado's Adam Foote, Zed got hit with that stiff penalty because Zednik isn't considered a physical hockey player by stretch of the imagination and you knew he was trying to get back at Foote for an elbow to the head (which Foote got a 2 minute penalty on).

Throw in the fact that Briere didn't miss a single shift and A.O.'s "first time offender" status; calls for a suspension like this clown made for a 43 game suspension (hey, he's posting where he belongs) look all the more stupid and unreasonable.

Especially when you consider that Todd Bertuzzi got less time off than Marty McSorley did. Bertuzzi ended Steve Moore's career, Marty McSorely didn't end Donald Brashear's.