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The NHL has suspended Bruins forward Shawn Thornton for 15 games for his attack on Penguins defenceman Brooks Orpik. After the whistle, Thornton skated the length of the ice, pulled Orpik to the ice from behind and punched him in the face several times. Orpik suffered a concussion and was taken off the ice on a stretcher and sent to hospital. "This cannot be described as a hockey play that went bad, nor do we consider this a spontaneous reaction to an incident that just occurred," NHL director of player safety Brendan Shanahan said. The NHL described it as an "act of retribution." After he was suspended, his people, which include the NHLPA and his lawyer/agent, issued the following statement: "I am aware of todays ruling by the NHL department of player safety. I will be consulting with the Bruins, my representation and the NHLPA about next steps, and will be in a position to address the matter publicly after speaking with those parties." Translation: Thornton and the NHLPA are assessing the merits of an appeal and whether he stands a reasonable chance of getting his suspension reduced. Bruins president Cam Neely believes that the suspension is too long. "Higher than I expected and higher than I think is warranted…Weve had our fair share of players hurt badly by concussions. I dont think anyones gotten a 15-game suspension out of those. Thornton is a guy who plays the role he plays and has never had any suspensions or issues. It comes down a little harsh for me" Neely declared. Timeline Thornton has 48 hours to appeal his suspension as per the collective bargaining agreement. That takes us to Monday. That appeal goes to the Commissioner Gary Bettman. Since the suspension is over five games, Bettman will need to conduct an in-person hearing. Assuming Bettman upholds Thorntons suspension, which is a near certainty, Thornton will have seven days to appeal the decision to an independent arbitrator. The arbitrator will also have to hold an in-person hearing. If Thornton does appeal, the NHLPA will argue that the length of the suspension is not in keeping with the leagues practice for similar incidents. Effectively, it will be argued that the punishment is disproportionately long. Could Thornton Win An Appeal? Should the case be appealed to an arbitrator, Thornton will have a difficult time getting the suspension reduced. Ultimately, the appeal is unlikely to meet with success. Why? The league should be able to demonstrate that the length of the suspension is aligned with its past practice when it comes to incidents where one player intentionally targets and assaults another player in a manner that cannot be considered contact that is incidental to the game. Heres just a sample of suspensions dating back to 1978 that the NHL could rely on to show that the Thornton suspension makes sense: Chris Simon (2007): 30 games for stomping on the leg of Jarko RuutuJesse Boulerice (2007): 25 games for a cross-check to the face of Ryan KeslerRaffi Torres (2012): 25 games for his hit on Marian HossaMarty McSorley (2000): 23 games for swinging his stick at Donald Brashears headDale Hunter (1993): 21 games for his hit on Pierre TurgeonBrad May (2000): 20 games for a slash to the head of Steve HeinzeSteve Downie (2007): 20 games for launching himself at the head of Dean McAmmondTodd Bertuzzi (2004): 20 games for his assault on Steve MooreDave Brown (1987): 15 games for his cross-check to Tomas Sandstroms faceTony Granato (1994): 15 games for slashing Pittsburghs Neil WilkinsonWilf Paiement (1978): 15 games for swinging his stick and hitting Dennis Polonich in the face There are certainly arguments that could be relied on to distinguish certain of these incidents from the Thornton incident. That being said, however, all share a common element: an intent to harm together with contact that falls squarely outside the scope of what is considered acceptable contact in the game of hockey. In these cases, the length of suspensions has ranged from 15 to 30 games. The league will also be able to rely on an extensive history of lengthy suspensions. The NHL has been suspending players for long stretches for decades. Thornton suspension, the league will argue, is by no means unique. Rather, the length fits in nicely with previous cases and is wholly supported by precedent. In fact, based upon the leagues history of suspensions and the egregious nature of the incident, the NHL may well be in a position to argue that it exercised restraint in suspending Thornton. The suspension, the league may contend, could have been longer but was reduced on account of Thornton having no priors. One more thing: the league could argue that times have changed. It is now generally accepted that players can suffer irreversible brain damage as a result of blows to the head, and as a result, the league must take active and decisive steps to safeguard the brains of its players. Part of that is imposing sanctions that are designed to strongly discourage behavior that threatens the long-term health of its players. Failing to firmly discipline players in these circumstances puts all players at risk at a most sensitive time for sports. So relying, in part, on deterrence may assist the NHLs position. Merits aside, we may still see an appeal. The option to appeal a suspension to an independent arbitrator is brand new having been introduced in the latest CBA. So far, no case has been appealed to an arbitrator. The NHLPA may want to appeal the decision to start building case law and precedents for future cases. So while this case does not present a high likelihood of success for Thornton, the NHLPA may want a decision from an arbitrator to help guide it on future cases. Indeed, there is value in precedents. Ultimately, given the NHLs past practice when it comes to assault on the ice, Thorntons suspension is on the lighter side or at the very least eminently reasonable. So I dont see an appeal unless the NHLPA wants to start building precedents. The problem with that, however, is that this isnt a great case to test the independent arbitrator waters since Thornton is very likely on the losing side of the case. Wholesale NCAA Jerseys China . The Mercedes duo of three-time Canadian Grand Prix champion Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg has won all six races to start the season, finishing one-two in the last five. Clearance NCAA Jerseys .C. -- Lucy Li made two double bogeys, a triple bogey and finished her historic round at the U. https://www.chinajerseysncaa.us/.ca. Hi Kerry, Thursday nights Bruins-Blackhawks game had a goal by Patrice Bergeron initially waved off by the referee, but video review clarified it was a good goal. Cheap NCAA Jerseys Authentic . TSN 1290s coverage begins with Hustler & Lawless at 3pm. Rick Ralph hosts the Official Jets Pre-game Show at 5pm. Cheap Football NCAA Jerseys . The Miami Heat star tops the leagues global list of top-selling jerseys for the 2012-13 season, edging Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder and James Heat teammate Dwyane Wade for the No.Rene Bourque will play for the Montreal Canadiens tonight in Game 3 of the teams second-round series against the visiting Boston Bruins. Bourque leads the Canadiens with four goals through six games of the playoffs but was forced to miss Mondays practice with the flu. You can listen to the game live on TSN Radio 690 in Montreal or on TSN.ca/Montreal. Tuesdays skate was optional with defencemen Andrei Markov and P.K. Subban, forwards Thomas Vanek, Max Pacioretty and David Desharnais as well as goaltender Carey Price among those who elected to skip the skate. The series shifts to Montreal after the Canadiens and Bruins split the first two games in Boston. Facing the prospect of a two-game hole in the conference semis, the Bruins sent everything they could at Carey Price on Saturday. One shot knuckled into the ice and skipped past Price to tie the game. Barely two minutes later, Price couldnt get all the way over to stop Reilly Smith. Smith scored the go-ahead marker during a four-goal flurry to end the third period as Boston came back to beat Montreal, 5-3, in Game 2 on Saturday after dropping Game 1 in double overtime. The Bruins rebounded from Thursdays Game 1 loss, when P.K. Subban scored on a Montreal power play 4:17 into the second overtime, and they rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the second meeting with 13 1/2 minutes to play. "Weve been a strong third period team the entire year," said Smith. "We started getting bounces. ... It ended up working out great, but its tough when youre relying on the third period to come back." After Thomas Vanek scored his second goal of the game for Montreal -- both on deflections from Subban -- Dougie Hamilton beat Price with a high wrist shot from the point at 10:56 of the third off a pass from Brad Marchand. Just over three minutes later, Patrice Bergeron picked a loose puck off the wall, and his harmless shot from the right boards looked like it had little chance of going into until it took that funky hop next to defenseman Francis Bouillon and several feet in front of Price, going in over his shoulder.dddddddddddd Smiths winner with 3:32 left came after a cross-ice pass from Torey Krug was tipped by Brendan Gallagher, slowing it down before it reached Smith in the right circle for his near-side wrist shot. "They poured it on at the end of the game," said Price. "I thought they got pretty lucky. They were playing desperate ... and they found a way to put it in the net." Milan Lucic added an empty-netter and Daniel Paille scored earlier for the top-seeded Bruins. Tuukka Rask made 25 saves for Boston, which also lost Game 1 to Detroit in the first round, then won the next four to advance to the second round for the fifth time in six years. The Bruins, Stanley Cup winners in 2011, made it to the Cup Finals for the second time in three seasons last spring before bowing out to Chicago in six games. Mike Weaver had a goal for Montreal and Price gave up four on 34 shots. He had 25 saves on 26 shots in the first two periods. "I thought we put ourselves in a position where we thought we could take the win," said Subban. "But its very tough to go into an opponents building and steal two games in the playoffs. Its not an easy thing to do. And unless you play a full 60 (minutes) youre not going to be able to do it. We didnt play a full 60 today." The Original Six rivals are meeting in the playoffs for the 34th time. The Canadiens are 24-9 in the previous 33 series, but the Bruins have won the last two in 2008 and 2011. Game 4 is set for Thursday in Montreal. The Bruins and Habs split two meetings at the Bell Centre during the 2013-14 regular season, but Boston has claimed four of the past six road encounters in this series. Canadiens Projected Game 3 lines vs. Bruins Forwards:Pacioretty - Desharnais - VanekBournival - Plekanec - GallagherBourque - Eller - GiontaMoen - Brière - Weise Defence:Markov - EmelinGorges - SubbanMurray - Weaver Goalies:PriceBudaj ' ' '