NHL Suspends Predators' Tootoo for Punch

i dunno.. i don't have too much of a problem with the penalty imposed.. not that I would have complained about less... or against more in other cases.

But.

The swing was absolutely not the reaction you want from an NHL player on the ice. And in this case that was what it was -- a purely reactive action. Sticking up for himself is one thing, but leading with the fist after barely enough time to see who or where the 3rd player in is just can't be the way tough guys play on the ice.

So where other penalties may have been imposed in other cases due to their premeditated nature, I'm ok with this one being imposed as a wake up call to someone who needs to work on how they react.

I would have probably been okay with a single game to send that sort of message. Robidas should have been prepared better. It looked like he just assumed that he would get the first punch in. Tootoo did react more aggressively than the league would like. But, if Robidas was a bit more defensive as he went it, this would have been a non-event resulting in offsetting majors.