I'm surprised, if only because 5 games is hardly that much further away from the ticky-tack 3 gamers that Banahan was unleashing even in Pre-season. I also don't get why it matters whether Boyle's skate was caught on the kickplate. It was a totally unnecessary hit. It wasn't violent by nature, but hitting somebody in the numbers like that when you have an eternity to make a decision on the matter? That's where I thought it was just gross and suspend-able.
I expected 10 at minimum, simply based on what Shanahan has been offering as of late, and based on the NHL's whole "suspend the result rather than intent" habit. Maybe I'm a bit biased here, but still, when a guy like Kassian gets 8 for a bad, yet likely unintentional high stick, and Lapierre gets only 5? Doesn't seem entirely fair. I mean, Edler got 3 for something I thought was sorta BS and weak. How this hit is only worth 2 more games makes no sense to me.
but granted, 3 or 4 years ago, I would have thought this was a bit of an overstep. So be that as it may, whatever. I'm just glad Boyle is ''Feeling great" after that. Here's hoping he'll be back on the ice