Sharp: NHL made right call in suspending Niklas Kronwall

TAMPA – The NHL got it right.

Hard to believe, isn't it?

Niklas Kronwall will not play in Game 7 against Tampa Bay tonight after the league suspended the defenseman for his crushing head shot to the Lightning's Nikita Kucherov in Game 6. The hit wasn't cheap. It wasn't deliberately dirty. But it was a case in which reputation negatively affected the result.

Remember that the next time someone screams, "You got Kron-walled!"

The suspension dramatically alters the dynamic of this first-round series' decisive game. The Wings must now replace their No. 1 defenseman while the Lightning have dressed an extra seventh defenseman in the last five games in an effort to keep their blue line fresher on the chance that this confounding series went the distance.

The decision definitely surprised the Wings. General manager Ken Holland's official comment was that he disagreed with the league's verdict.

But the NHL exhibited some rare backbone with the suspension. The easiest move would've been fining Kronwall, especially considering that it would cost one of the league's marquee brands a significant piece in a road seventh game.

But if the league is truly serious about attesting its devotion to reducing the number of head shots — whether intentional or

inadvertent — then the message was more important than the moment.

"I didn't think it was anything out of the ordinary," Mike Babcock said Tuesday afternoon prior to Kronwall's telephone hearing with the league around 4 p.m.

Henrik Zetterberg said that he'd witnessed far worse physical punishment in the playoffs.

He should know. He was the recipient of a far worse hit three years ago in the closing seconds of Game 1 of a first round series against Nashville when Predators' behemoth Shea Weber drove Zetterberg's head into the boards, breaking Zetterberg's helmet. Weber was fined only $2,500 for his actions — the maximum allowed under the parameters of the current collective bargaining agreement.

"I've seen it many times in slow motion," Zetterberg said. "When the contact is made, his feet are on the ground. His follow-through hits his head, but he had his arms down, his elbows down."

Justin Abdelkader thought it was an acceptable hit.

"But it's never a good position anytime you get a call from the league," he said.

The decision makes it harder for the Wings in Game 7. It doesn't make advancing impossible.

Kronwall's suspension only further contributed to the strangeness of a series in which the road team's won the last three games and four of the first six games. Neither team captain, Zetterberg or the Lightning's Steven Stamkos, has scored a goal in the first six games.

"It's always a challenge for you when you get to a seventh game," Zetterberg said. "It's been a tough series between two teams that are pretty evenly matched. You can't worry about what's happened in the past. All that matters is what you're prepared to do with one game left with everything riding on that game."

Perhaps the loss of Kronwall sharpens the team's focus. It provides Babcock with a tremendous platform in further establishing his value as hockey's best head coach with free agency quickly approaching and the possibility of a $5 million a year contract next season. (Wherever that may come.)

There's ample room for debate for the NHL's motivation in shelving Kronwall for Game 7, especially considering the Wings are counting on physical play to disrupt the Lightning's offensive flow. But Kronwall has left a litany of bruises in his wake during his 11 seasons with the Wings, and this was the first time the league called him onto the disciplinary carpet.

When the team checked into their downtown Tampa hotel Tuesday afternoon, Kronwall definitely looked a little more mentally preoccupied than his teammates. Following the Wings' 5-2 Game 6 loss, he insisted that the Kucherov check was well within the rules as well as the playoff spirit of everyone pushing themselves a little further for a greater purpose.

But the suspension didn't unfairly target the Wings. They weren't jobbed.

Instead, the NHL did its job.

Contact Drew Sharp: dsharp@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @drewsharp.

Join us for live blogs of every Red Wings playoff game at freep.com/sports.