Rangers’ Carl Hagelin suspended 3 games for Alfredsson head shot; fair or too severe?

For all the naysayers asking for Brendan Shahanan and the Dept. of Player Safety to sack up and make a statement as the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs reach new levels of brutality every night, here you go: Carl Hagelin, New York Rangers rookie, suspended for three playoff games in a 1-1 series for an elbow to the head of Daniel Alfredsson:

From the NHL:

Interesting that Alfredsson's stick coming up on the play was emphasized as not being a factor in Hagelin's hit. It was part of the Rangers' defense in the hearing, as Hagelin explained after the game (via ESPN NY):

(Hagelin sent Alfredsson a text message apologizing for the hit, incidentally.)

But it's also interesting because it's the argument Andrew Shaw is making after having run into Mike Smith in last night's Chicago vs. Phoenix game, earning his own hearing.

There's no question that the victim is significant in this crime.

Daniel Alfredsson, Senators captain and NHL All-Star, whose status for Game 3 is 50/50. It's probably the reason Hagelin received one more game than Byron Bitz did for his boarding major suspension on Kyle Clifford.

Does the punishment fit the crime? It's a statement, for sure, on a series that's gotten progressively nastier as the Rangers got physical in Game 1 and the Senators went overboard in Game 2 to respond.

Using the old metric, this amounts to a six game suspension in the regular season, and the going rate for Shanabans on head-shots has been five games. So, in that sense, it's consistent with what he's been selling the players this season. But we doubt the Rangers would agree.

UPDATE: The Rangers have released the following statement on the suspension:

Nice use of perplexed.