Zack Kassian gets three-game vacation from Canucks after boarding Stars’ Dillon

It's hardly much of a punishment, being banned from playing for the Vancouver Canucks right now, but it's all the Department of Player Safety's really got, and it's definitely what Zack Kassian deserved for his boarding of Brendan Dillon in the second period of Thursday's content between the Canucks and the Stars.

For this act of boneheaded malfeasance from a repeat bonehead Kassian has been banned three games.

Shanahan, explaining the obvious:

"It's important to note that what raises this minor penalty to a suspension is that, not only does Kassian see Dilon's number for quite some time, but he boards Dillon with significant force."

"And while it's true that Dillon both stops and turns his back during this play, he does both of these actions well before this forceful check from behind. Kassian has enough time to avoid this check entirely, or at the very least minimize this force."

Honestly, Kassian got off light, probably because Dillon came back to the game. As a repeat offender -- the dude broke a guy's jaw earlier this season in what the league effectively deemed to be an intentional stick swing -- the league could very well have thrown the book at him. Heck, they didn't even mention that he appears to leave his feet, or that this was clearly an act borne out of frustration at the team's on-ice performance that night.

Unless, of course, Shanahan knows what everyone else in Vancouver knows: the real punishment is that Kassian has to come back at some point.