Andrew Shaw didn’t wait long to make his presence felt in the bleu, blanc, et rouge.  As a result, he’s also getting some attention from the NHL’s Department of Player Safety.  The winger will have a telephone hearing for boarding Washington defenseman Connor Hobbs.

In his first game with the Canadiens, Shaw saw 12:27 of ice and picked up 30 minutes in penalties.  With 2:10 to play in the second period of Tuesday night’s game, Shaw drove Hobbs into the boards from behind.   

 

Washington’s Nathan Walker challenged Shaw after the illegal hit.  Few punches were thrown, but Shaw – ever the showman – did his best to fire up the crowd before linesmen Steve Barton and Mark Shewchyk crashed the party.  

Shaw was done for the game, with five minutes for boarding, five for fighting, a misconduct, and a game misconduct courtesy of referees Dave Jackson and Pierre Lambert.  Lambert, hired over the summer, was making his NHL preseason debut. 

The NHL’s Director of Player Safety, former Canadien Stephane Quintal, wasn’t happy with the hit.

 Shaw has been suspended before. He sat for three games in 2012 after steamrolling Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith during the playoffs. He also missed one game for use of a homophobic slur directed at the officials. He narrowly avoided suspension for a head-butt last March, though his style of play often has him under the watchful eye of Player Safety. 

We’ll see if he’s able to avoid suspension, or if he’ll be sitting out a few games to start the season.