Andrew Shaw remains, while not a Blackhawk, my favorite player in the National Hockey League. Let’s get that out there. He’s still my boy, I still adore him, and the love isn’t gone just because the amazing sweater is.

But he’s a dumbass, and I can say it freely now, because I’m not criticizing my own team.

This week, he got himself suspended three games after a nasty hit on a Washington Capitals prospect. He was slewfooted prior to the hit, but that’s something you have to get over. He’s got a history of disagreeing with refs calls – the biggest incident in his record came after he got high-checked to the face purposefully and that shit wasn’t called. But it’s something he, now being paid nearly 4 million dollars a year, needs to have the emotional maturity to get over.

He needs to focus on the rest of his game – the annoying little pest who gets hard-earned goals and can keep the energy on a team going. That’s what he’s getting paid for, and that’s the expectation from him.

But he’s always had this history of dumb penalties, and it kills you to see it. He really needs to get over himself, because if he’s able to play his game he’s one of the best bottom 6 guys in the league. He needs to know that more and focus on it instead of cheap fights.