Shea Weber's Vicious Hit Brings Mild Punishment The playoffs were only hours old when they produced a tumultuous episode in Nashville, where Predators defenseman Shea Weber smashed the head of Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg against the glass. It was an illegal and dangerous act, yet Brendan Shanahan, the N.H.L."s player safety director, declined to suspend Weber. Instead, he fined him $2,500, the maximum under the collective bargaining agreement. Weber made $7.5 million this season. "A guy like Weber - 2,500 bucks isn't a lot to him, I guess, so you take that penalty any day of the week," Vancouver defenseman Aaron Rome told reporters. Zetterberg said: "I guess the bar is set. I thought it was dirty. To many, Shanahan's response seemed to confirm the suspicion that he has been reined in by the old guard of N.H.L. general managers, who did not like the strict suspensions he handed out when he started the job. Last fall, Shanahan took a firm, bold approach to promoting player safety. But now his rulings resemble those made by his much-maligned predecessor, Colin Campbell. In Wednesday's game, the Predators were protecting a one-goal lead in their zone as time was expiring when Weber tried to shield the puck along the corner boards. Zetterberg ran into Weber's back in a vain attempt to dislodge the puck and pushed the larger Weber into the glass. In retaliation, Weber threw a glancing punch to the back of Zetterberg's helmet, then grabbed Zetterberg by the back of the neck and thrust his face into the glass, like a professional wrestler throwing his opponent into the turnbuckle. Zetterberg crumpled to the ice as a brief skirmish broke out. He eventually skated away, although the force of Weber's blows cracked his helmet in two places. Zetterberg said he felt "a little woozy" after the game and took a concussion assessment test. The referees assessed Weber a minor penalty for roughing - meaningless, as the game was nearly over. But Weber's act could have resulted in a match penalty, for deliberate attempt to injure. After reviewing the play, Shanahan acknowledged that Weber's actions were "reckless and reactionary," somewhere short of deliberate. Another factor for Shanahan was that Zetterberg was not injured - a longstanding N.H.L. yardstick for determining whether a suspension is warranted. "As is customary whenever supplemental discipline is being considered, we contacted Detroit following the game and were informed that Zetterberg did not suffer an apparent injury and should be in the lineup for Game 2," Shanahan said Thursday. That day, Shanahan suspended Vancouver's Byron Bitz two games for a head check that knocked Los Angeles's Kyle Clifford out of Game 1 and kept him out of Game 2 as well. Had Bitz done the same thing without injuring Clifford, he would have presumably escaped suspension. Back in Nashville, the relieved Predators said they did not believe that Weber's actions were particularly bad. "Zetterberg hit him in the head first," Coach Barry Trotz said. Weber said, "I think emotions got the best of everyone." Zetterberg found Shanahan's response inadequate. "I think it was a direct target to my head," he said. And I feel that what happened the last few years with all the head injuries, I think that shouldn't belong in the game. Sure enough, less than two minutes into Detroit's Game 2 victory Friday that evened the best-of-seven series at 1-1, the Red Wings" Todd Bertuzzi fought Weber. "Sometimes when things don't get looked after," Detroit Coach Mike Babcock said, "you have to look after it yourself." A Change in Calgary For N.H.L. teams that missed the playoffs, this is the time of the year for reprieves or firings. In Toronto and Buffalo, it was thumbs up as Brian Burke was reconfirmed as the Maple Leafs" general manager, and the Sabres kept General Manager Darcy Regier and Coach Lindy Ruff. In Calgary, it was thumbs down for Coach Brent Sutter. Sutter and Jay Feaster, the Flames" general manager, agreed to part ways when it became clear that Feaster was not keen to trade the franchise linchpin Jarome Iginla. Calgary missed the playoffs in all three years of Sutter's tenure, and he wanted to rebuild. Nevertheless, the summer is bound to be rife with talk of dealing Iginla, 34, who has won two Olympic gold medals and a World Cup for Canada. But he has won nothing with Calgary in 15 full seasons, despite 11 straight seasons with 30 goals or more. Sutter, who left the Devils" coaching job abruptly in 2009 to return to Alberta, has seen his N.H.L. stock drop.