Controversy is once again swirling around the NHL as fans and analysts question the league’s commitment to fair and consistent discipline. The recent decision not to fine Shane Gostisbehere for his actions against Brad Marchand in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals has sparked outrage, highlighting what many see as blatant hypocrisy from the NHL’s Department of Player Safety.

With Commissioner Gary Bettman and George Parros at the helm, the league’s inconsistent rulings have become a hot topic, especially in light of recent fines handed to other players for similar or even less severe incidents. The uproar has only intensified as comparisons are drawn to previous fines given to Niko Mikkola and Nick Cousins for shooting pucks that didn’t even result in contact.

Now, with the spotlight on the league’s handling of these situations, calls for reform are growing louder, and questions about transparency and accountability are dominating the conversation as the NHL faces mounting pressure to address its disciplinary standards.

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The NHL decided not to fine Shane Gostisbehere for his act against Brad Marchand, and now fans have called out the hypocrisy of the league from another incident.

Gary Bettman, George Parros and the NHL’s Department of Player Safety has been incredibly inconsistent in recent years, and after an incident in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, their hypocrisy has been called out once more.

Late in the regular season, Florida’s Niko Mikkola was fined $5,000 by the league for shooting a puck towards Montreal’s team late in the game, and on Tuesday, Carolina’s Shane Gostisbehere did the same, but in his incident, he actually hit Brad Marchand.

How did the league react this time? They simply didn’t, as Eric Engels reported there would be no further discipline for either player involved in this incident that occurred in Game 1 of the ECF.

On top of that, back in the first round in a series with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators, Senators veteran Nick Cousins was fined $5,000 by the league for simply shooting a puck in warmup gently towards former teammate Anthony Stolarz, and this is yet another example of how inconsistent the DoPS is.

In both of those cases where fines were handed out, no player was hit with the puck, but in this instance, Gostisbehere shot it directly at Marchand, hitting him in the arm and leading to both players dropping the gloves.

It’s unclear exactly why there was no fine for the incident in Game 1, but looking back on past comparables, it’s a shock to see how this incident was handled, as many believe that the DoPS need a major overhaul this off-season for all of their inconsistent calls.