When the NHL’s Department of Player Safety hands down a ruling, it almost always makes somebody mad. Fanbases whose players are suspended are rarely convinced that their guy did anything wrong; or if he did, that plenty of similar plays don’t go uncalled. Fans of the injured party do not like the idea that the shameless headhunter on the other side got off easy. It’s not a job where pleasing everyone is likely, or even possible.
Most complaints about DOPS take for granted something about its mission: that it’s supposed to be a fair arbiter of events on the ice that punishes dangerous plays and, hopefully, discourages players from breaking the rules in future.