PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- The salary cap is going up and business is booming, but still the NHL often gets the most attention for ugly stuff that happens on the ice. Ugly was front and centre Saturday night during the Boston Bruins-Pittsburgh Penguins game that led to two suspensions and three players on the injured list. But instead of expressing concern over Shawn Thornton and James Neal, the leagues board of governors gave vice-president of player safety Brendan Shanahan a thumbs up for his handling of discipline. "I believe the sense of the room is that Brendan Shanahan and the department of player safety has the confidence of the board of governors. He certainly has my confidence," commissioner Gary Bettman said. "Its about modifying an element of the games culture and we think weve made positive, dramatic steps forward." When Thornton is suspended following an in-person hearing Friday, it will be the 19th ban this season that costs players at least one regular-season game. The first 18 suspensions added up to 77 games, including Neals five for kneeing Brad Marchand in the head. But Shanahan told the board Tuesday that among roughly 55,000 hits over the course of a year, only 50 to 100 are problematic. General managers have noticed a major change over time. "Youre not going to rid yourself of suspensions and what have you, but weve certainly come so much farther," Nashville Predators GM David Poile said. "I mean, look where we were. Ive been around for a long time, and some of the stuff that happened in the so-called old days, to where we are now, its so much better for the players and a so much better game." Its a different game, too. Some of the same hits that used to be acceptable are now spelled out as illegal. Shanahan has taken to producing videos showing examples, something that earned praise from Bettman. "My guess is people dont analyse the things he does in the detail that he does, and if you study the videos that hes put online, the specific instances where supplemental discipline is imposed or the more general tapes that hes put online explaining what the standards are of play, people should take a great deal of comfort that were being extraordinarily proactive," Bettman said. The next step could be harsher punishments as more of a deterrent for players. But general managers didnt display much of an appetite for change in that regard. "If managers and the board of governors want the suspensions to increase, I think that thats a direction theyll certainly give me," Shanahan said. "I can say from my perspective that I think that players do feel the effect of the suspension. Whether its two games or a lot more games, I think that players dont like being in that position, they dont like the game being taken away from them." General managers dont want the game taken away from its roots, either. Shanahan gave his usual update on player safety on the second and final day of the board of governors meeting at the Inn at Spanish Bay, and Peter Chiarelli of the Boston Bruins emphasized that the league can absolutely have hitting and progress with safety at the same time. "You can have both and you should, and theres a respect factor that the players have to adapt, and they are," Chiarelli said. "Theres a physical component to the game. Its just going to be a continuing challenge. Youre going to have discussions like these, youre going to have incidents like these. It may be longer suspensions, but you cant have a physical game without having these things." New Jersey Devils GM Lou Lamoriello said Monday evening that the onus is on players to follow the rules. Its his hope that maybe the fear of a season-long suspension will stop some of the violence around the league. Poile believes the incidents in the Penguins and Bruins game represented much more of an isolated incident than a trend. "I would think that the type of thing that Neal did, I cant even remember seeing something like that," Poile said. "And Shawn Thornton, he seems to be a stand-up guy, always seems to play his role really well. Hes already said he made a mistake, and hes going to pay for that. He knows that. And I dont think that stuff is going to happen very much. You cant say never, because its a physical game and thats why we partially like the game. Stuff is going to happen." How much stuff has happened was what Shanahan updated the board on Tuesday. As for the future of suspensions, it wont be much different right away. "There has to be the due process and it has to evolve and stuff," Chiarelli said. "You cant just say, All right, lets change the template. You cant say that. Its not fair to the process, its not fair to all the parties. You guys talk about trends and opinions on certain trends, and we do the same thing. In due course that will manifest itself." In addition to talk about player safety, deputy commissioner Bill Daly provided the board with a logistical update on the Sochi Olympics and a joint evaluation of substance-abuse policy between the league and the NHLPA. The deaths of Rick Rypien, Wade Belak and Derek Boogaard in the summer of 2012 prompted a look at how players mental health is handled. "We commissioned jointly with the Players Association and co-operated with them on an independent review of our program and I reported on the results of that review today," Daly said. "The bottom line is the report was good, that the program is doing what it is intended to do, it is helping players and former players in times of need." Daly updated the governors on what to expect from the Olympics and during the NHLs break, along with some logistical elements. Bettman said the governors were briefed on the leagues discussions with the NHLPA about reviving the World Cup of Hockey but predictably did not have any new information to share. "I think its no secret that we collectively believe having a world cup on a regular basis makes sense, the specifics were not there yet on," Bettman said. Bettman reiterated the NHL has no formal plans to expand beyond 30 teams, though he did spend a good portion of his time with reporters fielding questions about expansion. He did not rule it out in the near future. "Were getting lots of expressions of interest and no decisions have been made to do anything other than listen," he said. "We havent embarked on a formal expansion process, but when people want to talk to us we listen." Cheap Manchester United Jerseys . -- Stephen Curry took some good-natured ribbing from his Golden State teammates following an impromptu celebration near the bench late in fourth quarter against Los Angeles. 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Kadri had three assists and linemate Joffrey Lupul added a goal and an assist as the Maple Leafs snapped a five-game winless streak with a 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night. Kadri, Lupul and Nikolai Kulemin won the battle against the Lightnings top line of Steven Stamkos, Martin St. Louis and Cory Conacher. Stamkos, the leagues top goal-scorer, was limited to one shot. Kadris three points tie a career high (he had a hat trick in the Feb. 28 game against the Islanders). The shifty centre had a chance at a fourth point but was hauled down in front of goal by Teddy Purcell midway through the third period. Dion Phaneuf, Tyler Bozak and Kulemin also scored for Toronto (16-12-2) before 19,433 at the Air Canada Centre as Toronto led 4-0 by the halfway mark. Rookies Radko Gudas and Conacher scored consolation goals for Tampa Bay (13-16-1) in the third, spoiling James Reimers shutout attempt. Tampa outshot Toronto 28-26. Kadri leads the Leafs in scoring with 30 points on 11 goals and 19 assists. And Carlyle said his plan is to put Kadris line against the oppositions top trio. "Were going to test Kadri against the best players," he said. "He wants that, he cherishes it and tonight it worked for him." Former coach Ron Wilson complained about Kadris defence but Carlyle says the youngster was never negligent in that area. "The biggest emergence of Nazem Kadri is where and when in the game to try to use the skill moves," Carlyle said. "He was always good defensively. ... What happens in your transition from junior to pro hockey, its the number of times that you expose yourself to the high-risk, high reward and where you do and when you do it on the ice. "Thats really been the learning curve for Nazie. We always knew that he had skill." The Leafs had been off since a 5-4 shootout loss to the visiting Winnipeg Jets on Saturday, with their last win coming March 6 -- a 5-4 decision over visiting Ottawa. "We knew we had to come out with our foot on the gas pedal right away," said Kadri, who pointed to good chemistry with Lupul. "Were pretty much on the same page offensively," Kadri added. "We know where each other are going to be before were there." Lupul, meanwhile, pointed to Kulemins skills. Toronto gave up 16 goals during the five-game winless slide with Reimer, 0-1-2 during that run, allowing eight goals on 76 shots. Tampa, while 4-6-0 in its last 10, came into the game on back-to-back wins over Carolina and Philladelphia that saw it score four goals in each game.dddddddddddd The Lightning were without star forward Vincent Lecavalier, who reportedly suffered a broken left foot March 12 against Florida. "It took us too much time to get our legs," complained Tampa coach Guy Boucher. "Were a hard-working fast team and it didnt look like that the first half." "We looked like we were waiting to see what was going to happen out there," he added. "I dont know if it was because the guys froze or it was a road game --I cant tell you. But it wasnt a good game to start." The game marked the return of 22-year-old defenceman Jake Gardiner, a member of the all-rookie team last season who has been playing in the American Hockey League for the Toronto Marlies this season after recovering from a concussion. "I thought he was really good tonight," said Phaneuf. "He definitely adds to our team." Earlier in the day, the Leafs placed high-priced, little-used defenceman Mike Komisarek on waivers. Gardiner, who had 10 goals and 21 assists in 43 games with the Marlies this season, partnered John-Michael Liles and led all Leafs with 8:14 ice time in the first period. He finished with 19:20, fourth best on the team. Defenceman Mark Fraser pushed Torontos league-leading number of fighting majors to 30 early in the second period when he tangled -- successfully -- with B.J. Crombeen. Up 4-0 at 7:22 of the second period, Tampa made a goalie change. Garon, who gave up four goals on 14 shots, was pulled in favour of Anders Lindback. Lupul was front and centre throughout the night, dispatched to the penalty box early in the third for an illegal hit to the head that floored six-foot-six defenceman Victor Hedman. Lupul hit Hedman with his shoulder, leaving the big Swede dazed. "By no means did I go after him and try and hit him in the head," said Lupul. Garon returned to goal in the third period, as Lindback went to the dressing room. Boucher called it a lower-body injury. "Hopefully its not something thats going to keep him out for long," Boucher said. "He was doing really good for us his last four or five starts. Hopefully it wont last very long." The first and last Toronto goals were beauties. Lupul -- making his 99th appearance as a Leaf -- opened the scoring at 6:56 of the first period, completing a nifty tic-tac-toe passing play with Kadri and Carl Gunnarson that found him alone in front of Mathieu Garon as checker Alex Killorn went walkabout. It was Lupuls third goal in two games since returning from a broken forearm. Kulemin then padded Torontos lead to 4-0 with his fourth on the season after neatly evading the trailing Gudas and snapping a wrist shot from the slot. cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '