NEW YORK -- Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Duncan Keith was suspended for Game 4 of the Western Conference final for high-sticking Los Angeles Kings forward Jeff Carter in the face in Game 3 Tuesday. "This is more serious than a case of a player simply having to be responsible for his stick," NHL senior vice president of player safety Brendan Shanahan said in announcing the suspension Wednesday. "It is not an accidental high-stick, nor is it a defensive high-stick to an opponent. This is a retaliatory high-stick to an opponent that causes an injury." Keith played a team-high 26:47 in the Game 3 loss that cut Chicagos series lead to 2-1. The 29-year-old -- called "a repeat offender" by Shanahan -- wont be available for Thursdays game at Staples Center in Los Angeles, forcing coach Joel Quenneville to make a change. Asked earlier Wednesday what he would do if Keith were suspended, Quenneville didnt want to go there. "Dunks is important in all areas," Quenneville said during his off-day press conference in Beverly Hills, Calif. "We talk about special teams, you talk about big minutes, you talk about how we defend, get activated on the back end. His leadership, his compete level. Hes everything you want in a defenceman." If Sheldon Brookbank gets the call to replace Keith, it would be his first game since April 27. In the second period of Game 3, Carter slashed Keith on his glove-less hand behind the play. Keith retaliated by lifting his stick up on Carter. He was given a double-minor penalty and said after the game it was accidental. "Although Keith asserts that he did not intend to hit Carter in the face or hit him with such force, he does admit to intentionally swinging his stick at Carter as Carter is skating away from him," Shanahan said. "It should also be noted that even if Carter did indeed chop down on top of Keiths hand, that still does not justify the extend of Keiths actions." Carter returned soon after. Asked how Carter was doing the day after the incident, Kings coach Darryl Sutter said: "Awesome. I wish I was Jeff Carter today." Carter led the Western Conference with 26 goals during the regular season. His mid-season arrival from Columbus last year was a factor in the Kings improbable surge to their first Stanley Cup title. Cheap Authentic NFL Jerseys .com) - The game was all punts and field goals before Kodi Whitfields catch. Cheap NFL Jerseys . Rob Manfred, baseballs chief operating officer, testified last week during the grievance filed by the players union to overturn Rodriguezs 211-game suspension. A person familiar with the hearing, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press on Saturday that Manfred testified the sport wasnt concerned whether Bosch distributed performance-enhancing drugs to minors because MLBs interest was his relationship with players under investigation. http://www.cheapauthenticnfljerseys.net/ . LeBron James and Chris Bosh didnt need any more. Williams scored 11 points in 10 minutes, Alan Anderson scored 17 points, and the Brooklyn Nets finished the exhibition season with a 108-87 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night. Cheap China Jerseys . The winner Saturday will remain in the elite 10-team field next year. "We talked about wanting to be disciplined and stick with our game plan and good things will come," Draisaitl said, who had two goals for the victors. Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping . -- Charlie Graham stopped 67 shots as the Belleville Bulls edged the visiting Guelph Storm 6-5 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin hit out at discrimination against the countrys banned track and field athletes at a Kremlin send-off ceremony Wednesday for its depleted Olympic team.Fencers, triathletes and table tennis players became the latest team of Russians to be cleared to compete in the Olympics by the governing bodies of their sports ahead of the Moscow ceremony, but the IAAF rejected a bid by the bulk of the track and field team to be reinstated.More than 100 Russians from the 387-strong Olympic team have been banned so far from going to Rio de Janeiro.We cant accept indiscriminate disqualification of our athletes with an absolutely clean doping history, Putin said. We cannot and will not accept what in fact is pure discrimination.Putin said the athletes banned from the Olympics were victims of a campaign to present Russian sports in a bad light. He spoke with two-time Olympic pole-vaulting champion Yelena Isinbayeva, the most high-profile of the 67 track and field athletes banned from the games, standing beside him.Fighting back tears, Isinbayeva told Rio-bound Russian athletes: Show them what youre able to do -- for yourself and for us too.As the athletes walked across Red Square to meet Putin, some posed for selfies with Vitaly Mutko, whose sports ministry was accused by the World Anti-Doping Agency of orchestrating the doping cover-up. The sports minister has been blocked by the International Olympic Committee from attending the games next month but he remains in Putins government.The IAAF is the only sport to impose a near-blanket ban on Russians, only deeming one -- long jumper Darya Klishina -- eligible for Rio.The situation went beyond the legal field as well as common sense, Putin told the audience, which included many of the banned athletes. Its a well-planned campaign which targeted our athletes, which included double-standards and the concept of collective punishment which has nothing to do with justice or even basic legal norms.Not only have our athletes who never faced any specific accusations been hurt -- this is a blow to the entire global sports and the Olympic Games. Clearly, the absence of Russian athletes who were leaders in some of the sports will affect the competition.There was positive news, however, from Putins ally, Alisher Usmanov, the Russian billionaire who is president of the Intternational Fencing Federation.ddddddddddddThe governing body said it would allow the 16 Russian fencers who have qualified for the Rio Games to compete and it approved four reserves. The decision came after the FIE said it had re-examined 197 tests taken from Russian fencers in 35 countries over the last two years which all came back negative.The FIE said the fencers heading to Rio were not implicated in the latest report by WADA investigator Richard McLaren, who found that four positive doping tests in Russian fencing disappeared in recent years.Four positive results in Russian triathlon were also covered up, according to McLaren. The International Triathlon Union said the three men and three women who qualified for Rio are not mentioned in the McLaren report and have not served past doping suspensions.They have all been tested outside of Russia, the ITU said in a statement. Therefore, ITU will recommend to the IOC that these six athletes be permitted to compete in Rio next month.The Table Tennis Federation also announced that the three Russians who qualified for Rio should be allowed to compete because they were not implicated in the McLaren report, which classified one doping case in their sport as a disappearing positive.Russian entries to the Olympics must still be examined and upheld by an expert from the Court of Arbitration for Sport.The International Gymnastics Federation said it has established a pool of eligible Russian athletes and is awaiting IOC approval.Individual sports federations were given the task of deciding which athletes should be cleared to compete in Rio by the International Olympic Committee on Sunday. In his native Germany, IOC President Thomas Bach is facing increasing criticism for failing to impose a complete ban on Russias team.Germanys national anti-doping agency chief Andrea Gotzmann said the decision does not follow the IOCs declared zero tolerance policy, saying Bach has missed a huge chance.Olympic discuss champion Robert Harting said he was ashamed of Thomas Bach.---This story has been corrected to show that Isinbayevas first name is Yelena, not Irina.---Harris reported from London. AP Sports Writer Nesha Starcevic in Frankfurt, Germany contributed to this report. ' ' '