ESPN Pierre LeBrun Blog

One thing I've always admired about Mike Peca over the years is that he speaks his mind.

Always has.

It only stands to reason then that the veteran Columbus Blue Jackets center wouldn't hold back Friday after the NHL announced his five-game suspension for abuse of an official.

On the surface, you'd think he'd be happy since his original Category 2, 10-game suspension was chopped in half by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. But he strongly believed the minimum Category 3, three-game suspension would have been more appropriate.

"Once the suspension is in place, you're going to get suspended no matter what, so I was just hoping for the minimum," Peca told ESPN.com Friday. "In the end, the league saves face by not having a Category 2, and by lowering it to five games from 10, it looks like I won and everyone is happy. The referee is good because it wasn't lowered to three. Politically, everybody is happy except probably myself."

Peca had a hearing in New York with Bettman on Wednesday. The NHL boss said in a statement that Peca crossed the line by making physical contact with referee Greg Kimmerly.

"And to be clear, I do assume some responsibility for the way that I yelled at Greg Kimmerly," said Peca. "I was out of line and I told him that and I apologized to him for the way I disrespected him as an official and as a person. I don't make a habit of ever doing that. If I was guilty of anything, it was for the way I yelled at him.

"But I've stopped referees by grabbing their arms dozens of times. I've seen other players do it dozens of times."

Hard to argue with Peca, although I've yet to see any video evidence of what happened. But from eye witnesses I spoke to, all he did was grab Kimmerly's arm to get his attention. Five games does seem a little heavy, especially given Peca's track record. He's not the kind of player to do this kind of thing.

"It was all too predictable," said Peca. "I think in this process, you want tough decisions made, not for political reasons but for the right reasons. I know the language of the [abuse of officials] rule -- zero tolerance -- and I accept that. But given the nature of what happened, I think everybody would agree ... I've gotten a lot of calls from players around the league and I know there has been a lot of management people from around the league sharing the view that this was a pretty harmless incident and shouldn't have been punished at all."

Did you see this fight? Belak vs. Boogaard
It was a monster scrap Thursday night in Miami with Wade Belak of the Florida Panthers doing quite well, thank you very much, with Minnesota Wild behemoth Derek Boogaard (he's so big, he needs two Os and two As in his last name).

I love the tough guys, so I apologize ahead of time if I offend anyone with the occasional fight talk.

The Web site www.hockeyfights.com -- the specialists in the business -- had Belak taking the decision by a 73.2-percent vote from readers. An upset. Boogaard rarely loses.

"It's the first time we've fought," Belak told ESPN.com Friday. "After what he did in the first period when he suckered Nick Boynton in a scrum, it had to be addressed. So I went out there and worked it out.

"I just basically tried not to get hit," Belak added with his trademark sense of humor.

He may have won the fight, but Belak came away impressed with Boogaard.

"He's definitely top three in the league. He's up there with Laraque and Brashear for sure. He's a big guy, he's got a longer reach than I do and he's a pretty smart technical fighter."

I saw lots of Belak here in Toronto for seven years. He's a funny guy who always had time for the media. But his trade to Florida at the deadline last season came at the right time for him.

"Leaving Toronto when I did was probably a good situation because they're going through a rebuilding period," said Belak. "I get to come down here and play a little more. The change of scenery is good.

"This is a young team on the rise."

Belak got stopped a lot in hockey-mad Toronto, although he says Leafs' fans were always supportive. In South Florida?

"You can walk around here and people don't know who you are unless they're my neighbors," said Belak. "It's nice that way, you can just hang out with your family."

The Belak family has adjusted nicely.

"The kids love it. I ask them if they want to go back to Toronto and they say, 'No, it's too cold.'"

Couldn't resist asking him about his buddy Mats Sundin before hanging up the phone. Belak says he actually reached out to Sundin on July 1 and told him to sign with the Panthers.

"When they traded [Olli] Jokinen at the draft, I was thinking, 'We got to get Sundin,'" Belak said. "But I don't see him coming back for a while. He might come back towards playoff time. And I don't see him signing with anybody else but the Leafs."

Satan demoted
Got a call from Pittsburgh Tribune-Review beat writer Rob Rossi, who informs me the following line shuffle took place Friday at practice:

Sidney Crosby has been reunited with Evgeni Malkin as Penguins coach Michel Therrien looks to wake up his offense. Pascal Dupuis is the third member of the line.

The second line has Jordan Staal between Petr Sykora and Ruslan Fedotenko.

Miroslav Satan, the offseason acquisition who was supposed to play with Crosby, is now on the third line with Max Talbot and Tyler Kennedy.

Satan, who turns 34 on Wednesday, might soon run out of chances to make his one-year, $3.5 million gamble pay off in Pittsburgh.