Monday, November 8, 1999                               'Cheap shot' deserves suspension                                                 By MARK MILLER -- Calgary Sun Wade Belak didn't mince his words. He called it 'cheap.' Then he thought about it again and changed his mind. He called it 'gutless.' Belak was seething yesterday about the hit from behind by Panthers' Paul Laus that sent him head-first into the end boards, causing a minor concussion. But the thoughts running through Belak's mind the next day as he watched the dangerous hit on video replay was that it could have been a lot worse. The Flames want Laus, a noted tough guy, to be suspended. It's hard to imagine why he wouldn't be, despite the referee's decision to only call a five-minute major on the play. "It could have been a lot worse," said head coach Brian Sutter. "I expect the league to address it sternly. "There is no excuse for it. If the puck is not there, you don't expect it. "Wade didn't have the puck. He was obviously a thorn in their sides all night and it was just because he was doing his job. Laus didn't go after the puck carrier, but that was the referee's interpretation and the league is going to have to deal with it. It was a much more serious offence ... "Wade's a guy that people notice out there. Laus is the same type of guy on the other team and he didn't like some of the things going on and that's no excuse for doing what he did. You can't tolerate that. "When you don't expect it, that is when you get hurt." Belak said he got his bell rung, which today equates to a minor concussion. He had to be helped from the ice after the third period hit. "I looked at it (video) a couple times," said Belak, who has been battling all season to earn a regular spot in the lineup. "It didn't look too good. That's something you don't want to see happen to you or anyone else. "It was a cheap hit. My back was turned and I didn't even have the puck. "It was a gutless hit." It was. That's why the league is trying to eliminate it from the game. Players can have careers ended, lives endangered, not to mention the message it sends to young people watching the game. Belak said he knows he has to expect certain things while playing the role of enforcer. He knows he's going to get hit. Just not from behind into the boards. "I was going back with the intention it was icing 'cause Freddie (Brathwaite) was yelling , 'icing' and Jarome went back and touched the puck, and boom! -- I got nailed," said Belak. "I totally wasn't expecting it. "A guy (Laus) like that you shouldn't have to worry about running you from behind, nor should you worry about any player doing it. Guys like that you have to worry that they are going to finish their hits but you're not prepared to get run by behind by anyone. "It's something that you just can't do, whether you are an aggressive player or not." No, but it is something you can expect from a gutless, cheap-shot artist. That's not a label Paul Laus will like. But it's one Laus would be hard-pressed to argue he doesn't deserve.