NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Boston Bruins defenseman Marty McSorley today was handed the stiffest on-ice related suspension in NHL history following his brutal attack on Donald Brashear of the Vancouver Canucks.

McSorley was banned for the rest of the regular season -- 23 games -- and the playoffs by the league, two days after he slashed Brashear's right temple in Vancouver's 5-2 win.

It could mean the end of a career for McSorley, the third-most penalized player in NHL history who at 36 is in the midst of a one-year deal with the Bruins. With the suspension, he will forfeit $72,000 of his $600,000 salary.

In a teleconference today, NHL executive vice president and director of hockey operations Colin Campbell said the length of the ban could be open-ended, based on McSorley's desire to return and the extent of Brashear's injury.

"We'll see where it takes us when we look at all the factors in the offseason," said Campbell, who has been extremely conscious of blows to the head during his two-season reign.

"He can appear before (Commissioner) Gary Bettman, myself and Bill (Daly) in the summer to re-evaluate his situation and, more importantly, it also gives us time to evaluate the condition of Donald Brashear."

Asked if today's suspension sends a sign to players in the league, Campbell said, "It sends a message that you can't strike another player with your stick, particulary to the head. And when you do, the repercussions will be severe."

The longest suspension in NHL history for an on-ice indicent had been Washington center Dale Hunter's 21-game ban for checking Pierre Turgeon of the New York Islanders into the boards after he scored a goal in a 1993 playoff game.

Only one other player had been suspended more than 15 games. On October 30, 1983, Tom Lysiak of the Chicago Blackhawks was forced to sit out 20 games for tripping linesman Ron Foyt.

NHL officials today reviewed McSorley's actions, one day after suspending him indefinitely. A member of the Bruins organization, two of McSorley's agents and a representative of the NHL Players Association were present, but the player was not.

At the advice of his council, an apologetic McSorley elected not to appear or participate, based on an ongoing police investigation in Vancouver, said Daly, the league's vice president of legal affairs.

According to Campbell, every player scheduled to appear before him to discuss a suspension had done so.

In one of the ugliest incidents in NHL history, McSorley intentionally chopped Brashear with 2.7 seconds left in an already physical game.

The blow sent Vancouver's enforcer to a frightening crash on the ice and left him motionless and bleeding from the nose. He was placed in a neck brace and carted off while surrounded by teammates. Afterward, he was walking around in the locker room.

"I have not seen this," said Campbell, a veteran of 636 NHL games and a former coach with the New York Rangers. "I have been involved in a lot of hockey games myself over the last 30 years and I've never seen a player strike another player like that from behind."

Brashear, whose loose helmet popped off as the back of his head hit the ice, was diagnosed with a grade 3 concussion. He was kept overnight at a Vancouver hospital and is expected to be physically inactive for 2-3 weeks.

McSorley, who will serve his seventh career suspension but first since 1994, was assessed a match penalty for deliberate injury of an opponent, which comes with an automatic review for suspension.

"Mr. McSorley's act is entirely unacceptable," Campbell said. "It would be grossly unfair to suggest that his conduct is at all representative of the game of the other 700 players who play in the NHL or of the countless others who play hockey at all levels. We regret that this act occurred and that is has brought this kind of attention to our game."

McSorley, who was involved in a fight with Brashear in the first period, was surprised by his own actions and apologized after the game. But Brashear's teammates were unforgiving.

"No respect for that guy ever again," said Vancouver's Brad May, who has 1,533 penalty minutes in nine NHL seasons. "Anyone that's ever had respect for him should lose it."

The play apparently was in retaliation for an injury Brashear might have caused to Bruins starting goaltender Byron Dafoe, although Campbell called the crash "innocent." But McSorley's attack cleary was intentional.

Less than two minutes before Brashear's collision with Dafoe, McSorley picked up a double-minor and a 10-minute misconduct for trying to goad Brashear into a fight. The rugged Brashear had gotten the better of McSorley in a brawl just two minutes into the game.

Because of Brashear's injury, Canucks goaltender Garth Snow immediately skated after McSorley, setting off a brawl while fans littered the ice with debris. Once things settled, referee Brad Watson ended the game without playing the final seconds.

A former "bodyguard" to Wayne Gretzky in their days with Edmonton and Los Angeles, McSorley is third to Dave "Tiger" Williams and Hunter with 3,381 career penalty minutes. He led the NHL with 399 penalty minutes in 1992-93 as Los Angeles reached the Stanley Cup Finals and also topped the league with 60 playoff penalty minutes that season.

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